Yeast pancakes (flappers) recipe

Any other “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives” fans out there?

A few years ago, Guy Fieri came to Minneapolis and visited the Colossal Café in Minneapolis, a teeny-tiny restaurant where pretty much everything on the menu is made from scratch. One of the recipes highlighted on that particular episode was their flappers, or yeast-raised pancakes. I went to Colossal Café with some friends a few weeks after watching the episode to try their flappers.

And oh my goodness were they good.

While nothing will come close to the taste of the flappers I ate at Colossal Café, I certainly enjoyed the batch I recently made at home.

Yeast pancakes, inspired by the flappers at Colossal Cafe in Minnesota. Click through for recipe!

Why Make Yeast Pancakes?

Typical pancakes are made with baking powder, which acts as a leavening agent to make the dough rise – and yield a fluffy pancake.

These yeast pancakes do not contain baking powder. Instead, the yeast acts as a leavening agent to expand the dough.

The yeast also adds unique fermentation-esque flavor to the pancakes.

All in all, I like these pancakes way more than typical pancakes. Give them a try and see for yourself!

Yeast pancakes (flappers) recipe

Yeast Pancakes (Flappers)

Yield: 24 pancakes
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Additional Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 55 minutes

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 cups milk
  • 2 tablespoons sugar
  • 1 package active dry yeast
  • 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 2 tablespoons sugar
  • 4 tablespoons butter, melted
  • 3 egg yolks (from large eggs)
  • Oil, for frying

For topping

  • Fresh berries
  • Chopped nuts
  • Maple syrup

Instructions

  1. Heat milk in a saucepan (or in microwave) until it reaches between 110 and 115 degrees F.
  2. Place milk in a large mixing bowl. Add 1 teaspoon of sugar sugar and yeast and gently stir. Allow to sit for about 5 minutes, until mixture starts to foam.
  3. Whisk in flour, salt, remaining sugar, melted butter, and egg yolks, until the batter is smooth. Cover bowl with plastic wrap, and allow to sit for 1.5 hours in warm location to rise, until doubled in size.
  4. Fry pancakes: Heat a tablespoon of cooking oil in a nonstick frying pan over medium heat. Add 1/4 cup of batter at once, and cook on one side for 3 minutes and flip and cook on the other side for 1 more minute, until golden brown. You can fry more than one pancake at a time, but keep plenty of distance so they don't bleed together.

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