Try these yeast pancakes that are so airy and fluffy, full of nooks and crannies. We love them served with a sweet sour cream and jam or fresh berries.
Yeast pancakes, Oladi, as we called them in Belarus, always bring me back to my childhood. My Mom would make a huge batch for breakfast and serve them with a sweet sour cream sauce, jam or fresh fruit. When fresh berries were in season, she would puree the berries with sugar, which kept the fresh taste of the fruit perfectly.
Oladi are an essential part of the traditional Russian kitchen. There are two types of Russian pancakes, blini and oladi. Blini are typically thin, like crepes, and oladi are thick, puffy pancakes. Thin crepes were always really popular too, with both sweet fillings, Cheese Blintzes, as well as savory - Chicken Mushroom Crepes.
Light as a feather, they are delightfully golden on the outside. The fluffy yeast dough sort of reminds me of yeast doughnuts, since they are also made from a yeast dough. The combination of the tart sour cream and the sweet jam with the pancakes is such a unique and delicious combination.
Ingredients
- warm milk(105-110 degrees)
- active dry yeast
- all purpose flour
- granulated sugar
- eggs
- oil (I use avocado oil)
- salt
- Sour Cream Sauce: sour cream + powdered sugar
- jam, optional, for serving
How to make Yeast Pancakes
This recipe makes a a large batch, if you have a small family, half a batch is more than enough.
- Make the yeast mixture.
- In a large bowl, combine the milk, yeast, sugar and flour in a large bowl with a wooden spoon. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until the dough doubles, 30-50 minutes.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, the add the salt and oil. Mix until evenly incorporated.
- When the dough has doubled in size, add the egg mixture. Mix until thoroughly incorporated. Cover and repeat rising time, once again until the dough doubles, another 30 minutes or so.
- Cook the pancakes.
- Heat a few Tablespoons of oil in a nonstick skillet on medium heat.
- Gently scoop out the dough, trying not to deflate the dough. Cook the pancakes on medium heat until golden brown on both sides.
- Drain the cooked pancakes on a paper towel lined plate.
Since the dough is VERY sticky, the dough sticks to the spoon mercilessly and you will have a mess on your hands.
Fill a mug with water, and dunk your spoon in the water EVERY time you get more dough.
Gently scoop the dough, trying not to deflate it as much as possible. If you deflate the dough, the pancakes will be dense.
The dough doesn't stick to the spoon and effortlessly slides right off and into the skillet. Absolutely perfect!
Serving Yeast Pancakes (Oladi)
Oladi are delicious with sour cream and jam. We also love them with any kind of fresh berries when they are in season.
You can also make a very easy sour cream dipping sauce by adding some powdered sugar (or maple syrup or honey) to sour cream or Greek yogurt.
The way that my Mom always served these oladi was to make a double portion of the sour cream "sauce" and then dip each of the pancakes in it. Completely cover the pancakes in the sweetened sour cream, then layer all of these pancakes in a large bowl, on top of each other. The pancakes absorb the sour cream and become unbelievable tender and soft. They are such a treat!
These pancakes are great for meal prepping. You can make part of the yeast dough in advance.
Mix up the yeast dough in the first step - the warm milk, yeast, sugar and flour in a large bowl until evenly combined. Cover and place in the refrigerator overnight. The dough will slowly rise overnight and will be ready for you to add the rest of the ingredients.
The next day, remove the dough from the refrigerator and continue with the rest of the process. You can also make the oladi and reheat them in the microwave, in a toaster or air fryer just until warmed through.
PrintYeast Pancakes (Oladi)
These yeast pancakes that are so airy and fluffy, full of nooks and crannies. We love them served with a sweet sour cream and jam or fresh berries.
- Prep Time: 1 hour 15 mins
- Cook Time: 20 mins
- Total Time: 1 hour 35 mins
- Yield: 25-30 oladi 1x
- Category: Breakfast
Ingredients
- 2 cups of milk, warm (105-110 degrees)
- ½ Tablespoon active dry yeast
- 3 ⅓ cups all purpose flour
- 4 Tablespoons granulated sugar
- 2 eggs, lightly beaten
- 4 Tablespoons oil for the dough, plus more for pan frying (I like avocado oil)
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- sour cream + powdered sugar, for serving
- jam, fresh berries, for serving
Instructions
- Mix the milk, yeast, sugar and flour in a large bowl with a wooden spoon.
- Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until the dough doubles, 30-50 minutes.
- When the dough has doubled in size, add the eggs, oil and salt. Mix until thoroughly incorporated.
- Cover and repeat rising time, once again until the dough doubles.
- Heat a few Tablespoons of oil in a nonstick skillet on medium heat.
- Since the dough is VERY sticky, the dough sticks to the spoon mercilessly and you will have a mess on your hands. Fill a mug with water, and dunk your spoon in the water EVERY time you get more dough. Gently scoop the dough, trying not to deflate it as much as possible. The dough doesn't stick to the spoon and effortlessly slides right off and into the skillet.
- Cook, until golden on both sides.
- Drain on a paper towel. Enjoy with sour cream, jam, berries, etc.
- One of my favorite variations from my mom are oladi in sweet sour cream. Whisk up sour cream with sugar and vanilla and dunk each pancake in the sour cream. Layer all the oladi in a bowl and the sweet sour cream will seep in to the oladi, making them even more tender and juicy.
