I am a huge fan of Eastern European cooking. I think it comes from the fact that I live in a hot country, so the freezing weather and snow have always drawn my attention.
Of course, being food obsessed and short on travel money, I have explored these countries largely through the kitchen. Blintzes, blinis, borscht, cabbage rolls, goulash, pierogies; as far as I’m concerned the Eastern European kitchen can do no wrong.
And I’m pleased to say that these little Racuszki have proved me right again. After being inspired by this post on Marta’s beautiful blog, couldn’t resist the lure of these pancakes. After a little research (one recipe is never enough!) I learned that they are made from a simple yeast batter, served traditionally with sour cream and fruit preserves.
The batter is a no-fuss, measure and mix operation which then needs an hour to prove and become characteristically bubbly. The little pancakes rise heroically in the pan, and they will make your house smell like a tantalizing mix of pancakes and donuts.
After an optional (but highly recommended) dusting with powdered sugar, the Oladushki are ready to be eaten in all their puffy, bronzed glory. Think of these little Russian pancakes as a more substantial version of the traditional buttermilk pancake.
Sturdy but airy, and distinctly doughnut-scented, they are just what you might need on a cold morning in Poland. Sour cream and a not-to-sweet jam alongside tastes just right, though a melting pat of butter and some maple syrup would be equally enticing.
I myself chose to munch on a plate of these late last night, listening to the rain absolutely bucketing down onto my roof, and watching videos about Gorlitz. I heartily recommend doing the same, if you get the chance.
What did you do last night?
xx Sarah.
- 1 + ½ cups flour
- 1 tsp dry active yeast
- 1 tbsp caster sugar
- 1 cup milk
- 1 egg
- butter or vegetable oil, for frying
- icing sugar, sour cream and jam, to serve (optional)
- Place all the ingredients, except the butter, into a medium sized mixing bowl and whisk together until smooth and combined. You should have a thick, somewhat stretchy batter.
- Cover the bow with plastic wrap and set aside in a warm place for an hour, or until bubbles have formed and the batter has doubled in size.
- Heat a large frying pan over a medium-low heat, and when warm, add a teaspoon of oil or butter to the pan and swirl to coat.
- Using a dessertspoon drop heaping piles of the batter into the pan, leaving them nice and thick. The batter will be thick and sticky, so you may need to use another spoon or your finger to help.
- The batter will rise, and turn golden brown on the bottom after about 2½ to 3 minutes. You will see the sides of the pancake turn from raw, sticky white batter to a more firm state as they cook.
- Gently flip the pancakes with a spatula and cook for a further 2 minutes or until golden brown on both sides. If they are browning too quickly, turn the heat down.
- Continue until all the batter is used up, adding more butter or oil to the pan as necessary.
- Dust them thickly with icing sugar and serve warm with sour cream and your favorite fruit preserve.
These yeast pancakes are so beautifully done, Sarah. I would love a few for my breakfast!
Thanks Angie!
Caster sugar?? Could I use regular granulated sugar??
You totally could !!
Ok cool! I’m curious the try these. My pancakes I usually make are about that thick but I don’t use yeast. Thanks for the new pancake recipe! =D
My pleasure! :)
Aww your giving out the secrets of every pancake lover to thick delicious pancakes, ;) hehe
Simply love adding yest to pancakes too; it means they are fluffy and so addictive. Love above shot in the promo pic.
Thanks, B! The secret’s out!
These look devine!! There is a Ukranian Diner in New York City called Veselka in the east village that has really delicious pierogies. You should check it out if you are ever there!
Your blog makes me absolutely drool!
I am so happy I found you on bloglovin! Keep up the great recipes!
Totalllly with you on this one, LOVE exploring other countries through food!!
HELLO weekend breakfast! Wow, I have never heard of these beauties before…. sounds so delicious! I want the smell of pancakes and donuts in my house immediately! It is raining buckets here, too. Last night I ate udon and watched Cheers (my dozenth time though that, thankful for Netflix Streaming!).
Puffy, doughnut-scented pancakes?? OMGkljasdfkhbiegahoooooo YES.
I have always been intrigued by Eastern European cooking, too. You had me at doughnut-scented…but, the sour cream and jam situation really gets me.
These are beautiful!! Their scent sounds intoxicating…and something that I would want as my perfume! I don’t think I have ever had yeasted pancakes…they sound wonderful!!
Oh man, yes please! These little pancakes sound like the best possible plan for a long, lazy weekend.
