Spongy pancakes riddled with thousand tiny holes, this is Baghrir my friends. When you are craving some sweet fluffy pancakes dipped in honey or syrup, here’s the recipe you need to make hassle-free authentic Moroccan pancakes at home.
Baghrir is a very airy and spongy kind of pancakes. A Moroccan traditional recipe that is unbelievably light.
I rarely make pancakes, I am not a fan either!!.
When my kids want pancakes, they usually make it themselves. They open the ipad, search for a recipe, gather ingredients and make it. I need to post a photo of the kitchen after they are done making it, complete mess :/.
Baghrir is a Moroccan twist to the pancakes, but let me tell you it is very easy to make and very light. It is spongy to the point that when you drizzle it with honey it soaks up all the honey and becomes succulent and so delicious. And it is so easy to make, much easier than the regular pancakes, let me show you.
First: put all the ingredients except the baking powder in a blender and mix well.
Then add the baking powder, mix again. Let it rise in a warm place for 30 minutes.
Heat an 8″ skillet, pour the batter until it spreads all over the skillet. You’ll notice lots and lots of tiny bubbles forming on the surface, much like the Atayef but even more in bubbles. Cook only on one side. Let it cool down and serve.
Batter should be runny, easily pourable and spreads easy to the edges of the pan. It should not be lumpy as the pancake one.If yours is not runny enough add more water by a Tablespoon at a time.
I was first introduced to the savory form of baghrir, my friend rolled them over hard boiled eggs cut into pieces, it was very good. She said they used to make it by hand back in the old days and it required lots and lots of mixing, but today’s blenders made it super easy to make baghrir.
What I like most about baghrir – besides its spongy characteristic – is that it is very easy and that no guessing is required. I always hated the ” do not overmix” word on the pancake boxes or recipes. With baghrir a twirl in the blender and it is done and successful too.
My kids ruined the Moroccan heritage by eating Baghrir with maple syrup, but at least they were kind enough to eat it with the pure natural one :). I enjoyed mine the traditional way, with honey.
This is a great recipe for breakfast/treat , easy, simple and you can make it for a change to your everyday pancakes. You can freeze and reheat just as you do with pancakes.
Have you ever tried Baghrir before? where did you try it? and what was your best way to enjoy it? If not, I hope you’ll like this recipe and probably make it soon… Until next recipe, have fun in the kitchen.
I hope you’ll like this recipe and please if you make this recipe, snap a pic and hashtag it #amiraspantry — I love to see your creations on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter!
Don’t want to miss a recipe? Sign up for the FREE Amira’s Pantry newsletter delivered to your inbox with lots of tips and surprises! And stay in touch with me on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram for all the latest updates.
Watch this “how to make it” video:
Not your everyday pancakes, a traditional Moroccan recipe that is so spongy and light. Makes 8 pieces, 8" pancakes.
- 2 1/2 cups warm water.
- 1/2 Tablespoon dry yeast.
- 1 cup farina flour.
- 1/2 cup All purpose flour.
- a dash of salt , about 1/8th teaspoon.
- 1/2 Tablespoon baking powder.
-
In your blender, combine water, yeast, flour, semolina and salt, pulse until everything mixes well together.
-
Add the Baking powder and mix again.
-
Place in a container and cover to rise, will take approximately 30 minutes.
-
After 30 minutes, the batter should be thin and not thick as the usual pancakes.*
-
Heat an 8” skillet over medium heat, pour about 1/2 cup of the batter into the skillet. Batter should spread to the edges of the skillet, if not then thin it with more water . see notes for clarification.
-
Small holes should appear all over the surface, continue cooking until no obvious uncooked surface appears. Took me 2 minutes to be completely cooked.**
-
Let them cool down a bit before serving.
-
Serving suggestions: Traditionally, these are enjoyed with butter and honey. Also for a savory twist, sometimes can be rolled over olive oil and hard boiled eggs( cut into small pieces. Practically, this can be enjoyed with your favorite syrup.
-
Enjoy!!
*If the batter is not thin, add water in terms of 1 Tablespoons until it gets to the right consistency.
** If the pancakes start to curl up at the edges, you know it is overcooked.
You might also like
Moroccan Babouche (Japanese inspired)
Hi Amira,
These remind me of what we call “crumpets” in Australia, which are also delicious with butter and honey! Loving your blog, I am half Egyptian with very little connection to my roots, so I am pleased to find your blog 🙂
The pleasure is all mine my dear. I am happy that you find my blog useful and I hope you’ll try some recipes and tell me what you think. I’ve never tried crumpets before as I am not a huge fan of pancakes but I seriously liked the baghrir . Will try to search for the aussi version ☺️.
Was very excited to try these, but they were tasteless. Much more than a very thin spread of honey is way too sweet for my taste so they were very bland. I’ll stick to injera which has flavor from fermentation.
Thank you for being excited to try something new. Baghrir is spongy, airy and melt in your mouth kind of recipe. It should not give you a sweet or salty taste as it is the vehicle of many sweet/salty things as mentioned above. I suggest that you add less honey so as to suite your taste. Thanks for introducing me and my readers to the injera I will definitely give it a try.
Love the sound of these. Honey or maple syrup-I don’t care! These look great!
Thanks Abbe, you are right, this is delicious anyways :).
No blender her but I will try anyway Amira. It looks too good to miss it!
I’ll tell you how it went.
Thanks and have a lovely day.
Marie, you can make it without a blender it will just take more time and effort from your part to mix everything well together. I hope you’ll like it, please do come back and leave a feedback.
This is totally new to me Amira, and I am loving the texture of these…I will definitely want to try it!
I hope you are having a wonderful week 🙂
Thanks Juliana, I hope you’ll give it a try soon and tell me how it went with you.
I’ve had this dish, but never made it. It’s really good, so I’m glad you provided the recipe! Honey sounds good, but I’m with your kids — gotta try maple syrup, too. 🙂 Thanks!
My kids developed American taste buds :), their Middle Eastern ones are vanishing despite my efforts hehehe. Thanks John.
I have been wanting to make baghrir since time immemorial, thanks to my love for pancakes… I suppose the MENA region’s pancakes are yeasted than with baking powder like their western counterparts… correct me if I am wrong please! This one is right up my alley for sure…
Believe it or not this Baghrir has both yeast and Baking Powder!!! No wonder it doubles in size in even less than 30 minutes. This would make a great recipe for suhor as well 🙂
Can this recipe be also used for Atayef?
Novellian, I did not try it as though, but who knows may be it will work. I’ve a couple of Atayef recipes on the blog here they are:
Atayef Asafiri
and Atayef with nuts
If you try it as Atayef please do come back and tell me how it went. I need your feedback. Thanks
Oh these are so cool! Totally want to try them and love that they are quicker to make 😀
Eve, they are actually easier but not as quicker as you need to let it rise. but def. much much easier. Thanks dear.