As you might know, I love food and sweet things especially. That is why I cannot not love these thick, soft, sweet and buttery things that Baghrir are! Moroccan yeast pancakes that are served drizzled with a mixture of honey and melted butter. Ah… do I have to say more? Yes, it may be a little messy to eat them properly, that is you roll them up and eat them with your hand. But they are totally worth it.
In Morocco, they are often served for breakfast, along with Moroccan Mint Tea or when guests are coming over. Typically they are also part of the Iftar in Ramadan, the first meal after sundown.
So, let’s get to work.
Baghrir – Moroccan Yeast Pancakes
Ingredients:
- 250 g (2 cups) Flour, plain
- 250 g (1 + 1/4 cup) Semolina, fine
- 1 square cake of fresh yeast (42 g) or 1 dose (7 g) of dry yeast
- 1 Tbsp sugar
- pinch of salt
- one cup of milk or water
- one egg (optional)
To drizzle:
- 100 g (1/3 cup) honey
- a stick butter
Mix flour, semolina, and salt. Put it in a bowl and make a hollow in the middle. Mix yeast with lukewarm liquid (milk or water) and sugar and pour it in that hollow. Mix it now slowly with the dry ingredients. You can use your hand or a mixer. When using dry yeast you can put everything in the kitchen machine and beat it together on slow speed.
Let it sit for 30 Minutes. The batter should be rather liquid and very bubbly afterwards.
Heat a non-stick or greased pan to medium heat. I use a crepe pan and put a little oil in it before the first scoop of batter comes in. After that, there is no need to grease it again.
Put a ladle of batter into the pan. Wait for 1001 bubbles to come up. Your don’t flip Baghrir but only bake them from one side. Therefore, the pan must not be too hot to burn one side while the other side is still moist. In addition, the batter must be liquid enough to be poured into the pan and form a not too thick pancake that bakes well.
Baghrir are finished when they become dry on top and most bubbles have opened up. The lower side should be pale or only very lightly brown.
Put on a clean dish towel or cake rag to cool down a bit.
Serve them like a Moroccan Mama
Melt butter in a saucepan. Add the honey and mix well. Now place Baghrir overlapping on a serving plate and pour honey-butter over them. In Morocco, you grab one, roll it and eat it from your hand. (Have napkins ready!)
In Morocco, these pancakes are sometimes called mille-trous, thousand holes. In one of my German cookbooks, they are called Moroccan honeycomb pancakes. These little holes give the pancakes a spongy texture which makes the drizzle sauce stick very well.
Do you want to see Baghrir in action? Check out this video by youtube chef Alia. She is making Baghrir with her grandmother. Baghrir are so good she made this recipe her first episode ever in 2008.
Please note: There are lots of traditional recipes for Moroccan pancakes which by the way are also popular in other North African countries. In addition, Moroccan homemakers need to improvise a lot. If there are no eggs, then there is no egg. No matter, you can still make Baghrir. You can also switch to using only flour or more semolina. Sometimes people use olive oil, sugar and cinnamon to drizzle over them which might be a little too exotic for some, like me! However, be sure to have enough drizzle sauce. Plain Baghrir do not taste very good.
By the way, some Moroccan people were irritated when I called these “Pfannekuchen“, pancakes. Because, you know, these are Baghrir, not pancakes.
Please feel free to call them as you like. And enjoy!
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