Grandma’s yeast pacakes

My mother has been experimenting with various recipes in an attempt to replicate my Swedish great-grandmother’s yeast pancakes. My mother says that her grandmother woke at dawn and made pancakes; if you slept in, you didn’t get any. Apparently, the pancakes were worth getting dressed in the dark. In honor of National Pancake Day, here’s the most recent email on the subject from her:

On Sun, Feb 21, 2010 at 12:22 PM, Irene Flinn wrote:

Hey kids, I made these pancakes today – they are really good, I think. They are almost like crepes. I started with a recipe and have been changing it.

I think you’ll like them. I bake them on my round cast-iron griddle. The batter is very thin so you have to make plate-size pancakes. I like them because the syrup doesn’t sink in like it does the cake-like pancakes.

I made yeast-raised belgium waffles last week – I’ll send you that recipe too.

Love you,

Hugs, Mom

YEAST PANCAKES

1 pkg. active dry yeast
1/4 cup warm water (110-115 degrees F)
1 3/4 cups milk, scalded then cooled to lukewarm
3 tbsp. brown sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/8 tsp. ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 tbsp. oil (or 4 tbsp. Smart Balance margarine)
3 eggs, room temperature
1/2 teaspoon soda
1/2 teaspoon baking power
2 cups sifted all-purpose flour

Dissolve yeast in warm water in mixing bowl. Add milk, sugar, salt, and spices. Beat in rest of ingredients with rotary beater until smooth. Cover and let rise in warm place about 1 or more. Batter will be light and bubbly.

Use immediately, or cover and refrigerate overnight. (Do not refrigerate more than 24 hours.) When ready to make pancakes, preheat the griddle, grease lightly, if necessary.

Stir batter and drop from tip of large spoon, or pour from pitcher onto hot griddle. Turn as soon as top turns bubbly. Bake other side until golden brown. Pancakes will be thin.

Makes about two dozen four-inch pancakes