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!

Yeast pancakes on the inside. So fluffy and airy.
Oladi

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.