Kefir Pancakes for Breakfast

These plump kefir pancakes will make you swoon (especially if you’re a fan of buttermilk pancakes!). Learn how to make these wonderfully fluffy breakfast favourites from scratch!

I love buttermilk pancakes as much as the next person. Throw blueberries into the mix and you can find me lining up with a plate in one hand and maple syrup in the other. I don’t make buttermilk at home though. If I had a goat or a cow, I probably would, but as it stands, I live within city limits and while I might get away with a little goat (that’s the dream), I think a cow would get noticed. So there you go, I don’t make buttermilk, but I do make milk kefir. I make a lot of it, in fact, and always have a couple of jars waiting for me in the fridge. Here’s my post on how to make your own milk kefir at home if you want to experience that kind of abundance.

KEFIR PANCAKE RECIPE VIDEO

Welcome to the Kitchen! If this is your first time popping by my little corner of the internet, then you should know that there’s a video to go with each and every recipe and article I write. For more vintage-inspired videos, be sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel!

This post may contain affiliate links. In other words, when you click on one of these links and make a purchase, I will receive a small commission at no additional cost to you. Here’s my full legal disclosure.

I HAVE A THING FOR PANCAKES

The first thing I ever learned how to make from scratch was a batch of pancakes. My dad taught me. He would pull out all of the ingredients–flour, sugar, baking powder, vanilla, an egg, and milk–and he would let me measure everything out and whisk it up. When I was seven, things really got out of hand when a friend and I decided to surprise everyone with a pancake breakfast. We thought it would be fun to offer a variety, so there were pancakes with cream of tartar (I didn’t know what it was, but I felt sorry for it because it was never used), lemon pepper, and curry powder. It wasn’t my finest moment, but my dad, not being one to waste a single crumb of food, ate them like a champ.

HOW DO I MAKE FLUFFY PANCAKES?

While I’ve been making pancakes for over two decades, it took me a long while to learn how to make fluffy pancakes. Yes, I was using baking powder in my recipe, but there was one essential ingredient I was missing: time. After making the batter, I would eagerly move on to frying them up in a pat of butter. The result? Flat, flavourful pancakes. By letting the mixture rest for ten minutes, the baking powder has time to activate and give you the fluffy pancakes everyone so desires.

YOU CAN ALSO MAKE KEFIR CREPES

While I was filming the video for this post, I accidentally doubled my liquid ingredients. It wasn’t until I was ladling out my batter onto the hot buttery pan that I realized my batter was too thin. It was perfect for crêpes, but I didn’t want crêpes. I winded up doubling down on the dry ingredients and proceeded to make my fluffy kefir pancakes. So there you have it: if crêpes are more your style, double the kefir and milk ingredients.

SPRUCE UP KEFIR PANCAKES WITH…

I already mentioned that I’m a sucker for blueberry pancakes, but the ride doesn’t have to stop there. I’m giving you the bare basics for the recipe, but you can add whatever you fancy to your batch. There’s nothing wrong with keeping the pancakes plain and natural; it’s what I usually do when I make pancakes. Plain pancakes give me more freedom to experiment with toppings. I digress. Here are some of my favourite ways to flavour my pancakes:

• Apples and cinnamon (maybe raisins if you're feeling adventurous)
• A splash of bourbon and diced peaches
• Chopped strawberries
• Crushed blackberries or raspberries
• Diced pears and chocolate chips
• Protein powder to power them up (you might have to add a bit more liquid)

TOPPING IDEAS FOR KEFIR PANCAKES

If you wind up making a plain batch of pancakes but don’t want to opt for the classic maple syrup drizzle, you may want to consider…

• Berry coulis. 2 cups of fresh or frozen berries to a small sauce pan and a 1/4 cup of water. Sweeten it with your favourite sweetener, whether that's agave, honey, maple syrup or stevia.
• Jam and sour cream: This sounds weird, but I love this combination. The jam offsets the tang of the sour cream, and the pair make a refreshing topping for pancakes.
• Pastry cream and fresh fruit. If you're feeling extra decadent and plan ahead, this is a crazy delicious option. It's basically dessert for breakfast. Here's my recipe for vanilla pastry cream.
• Stewed apples. Chop up 1-2 apples and sauté them in a pat of butter. Sprinkle on cinnamon and drizzle with maple syrup. If you like raisins, toss some in!

MAKE PANCAKE STACKS!

Something my husband, Big Papa, likes doing, is making pancake stacks. His stacks involve three pancakes layered with cheese and fried eggs. He finishes the stacks off with a generous drizzle of pure maple syrup. If I let him, he’d sneak crispy bacon in there, too, but this stack is already a bit of an indulgence without the added pork. You don’t have to go crazy when you’re stacking them up like Big Papa does, but it’s a wonderful opportunity to be inventive.

WHAT ARE YOUR FAVOURITES?

So tell me, are you more of a crêpe or a pancake person? Do you like the classic maple syrup drizzle, or do you like getting inventive? What are your favourite kind of pancakes? Favourite toppings? Do you go overboard when you stack your pancakes, too? Tell me all about it in the comments below! Better yet, show me your kefir pancakes on Instagram!

MORE BREAKFAST RECIPES TO INSPIRE YOU

• Fluffy Kefir Biscuits for Breakfast
• Perfect French Crepes
• Extra Creamy Scrambled Eggs
• Host an Epic Breakfast Raclette Party

KEFIR PANCAKE RECIPE:

MAKES 12 PANCAKES

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 cup sugar

2 tbsp baking powder

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 eggs

1 cup milk

3/4 cup milk kefir

KEFIR PANCAKES INSTRUCTIONS

1. Whisk all of the ingredients together in a large mixing bowl until smooth and homogenous.
2. Let the batter rest for ten minutes.
3. Melt butter over medium heat in a frying pan. When it's hot, ladle on the pancake batter.
4. When you start noticing little air bubbles on the surface of the pancake, flip it and allow to cook for another minute or two.
5. Repeat.

PRINTABLE KEFIR PANCAKES RECIPE CARD

PIN IT FOR LATER

Love and gratitude,