Baghrir (1,000 Hole Pancake) Recipe
Baghrir is a traditional Moroccan and Algerian pancake made from semolina flour. Besides semolina it contains, sugar, salt, yeast, water and often another type of flour.
The batter is spooned into a shallow pan and cooked just on one side. It is typically eaten with a sweet topping like butter and honey or jam.
Baghrir is also known as Moroccan 1,000-hole pancake due to its distinctive honeycomb appearance. The pancake is not flipped over like regular pancakes. Instead, bubbles form on the side facing up then pop leaving holes. The batter cooks slowly and loses its wetness as it cooks. When the entire surface has dried out, the pancake is done.
Traditional baghrir was made with fine semolina flour and only yeast as a leavener. This required the batter to sit so that the yeast could begin to ferment and produce carbon dioxide, which is responsible for the bubbles that form as the batter cooks. Modern recipes skip or shorten the rest time by adding baking powder.
Variations include adding milk or eggs but traditionally baghrir ingredients are simple. Baghrir color varies from off white to yellow depending on the amount of semolina used. Some recipes call for additional ingredients like turmeric powder to add the yellow color preferred, a practice that is usually frowned on.
Origin and Cultural Significance
Both Morocco and Algeria where is is also popular, claim the origin of baghrir but the credit usually goes to Morocco.
Baghrir (1,000 Hole Pancake) Recipe
Baghrir is a traditional Moroccan and Algerian pancake made from semolina flour. Besides semolina it contains, sugar, salt, yeast, water and often another type of flour.
Ingredients
- Water (warm) - 2 ½ cups
- Yeast - 1/2 tbsp
- Semolina Flour - 1 cup
- All-purpose flour - ½ cup
- Salt - 1 dash
- Baking powder - ½ tbsp
Instructions
- In a blender, combine water, yeast, flour, semolina and salt, pulse until everything mixes well together.
- Add the baking powder and mix again. The batter will be thin.
- Place in a container and cover to rise for approximately 30 minutes.
- Heat an 8” skillet over medium heat, pour about ½ cup of the batter into the skillet. Batter should spread to the edges of the skillet, if not thin the batter by adding a little water,
- Small holes should appear all over the surface, continue cooking until no obvious uncooked surface remains, about 2 minutes.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 8 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 110Total Fat: 0gSaturated Fat: 0gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 0gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 115mgCarbohydrates: 22gFiber: 2gSugar: 0gProtein: 4g
Nutrition is provided and calculated by Nutritionix. It is for general information purposes and is only a rough estimation.
