How to make pancakes with filling

Batter for pancakes with a crispy texture can be made in various ways: with yeast, without yeast, with milk, kefir, beer, mineral water, choux, and using any kind of flour. By the way, pancake batter is suitable for this recipe, in which case it will have a crispy texture. The filling can consist of one ingredient or a combination of flavors. To prepare pancake batter, simply mix all the specified ingredients until smooth without lumps. Approximately, pancake batter requires 2 parts liquid to one part flour by volume (not by weight in grams!). If you are going to make the batter manually using a spatula or hand whisk, the usual order and method is as follows. Lightly beat the eggs with salt and sugar, gradually add half of the milk while stirring constantly. Then add the flour or several types of flour and mix thoroughly. Gradually pour in the remaining milk until the desired consistency of pancake batter is achieved. Finally, stir in the vegetable oil. If the batter is made using a mixer or blender, you can add the ingredients in the same order and all at once. If you do not want to add any other flour (wheat first or second grade, rye, whole grain, oat, etc.), then prepare the batter simply based on high-grade wheat flour. Let the batter rest for a few minutes, and in the meantime, you can prepare the filling. This recipe offers several optional fillings, but it is not exhaustive. Besides the suggested fillings, there can also be meat, fish, cottage cheese, various vegetable fillings, made with a hard-boiled egg, or with the addition of cereals, etc. Sweet fillings can also be cottage cheese, fruit, or berry fillings.

For onion filling, thinly slice the onion and squeeze out the juice. Any type of onion works: yellow, sweet red, shallot, leek. You can also use green onion, and both white and green parts of leek are suitable. If desired, the onion can be sautéed before using for the filling.

For mushroom filling, it is easiest to use fresh, frozen, or even canned mushrooms. Simply finely chop them, as mushrooms require enough time to cook while the pancakes are being cooked. For forest mushrooms, they should be pre-cooked and can be used cooked, fried, salted, or marinated. Dry mushrooms should be soaked and cooked, and depending on the type of preparation, either left whole (if air-dried or using an electric dryer) or ground into a paste (if dried in the oven with heat).

Spinach gives the pancakes a fun green color and thawed spinach is perfect for adding to the batter. Usually, frozen spinach is sold already chopped and compressed into pucks, clusters, or sheets. Place it in the microwave for 1-2 minutes at maximum power, depending on the size, and then mix it into the pancake batter or into individual portions.

For herb filling, fresh or preserved herbs are suitable. Frozen or canned herbs are better for the batter than dried ones, although dried herbs work fine too. Dill is often used for this filling.

Cheeses of almost any variety are suitable for the filling - hard, semi-hard, brined, cottage cheese, both melt-able and non-melt-able. Before adding to the batter, the cheese should be grated.

Divide the pancake batter into several portions, as many portions as there are fillings prepared and optionally one more that will be left without filling. I want to note that almost all prepared fillings go well together! You can combine and add two fillings to the batter: spinach with cheese, spinach with mushrooms, mushrooms with cheese, mushrooms with onions, mushrooms with dill, dill with cheese, as well as three or more fillings: spinach with cheese and mushrooms, mushrooms with cheese and dill, etc. Optionally, season these fillings with spices to your taste, in these cases, it is better to use aromatic herbs. If vegetable oil has already been added to the batter, there is no need to grease the pans before pouring the batter onto them. It is recommended to cook the pancakes on pans that are not used for anything else, or even better on pancake pans with non-stick coating or seasoned cast iron.

Pancakes with fillings may have different thicknesses. With large fillings (mushrooms, onions, etc.), the pancakes are usually about 3 mm or thicker.

Pancakes with fillings made of chopped greens and grated cheese can be thin and crispy.

Fry the pancakes in the usual way. Pour a portion of the batter onto a preheated skillet, spread it evenly over the entire bottom by simply tilting the skillet in different directions. When the bottom part of the pancake sets, i.e. the edges dry out and become golden brown, and small holes appear on the surface of the batter, flip the pancake and fry it on the other side. The pancakes should be fully cooked, as the batter contains raw eggs! Serve the cooked pancakes as bread with soups, main dishes, or as a standalone dish with sour cream or melted butter.