Hello, Sarah! What cute little pancakes! I travelled through eastern Europe once and loved the food, too. Especially the pierogies! Would love to give those a go some time!
P.S. Last night, I cooked a chicken then wished I hadn’t because it ended up feeling like a bit too much effort for a friday night! ;-)
Hey, it’s nice to here that you like Eastern European cooking. I come from Lithuania and also love our cooking :D your Racuszki look very nice, we have similar pancakes in Lithuania, called mieliniai blynai (literally translates as yested pancakes). Have a nice day!
I love everything about this post! The gorgeous snaps, equally amazing recipe ( you’ve totally inspired me to give Eastern baking a try) and that movie.. Dying to see it. Congrats on the a design Sponge gig! So awesome and very well deserved!
I’m glad To see polish food on your blog!
We have a lot of great traditional dishes in poland :)
you should try also ?azanki (cabbage and square Noodles with fried bacon),
Knedle (potato dough filled with plums, usually eaten with sour cream and sugar),
horseradish soup
?urek (kind a soup eaten with eggs and white sausage)
or krokiety (pancakes filled with mushrooms, meat or cabbage)
and last but not least faworki and mazurk – our lovely sweets.
I could shere my recipes!
Kisses from poland,
Magda
I WANT TO EAT ALL OF THIS!
Can I please come and visit?
ooooh!!!!! What a cool recipe, it’s so different from any pancake recipe I’ve ever encountered and I LOVE it!!! So pretty and so delicious!
I too like some eastern European foods. This was a great recipe. We had it with guava and lilikoi butter to give it a little home island twist.
That’s awesome! I LOVE guava.
My pancakes didn’t rise at all! I was really sad because of course they were delicious, but flat. I’m guessing the reason is that the house was too cold,… I know the yeast was good (I baked bread with it the other day). Phooey! I will try again! There is no way this 5-ingredient breakfast isn’t going to appear on our table again soon for my pancake-obsessed husband (who loved these flat guys anyway)!
OH NO! A cold house will do that. You could try heating your oven for just 5 minutes or so, and then turning it off and putting the dough in there to rise? That extra warmth will probably do the trick!
Tried again! Started to worry that using warm milk in the batter and proofing in a warm oven wasn’t going to work either, but it did! It just took longer than an hour. It was perfect though because we took the batter to friends’ for Brunch Club and by the time we walked in the door, it was all bubbly and risen! SO GOOD! These are a favorite
YESSS!! High five! I’m so glad they worked out in the end! Yeast is such a tricky beast.
Love all of this. blinis, Perogies, goulash.. mmm. If you love perogies, you also might like pilmeni.. tried it before? Yesterday We watched anchorman 2 + pizza-ed. Would have liked one of these guys, too!
Fluffy doughnut-scented pancakes? Umm, is there even a question?!
YES.
Being a wussy about beets and pickled vegetables, I’m usually iffy on Eastern European food, but you had me at “yeasted pancake.” Couldn’t love these more!
UM YOU HAD ME AT “distinctly doughnut-scented”!!!!! You are literally always whipping up the best-looking and most creative pancakes. I tried my hand at yeasted pancakes awhile ago and they turned out kind of greasy, not very sweet and all-around disappointing. These sound like a wholeeeee different ballpark. Bravo, and can’t wait to try!!!
Your “racuszki” look great and i bet they taste even better! My grandma used to make them for the whole family as a dessert so your recipe brought me some memories :) Here, in Poland we usually add sliced apples to the batter before frying, you may try this next time :)
ok…i will try these… will have to experiment with gluten free, but yeasted pancakes are so intriguing!
I’m happy you like our cooking and you’re telling good things about it to different people! I’m from Poland and we also do those rasushki with apples! Just add some shredded apples to the done dough and fry DELICIOUS one of mos popular dish during autumn in my house x Greeting from Cracow, Poland
The apple version sounds absolutely delicious, Weronika! Thank you so much for commenting!
My Babciused Orange rind and raisins in her yeast pancakes. Does that have a different name?
I’m not sure, Susan, but it sounds absolutely delicious!
Oh, it’s so nice to see that people around the world know and like our polish cuisine! I’ve just found your blog today but I’m definitely going to visit it more often. You’re doing a really good job here:) If you ever have any questions about polish recipes or something, feel free to ask! :)
Hi, so happy to find this! Thought recipe had passed with my dad. Please tell me, what kind if flour do u use?
Danuta
Hi Danuta,
I use plain, all purpose wheat flour! Hope these live up to your Dad’s. xx
These look yummy!
What kind of yeast do you use for these?