My absolute favorite pancake recipe are these kefir pancakes. The milk kefir replaces buttermilk in recipes and creates a delicious flavor in pancakes. I make mine with freshly milled soft white wheat, but if you don’t mill your own grain you can just use a regular all purpose flour.
Why add milk kefir to pancakes?
Milk kefir is a fermented, tangy milk that is very similar to buttermilk! I make it weekly and sometimes I have a lot of extra that I have to use up so I add it to things like pancakes, biscuits, or really anything that calls for milk. Milk kefir contains beneficial probiotics. Although you are losing those in this recipe because they are cooked, you still get the tangy flavor and the thick texture of the kefir. You can use homemade kefir or store bought.
Kefir pancake making tips
- Add your batter to a hot skillet that is well greased. I prefer to use coconut oil for it’s high smoke point.
- Add more coconut oil as you go throughout making these
- Only cook one pancake at a time
- Aim to flip the pancakes only once
- Rest the batter. Especially if you are using freshly milled flour to allow the grains to hydrate a little bit.
Ingredients
Freshly milled soft white wheat – or all purpose if you aren’t into milling your own grains.
Baking powder – leavening agent
Eggs – you will need 2 eggs for this recipe
Honey
Vanilla extract
Almond extract – my secret ingredient
Milk
Milk Kefir
Salt
How to make kefir pancakes
Step 1: Mill your flour if you are using freshly milled. I weigh out 257g of wheat berries, then mill.
Step 2: Add all of your ingredients to a large bowl and whisk together.
Step 3: Allow the batter to rest for 10 minutes. While it’s resting preheat your pan with some coconut oil. I like cast iron pans.
Step 4: using a 1/3 or 1/2 measuring cup scoop your batter and pour into the hot pan. Flip whenever there’s a good amount of bubbles on the pancake. Try to only flip once.
Step 5: Drizzle with maple syrup and enjoy!
Milk Kefir Pancakes
Ingredients
Method
- Mill your flour if you are using freshly milled flour.
- Add all of your ingredients (minus coconut oil) to a large bowl and whisk together2 cups Freshly milled soft white wheat, 2 tbsp baking powder, 2 eggs, 1 tbsp honey or 22 grams, 1 tsp vanilla extract, 1/2 tsp almond extract, 1 cup milk, 3/4 cup milk kefir, 1/4 tsp salt
- Allow the batter to rest for 10 minutes. Preheat pan with a little bit of the coconut oil while it's resting.2 tbsp coconut oil for frying
- using a 1/3 or 1/2 measuring cup scoop your batter into the hot skillet
- flip whenever there's bubbles throughout the pancake. Try to only flip one time.
- Add more coconut oil to the pan as needed. Enjoy with maple syrup or fresh fruit.






