Fluffy Oladi Ukrainian Pancakes +Video

Fluffy Ukrainian pancakes, or oladi, are crispy around the edges and soft and delicious in the middle. Here’s a surprise for you, these pancakes are made with yeast! But don’t worry, they are as easy as a quick bread! In fact, they are my new favorite breakfast recipe!

Our buttermilk pancake recipe is one of the most popular on the blog, and they are to die for, but these Ukrainian pancakes have stolen my heart and tastebuds!

These yeasted pancakes are cooked in a pan with a little more oil than traditional American pancakes so they get almost fried crispy edges. Mmmm and that hint of sourdough, gosh it’s good! They are almost fritter-like on the outside but takes like pancakes in the middle. Seriously, where have these Ukrainian pancakes been my whole life?? I need to explore more Ukrainian food!

What is Oladi?

Oladi is a type of pancake that originates in Ukraine and Russia. They are traditionally made with kefir, a fermented milk made from kefir grains common in the area. For this recipe, we will use buttermilk, but feel free to use kefir if you want to! They are pan fried in a little oil and usually served with sour cream and a fruit jam.

Oladi is not to be confused the Russian pancakes called blini. Those are usually served with savory toppings like caviar and salmon. Oladi can be served with savory toppings but are usually served as a sweet breakfast.

How to Make Oladi Ukrainian PancakesVideo

What Do I Need to Make Ukrainian Pancakes?

I know, you hear “Ukrainian pancakes” and you think it’s going to call for ingredients that are out of the norm. Well, I have the best news ever! This pancake recipe is made with pantry staples! So you can probably head to the kitchen right now and start whipping up a batch of oladi. Here is everything you need:

• Water: the warm water helps activate the yeast
• Buttermilk: adds flavor and rise to the pancakes
• Egg: should be at room temperature and helps binds all the ingredients together
• Extra-light Olive Oil: adds a little fat to the pancake batter, and then we will

The Best Buttermilk Syrup Recipe

Top your favorite sweet breakfast recipe with liquid gold, aka buttermilk syrup, the best syrup on earth!

It is the best topping for pancakes, waffles, french toast and just about anything else you can imagine. It’s thick, sweet, buttery and totally divine. It tastes like you are pouring buttery caramel all over your breakfast. Think Kneaders or Magleby’s syrup for all my Utah readers.

This is one of those recipes that I grew up with and I don’t know why, but it took me years to remember it and bring it back with my family. It’s absolutely the best syrup around and trust me, you have to try it yourself to understand. It’s not at all buttermilk-y in taste, but creamy, light, sweet, and oh so amazing. It tastes like a caramel sauce but lighter. I can barely stand to not lick my plate when breakfast is over just to get ever last bit. Ok, I do…I lick my plate clean and I am not ashamed!

Ingredients Needed for Buttermilk Syrup

All you need is 6 ingredients to make this homemade buttermilk syrup and most of them are pantry staples. Here is what you will need…

• Butter: unsalted is preferred and it creates the base for the syrup
• White Sugar: just regular granulated sugar
• Buttermilk: makes the syrup extra creamy
• Vanilla: adds flavor
• Corn Syrup: enhances the caramel flavor
• Baking Soda: The secret ingredient that may seem odd but trust me! It can’t be skipped!

The measurement for each ingredient can be found in the recipe card at the end of this post.

How to Make Buttermilk Syrup

Making this buttermilk syrup recipe at home takes less than 10 minutes and can totally be done simultaneously while you are cooking pancakes or waffles. Here are the basic steps…

1. Melt: Get the butter melting in a large saucepan on the stove top over medium heat. Add the sugar, buttermilk, vanilla and corn syrup and stir everything to combine.
2. Boil: Allow the mixture to come to a rolling bowl and then remove the pan from the heat and add the baking soda stirring it in to combine.
   • NOTE: The syrup will foam up quite a bit (see picture below to see the amount of foam, this is totally normal) so make sure your pot is big with plenty of room. I will sometimes hold my pan over the sink when I add the baking soda just in case it foams over. We don’t want a sugary mess all over the stove top! There’s nothing worse!
3. Simmer: Place the pan back over the heat and whisk for about 30 seconds to allow everything to incorporate. Then it is ready to serve!

The complete instructions can be found in the recipe card at the end of the post.

Tips and Variations<

Buttermilk Syrup is creamy, rich with brown sugar, buttermilk, and butter, and somewhat reminiscent of caramel. However, it isn’t nearly as sweet as a traditional caramel sauce and it’s pure breakfast heaven when poured over a stack of hot pancakes.

Homemade Syrup

While my cousin Hannah was visiting me in Phoenix several years ago, we tried out some new restaurants. One of the meals we enjoyed most involved waffles with buttermilk syrup.

I have a weakness for great homemade syrup and sauces, as evidenced by the popularity of my grandmother’s Waffle Sauce and this Brown Sugar Syrup. However, I’d never tasted a buttermilk syrup before that day.

As soon as we were home, I told Hannah we needed to figure out how to make Buttermilk Syrup. As you know, I’m a breakfast all day long kind of person and I will happily eat waffles, pancakes, and pretty much every other breakfast we make at any time of the day.

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Light and fluffy, slightly tangy, Buttermilk Pancakes – these are the diner style pancakes that you love. This recipe is the reason there is always buttermilk in our fridge.

Topped with maple syrup, buttermilk syrup, brown sugar butter syrup, berry sauce and whipped cream, or whipped strawberry butter, you can’t go wrong with any of these combinations.

Stavs Diner

For over 20 years now, I’ve held fast to our family’s favorite pancake recipe. And, yes, I still think those are some of the best pancakes you’ll ever eat, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t plenty more awesome pancakes to enjoy.

And these buttermilk pancakes? This recipe is the reason there is now a perpetual stash of buttermilk in my refrigerator.

There is a diner here in Ohio that makes absolutely amazing pancakes. They’re diner-style buttermilk pancakes like no others I’ve ever tasted. Sean and I stopped for breakfast at Stav’s Diner one morning several years ago when we visited Columbus while looking at houses before we moved.

We’ve been back to Stav’s several times since we moved, it’s always worth the drive to Bexley. If you’re in the area, this is a great open kitchen place and we’ve never had a bite there that wasn’t delicious.

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Some foods are so basic, so incredibly simple, that it can be difficult to describe their awesomeness. That’s how I feel about cottage cheese with fruit. Two ingredients. Just TWO.

And yet, cottage cheese and berries have a permanent place in my refrigerator. Whether this is my breakfast, an afternoon snack, or a sweet bite after dinner, I eat this nearly every single day.

Cottage Cheese with Fruit

About a year ago, a friend mentioned to me how much he enjoyed eating cottage cheese with berries after his workouts. I hadn’t tried that combination before, never having been a huge fan of cottage cheese. (I was always a Greek yogurt girl before and usually with a bunch of other things added to it.)

If I’m being honest, the amount of protein in the cottage cheese was what finally got me to try it. Oh. My. Word. I had been missing out! (Sorry, Lynne, for all the times I messed with you for enjoying cottage cheese so much. Turns out I just hadn’t tried the right combination.)

Cottage Cheese with Berries

Growing up, we always had cottage cheese in the house. It was usually eaten plain and that’s about all I remembered. I’ve certainly baked with it and I