Kefir Pancakes

When you are making milk kefir it can add up quickly in the fridge. Aside from smoothies and drinking it plain, kefir pancakes are another great option for incorporating kefir into your diet.

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The Story

We were never much of a pancake family growing up. French toast was always the fancy breakfast of choice. Sometimes even stuffed with cream cheese. Yum.

Pancakes became more of a thing in our house on account of my husband’s family traditions. Every time we get together with his family there is at least one breakfast of pancakes, sausage, bacon, fruit, etc. Ben (my husband) has a fairly large family. When the immediate family gets together there are seventeen of us. This makes for a LOT of pancakes. My mother-in-law isn’t phased by this in the least and always makes more pancakes than we can eat.

The recipe I used as the base for my milk kefir pancake recipe comes from my husband’s mom. Even when I make the recipe just like she does I can never get them quite as good. There is just something about food being better when a mom makes them.

What is Milk Kefir?

I have an entire post dedicated to milk kefir and how to make it if you want full details.

Kefir is made by taking milk, adding kefir grains, and letting it ferment for 24 hours or so. The result is a tangy, sometimes even fizzy probiotic drink that you can make into smoothies, drink plain, add to frozen fruit, etc.

In this case we are using it kind of like buttermilk to make a rich and tangy pancake.

Where can I get kefir?

Kefir used to be something you had to buy from a crunchy health food store but now you can buy it just about anywhere. For this recipe I used my plain homemade kefir but you could substitute in fruity kefir and I think it would still result in tasty pancakes.

What if I don’t have kefir on hand?

Not a problem. You can also substitute buttermilk for this recipe. Or if you don’t have that you can combine yogurt with milk and stir it up until you get a kefir/buttermilk consistency.

Unfortunately, this is not a recipe you can do the ol’ vinegar in milk trick just to get a tangy milk. These pancakes need the thickness of kefir or buttermilk to turn our right.

What is the texture of these pancakes?

These are definitely a fluffier pancake but they aren’t “Cakey”, if that makes sense. Somehow they still have the sort of chewy, crepe-type texture of a thinner pancake but with the thickness of a puffy pancake.

Ingredients for Milk Kefir Pancakes

• 1 Quart Milk Kefir
• 3 Cups All Purpose Flour
• 2 Tablespoons Sugar
• 1 Teaspoon Baking Soda
• 1 Teaspoon Baking Powder
• 1/2 Teaspoon Salt
• 1 Tablespoon Oil
• 2 Eggs
• 1 Teaspoon Vanilla
• 1 Teaspoon Cinnamon (or more to taste)
• Coconut oil or butter for cooking

Supplies for Making Pancakes

• Pan for cooking
• Spatula for flipping
• Bowl
• Whisk
• Measuring Spoons
• Measuring Cups

How to make Milk Kefir Pancakes

Begin by warming a skillet on the stove to about medium heat.

Whisk the milk kefir, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt, oil, cinnamon, vanilla, and eggs in a bowl until well combined.

Next, whisk in three cups of flour a little at a time until it is all incorporated. This is a fairly thick batter but if it just seems too darn thick you can add in little splashes of milk to thin it a little.

If you’d like to add mini chocolate chips or blueberries to the pancakes you can sprinkle them directly into the batter. I don’t have a measurement for this. Just sprinkle with your heart and stir them in.

Add coconut oil or butter to the pan/griddle and swoosh it around until the pan is well coated.

Using a 1/4 measuring cup, scoop out batter and pour it onto the pan. I find my standard cast iron skillet can do about three pancakes at a time.

Allow the pancakes to cook until you see small bubbles forming on top, then flip. Continue to cook them until they are done all the way through.

Storing and Freezing

This recipe makes around 20 pancakes or so which is way more than we can eat. Thankfully they freeze very well and are easily warmed up in the toaster.

To store, allow the pancakes to cool completely on a wire rack.

If you are putting them in the fridge, just use an airtight storage container or bag and toss them in.

To freeze them, I recommend layering them on pieces of wax paper, then storing them in a gallon-sized Ziploc bag. Even if they are completely cool they seem to stick together in the freezer if you don’t separate them.

Ideas for Toppings and Mix-Ins

I mean the sky is the limit here. Maybe not pickles, but just about anything fruity or sweet goes well with pancakes.

• Blueberries
• Mini Chocolate Chips (The big ones are just too darn big)
• Whipped Cream
• Sprinkles
• Strawberries
• Bacon
• Syrups of all kinds
• Cream Cheese!

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