This is an updated version of the Oladi recipe that was published originally on June 18, 2012. The recipe is the same; I updated the photos, added a video and clarified the instructions.
Hi Olichka! I made your oladi today and they turned out so perfect, puffy and delicious, so good with honey! I was wondering if i can make the dough at night and leave it in the fridge to slowly rise so i can cook them in the morning, what do you think will that work? Thank you!
Hi Olichka! I made your oladi today, turned out so puffy and soft and so delicious, really good with honey! I was wondering if i can make the dough the night before and leave it in the fridge to rise so i can cook them in the morning, what do you think will that work? Thank you
Hi Olesya.
I'm so glad you enjoyed the oladi. I haven't tried making the dough the night before, so I'm not sure how well it will work. If you try it, I'd love to hear your results.
Made these and they were fantastic!! Thanks for a keeper recipe! And my kids loved the sweet sour cream! Love your blog and all your Russian recipes!
That's great, Anu! I'm so glad you and your children enjoyed the Oladi. That sour cream sauce goes so well with the Oladi:).
This is a very interesting recipe and I was hoping to find something that reminded me of my mammas oladi but either I did something incorrectly or they are supposed to taste like it but they tasted almost like the belyashi/peroshki dough and just a bit bland. With honey they were pretty good but I do think I did something wrong in the recipe as the dough did not quite turn out to look like it does in the pictures. The egg mixture was hard to mix into the dough and it took at least five minutes of mixing to get it somewhat incorporated. I did add the yeast into the milk before I added it into the flour, would that make a difference in how they would turn out? They did turn out super fluffy though! Like very very fluffy, hence why they reminded me of peroshki.
I'm sorry they didn't meet your expectations. I'm not sure what you were hoping they would taste like, Liana. These are the yeast Oladi that I am familiar with. There are other types, that are made with buttermilk and baking soda/powder, but that is a completely different recipe.
I hope you find the Oladi recipe that you will love.
Hi Olga, these look super delicious! Do you think I can make the dough the night before and then cook them in the morning?
Hi Julia!
I haven't tried doing this myself, so I can't say for sure how well it will work. You could definitely give it a try. The only thing that might be a problem is that the Oldi will taste a bit too "yeasty", but they just might work well too:). I've actually always wanted to try this. Let me know how it works out if you do try it. That would be such a great option.
Hi Olga, I don't know if this question was already answered but what if I prep the dough before bed and make the oladi in the morning. Would they still turn out?
I don't recommend leaving out the yeast. You need to use some sort of leavener, like yeast, baking powder, baking soda, etc.
Olga thank you for this recipe. Heard about your website from many people but just found it yesterday. I am glad I did. I am eating the Oladi now and they are amazing. I added blueberries as well and it is delicious. Do you know if I could prep this the night before and put in the fridge and make in the morning?
Thank you so much for stopping by, Yelena. A big "thank you" to whoever told you about my blog. I really appreciate it.
I've never tried making the batter the night before, but you can try it out, as long as you refrigerate it. It might taste a little too "yeasty", but it could also work great. I know there are many recipes for yeasted overnight waffles. Let me know if you experiment. I'll have to try it myself at some point too.
This was a wonderful recipe! I've been trying for years to recreate the delicious oladi my host mom in Ukraine used to make and I had always been disappointed until I tried this recipe this morning. Thank you! I look forward to making more of your recipes.
Awesome, Annilyn! I'm so happy that you were pleased with the Oladi. We love them for breakfast too:).
Hi Olga! I can't believe I spent half of the night reading your blog!!! 🙂 (not for the first time by the way...) I really hope I will be able to get up in couple of hours and make these delicious oladi!!! Can't wait to try them!!!
Hi Blueberry!
Thank you so much for visiting my blog:). I hope you enjoyed the Oladi.
Yes, I did! My husband asked me to make some more already 🙂 I wish they take less time preparing them... Its really hard for me to get up in the morning 🙂
Thanks for the recipe!
Thank you for the recipe! I have already tried to bake these several times before but always unsuccessfully. Your recipe is perfect 🙂
I'm so glad this recipe worked out for you, Inga:).
I've just finished making these. My husband said: "What ever you do - Don't EVER forget how to make these!"
God bless!
Family of blessed 4*
Wow, that's quite a compliment! Thanks for taking the time to write:).
The world needs more Olga's! I am so glad you've found your calling.
*The Way To a Man’s Heart Is Through His Stomach*
That's so sweet of you to say, Olga:).
The world needs more Olgas! I am so glad you've found your calling.
*The Way To a Man’s Heart Is Through His Stomach*
Hi Olga! I'm glad I stopped by to your website! You have amazing recipes to look into! I used some of your recipes to make something it turned out great and it was delicious!
Hi Alina!
Thank you for stopping by. Thanks so much for writing. It means a lot to me.
I just made these and they were the best Oladi that I have ever made!!!
They were soooo FLUFFY!!!! And delicious!
I wished I had condensed milk to dip them like we did when I was younger. 😉
Oh, yum! Condensed milk? That brings back childhood memories:).
Olichka, just an FYI: the "printable version" of the recipe still calls for 4 cups of flour, NOT 3.5 cups of flour, so plz change it whenever u get a minute, for the ppl who will be printing the recipe 🙂 Thanks dear, and God bless you for all the hard work you are doing!! :))
Thanks for letting me know, Mariya. I'll fix it.