Name: Baghrir with Orange Butter Sauce | Moroccan Semolina Pancake
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 35 min
Ingredients: Semolina flour - 1 1/2 cups; All Purpose flour - 1/2 cup; Active Dry Yeast - 1 Tbsp; Sugar - 1 tbsp; Salt - 1/4 tsp; Warm Water - 2 to 2 1/2 cups (as needed); Butter - 2 tbsp; Honey - 1 Tbsp; Orange Juice - 1/4 cup (from freshly squeezed orange)

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Baghrir is a famous pancake / crepe from the North African cuisine especially the Moroccan region. It is also called as ‘1000 holes Pancake’ as it is a soft and spongy pancake with many holes. When looking for breakfast recipes from different countries, this recipe was top on my list. My boys love pancakes on weekend and I wanted to give it a try.

I always have a batch of semolina flour in my pantry to make my most popular Semolina Bread. If you have not tried the Semolina Bread yet, now is a good time to bake a loaf and use the rest of the semolina flour to make Baghrir.

The Baghrir is made traditionally with fine semolina flour and a little bit of plain flour (all purpose flour). They could also be just made with semolina flour, but I added a bit of all purpose flour for texture. Baghrir is cooked just on one side and is served with honey and butter. I made a orange butter sauce to go along with the Baghrir and it was one of the best weekend breakfast recipe.

I said it was the best weekend breakfast recipe because it needs a bit of fermentation time. The Baghrir’s though freeze very well and can be made ahead of time to be eaten during the week. The traditional Baghrir just has flour, yeast, sugar, salt and water. Lately, people have started using milk and egg along with other flavorings like orange juice in the batter.

The Baghrir is super soft and spongy and a visual treat. It tastes amazing drenched with some warm honey and butter. The orange butter sauce though, just took the Baghrir to the next level. It had a fresh citrus flavor with the richness of the butter. The kids loved it for breakfast.

I have made the Baghrir completely Vegan, adding no milk or egg to the batter. The Orange sauce though has butter and honey in it which could be easily replaced with coconut oil and agave syrup to make it vegan.

After the Indian breakfast of Akki Roti yesterday, I have Baghrir with Orange Butter Sauce today under Breakfast for the alphabet B.

My Other Posts in the A – Z Explore the Flavors Series

A for Akki Roti – Breakfast

Preparation time – 10 minutes plus 2 to 4 hours of resting time
Cooking time – about 20 minutes
Difficulty level – Beginner
Recipe adapted from – Fleur d’oranger, Masala & Co

Ingredients to Make Baghrir – Makes around 15 pancakes

Semolina flour – 1 1/2 cups
All Purpose flour – 1/2 cup
Active Dry Yeast – 1 Tbsp
Sugar – 1 tbsp
Salt – 1/4 tsp
Warm Water – 2 to 2 1/2 cups (as needed)

Ingredients to make the Orange Butter Sauce –

Butter – 2 tbsp
Honey – 1 Tbsp
Orange Juice – 1/4 cup (from freshly squeezed orange)

Procedure to Make Baghrir –

In about 1/2 cup of warm water, add the sugar and the yeast and let it sit for about 10 minutes or until the yeast becomes bubbly and frothy.
In a blender jar, add about 1 cup of warm water, both the flour and salt. Add the proofed yeast mixture and run the blender for 10 seconds. Add more warm water if needed to make a smooth batter. Run the blender for couple of minutes to incorporate more air to the batter. This will make the Baghrir very lacey and fluffy.
Transfer the batter to a bowl and let it ferment for at last couple of hours in a warm place. The batter should appear very bubbly before we start making the pancakes.

I left mine for about 3 hours to ferment. After fermenting, mix the batter gently to combine everything well.
When ready to make the pancakes, heat a non stick pan and spray very lightly with oil. We could also use a paper towel sprayed with oil and wipe the pan.
Once the pan is hot, add a ladle full of batter and gently swirl the pan for the batter to spread. Do not make the pancake too thin or too thick. Too thin will not have as many holes and too thick will not cook too well.

Let the baghrir cook on low to medium flame for couple of minutes until the top appears dry and cooked. The pancakes will be cooked only on one side and hence it important to cook them well.
Remove the baghrir from the pan and keep them separated by placing parchment papers between them. They would stick if stacked up.

Procedure to Make the Orange Butter Sauce –

Heat the butter in a pan. Once the butter melts, add the honey.
When the honey melts, add the orange juice and mix well.
Let the sauce simmer for minute and serve warm.

Notes and Observations –

The batter has to be rested enough to be fermented as that is when it will have the many holes appear on the Baghrir. If the batter does not ferment well, the number of holes and the texture of Baghrir will be different.
The pan should be in medium heat when cooking the Baghrir. If the pan is too hot, the outside will cook and the inside will remain under cooked.
The baghrir’s should not be stacked as it will stick to each other. Keep them separated by layering a parchment sheep in between them.
The Baghrir’s freeze well. Keep them layered between parchment and then slightly warm it in microwave before serving.
The baghrir’s can be served with pancake syrup, or just honey and butter. The orange flavored butter sauce just adds a layer of fresh flavor and works great.