‘1000 hole’ pancakes (Beghrir)
I love these tender, spongy, melt-in-the-mouth pancakes. They are a great Moroccan breakfast, traditionally topped with a mixture of butter and honey, but evenly delicious with jam or maple syrup. For me they are an unmissable part on a Moroccan breakfast table.
Estimated reading time: 2 minutes
🥞 Ingredients
- fine semolina
- plain flour
- sugar (caster sugar)
- active dry yeast
- salt
- warm water
- baking powder
🔪 Instructions
The yeast in the batter makes the batter to bubble while cooking. This is how it gets all the holes, and therefore this amazing spongy texture. Beghrir is always cooked on one side. It only take a few minutes, when you see that the batter is not wet any more on the top you know your Moroccan pancake is ready.
An important part of the cooking process is not to swirl the pan around like you would do with a crepe. Rather pour in the batter and just leave it. You can decide on your preferred size. Such as multiple small Beghrir in saucer sizes, or either one or two large.
If your pancake does not ‘bubble’ it is most likely that the batter is too thick. You can try to add 1 or 2 tablespoons of water to your batter, and leave it to rest for 10 more minutes. It might also be that you have rested the batter too long, and that the yeast has already bubbled too much while resting the batter. It might take some trials before you learn the right consistency and resting time. Not every yeast works the same.
Beghrir keep well if they are wrapped in plastic and left at room temperature. So enjoy them as an afternoon snack or either keep them for your next day breakfast.
For more Moroccan bread recipes, check out;
Beghrir is part of; ‘Travels of taste‘. Using our taste buds to travel the world and discover the use of our senses and imaginations to meet other cultures through food. Imagine the hustle & bustle of the souks, and get a taste of the amazing flavours Morocco has to offer. Check out my full Moroccan ‘travels of taste’ post; >>> Morocco – the flavours of the souks
Try these delicious Moroccan pancakes, and add @haricoco1 to your instagram post, I love to see your Beghrir creations.
📋 Recipe
Ingredients
- This recipe makes approx. 6 beghrir;
- 145 g fine semolina
- 45 g plain flour
- 1/2 tsp sugar caster sugar
- 1/2 tbsp active dry yeast
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 355 ml warm water not hot
- 1 tsp baking powder
Instructions
- Mix all ingredients into a smooth batter, you can use a blender for this or use an electric whisk. -The thickness of the batter is like a cream, if the batter is too thick it won’t create the holes.
- Leave the better to rest for 30 minutes
- lightly grease a non-stick pan. heat to high heat.
- Pour in a small amount of batter, to make approx. 12-14cm ( 5 inch) pancakes. Don’t move around the pan like you would do with a crepe.
- The Beghrir should start bubbling and drying straight away. Once their are no longer wet spots on the top side, the beghrir is ready (approx. 1 – 2 minutes)
- Do not flip over! And do not pile them up straight away after cooking, as they will stick together.
- Serve warm with maple syrup or jam.