If you google “best restaurant pancake recipe” like I do periodically (every other day or so—you know, whenever the pancake cravings become overwhelming) you’ll undoubtedly have come across several links touting one key ingredient to get restaurant-quality pancakes.
Malted milk powder. According to Wikipedia, malted milk powder is a “powdered gruel made from malted barley, wheat flour and whole milk, which is evaporated until it forms a powder.” Appetizing! Essentially, it seems as though it’s basically Ovaltine minus the chocolate. It lends that malty, toasty flavor to milk and anything else you add it to.
I bought some months ago (intending to use it in pancakes) and then got distracted by these cookies. It’s been waiting patiently ever since to make its debut in pancake form on the blog. But since a rather lifeless pancake test with the stuff turned me off the stuff, it’s only taken me about six months to try again.
Luckily, King Arthur hasn’t steered me wrong yet. I’ve been eying their oat and yogurt pancakes with malted milk powder for months and am so glad I finally went for it. They cook up in a perfect, thick puff—some of the most even-cooking, picturesque pancakes I’ve ever fried.
The malted milk powder serves as a mild sweetener and helps sop up some of the moisture from the yogurt, leading to an incredibly thick batter (thick batter = thick, fluffy pancakes. Runny batter = thinner pancakes). However, if you don’t feel like buying a special powder just for pancakes, sugar or an alternative sweetener also works (and would make these officially gluten-free).
For some reason, although these pancakes are already seriously tangy from the generous amount of yogurt in the batter, they seem perfectly balanced by more yogurt on top, along with a drizzle of maple syrup.
Oat and Yogurt Pancakes
Ingredients
- ½ cup regular or Greek yogurt regular will make for flatter pancakes. I used a nonfat Greek yogurt on the runny side. Any fat will work (nonfat, 2%, full-fat, etc.
- 1 large egg
- 1.5 tablespoons vegetable oil
- ¼ cup + 2 tablespoons buckwheat flour
- ¼ cup + 2 tablespoons oat flour
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1-2 tablespoons sugar 1/4 cup malted milk powder (NOT gluten-free), or other sweetener
Instructions
- Whisk the yogurt, egg and oil together until combined (I do this in my glass measuring cup). In another bowl, combine the flours, salt, baking soda, baking powder and malted milk powder. Fold the yogurt mixture into the dry ingredients until combined. Mixture should be thick, more like a muffin batter. If you prefer thinner pancakes, thin out the mixture with a few tablespoons of milk.
- Begin heating a large skillet over medium heat. When a drop of water sizzles on the surface, grease the pan with cooking spray or a drop of oil. I used a scant quarter cup of batter per pancake to get 7 pancakes, cooked in three batches. Each pancake should need between 1-2 minutes before the top will begin to look dry and bubble will start to form. Flip and cook for another 30 seconds to 1 minute before removing from pan.
- Serve with additional yogurt, maple syrup, berries, PB&J, etc.
Alessandra
the Pancake Princess strikes again! I just did this recipe as I was feeling a little healthier than usual (the last batch I made was of your classic buttermilk) and they were amazing! I just added a few drops of vanilla extract and used whole wheat instead of buckwheat, but they were great – fluffy and golden brown! Congrats on your website!
erika
Oh yay!!! I’m so glad these turned out well for you–thanks for letting me know Alessandra! 🙂
Lianna
YOUR PHOTOGRAPHY!!! your photos are gorgeous. haha you really are the pancake princess considering the things you spend your time searching on google 😛 but it looks like its worth it because these pancakes look dreamy, i’m going to need to try PB&J with pancakes
Melissa
These look so yummy! I love using greek yogurt in my baking recipes but never thought to use it for pancakes. Thanks for the recipe! You rock!
Kayle (The Cooking Actress)
These pancakes dooo look perfect! SO fluffy! I love using Greek yogurt and oats in pancakes!!
Alex @ Cookie Dough Katzen
I swear your pancakes are almost too pretty to eat! They look delicious!
Becca
The pancakes look great but, these pancakes are not gluten free. Malted milk powder as you say is: powdered gruel made from malted BARLEY, WHEAT flour and whole milk, which is evaporated until it forms a powder.
Both barley and wheat contain gluten. Anything labeled as malt typically is not gluten free.
http://glutenfreecooking.about.com/od/gettingstarted/a/hiddengluten.htm
erika
Thanks Becca! That makes a lot of sense and that’s definitely my fault for overlooking that! In fact, your link also mentioned baking powder as an item that may contain gluten, which never crossed my mind either. Thanks for the tip! I’ll make sure to watch out for this in the future.