These yeasted Polish apple pancakes or racuchy z jabłkami are thick, fluffy, delicious and bursting full of fragrant and juicy apple chunks. So incredibly moreish too.
These yeasted apple pancakes are the ones I used to eat growing up and they have always been my favourite pancakes.
As they are yeasted pancakes or (racuchy drożdżowe), they do take that bit longer to make as you need to allow for the batter or dough to prove and for the yeast to do their job.
But boy is that extra hour worth it!
It so is!
💡FUN FACT💡 In Poland we do love "sweet" dinner (or at least that's how it was when I was growing up) so racuchy were quite commonly served as a main meal at the end of the day.
Racuchy z jabłkami would make great alternative to English pancakes served on Shrove Tuesday (Pancake Day) or if you feel even more adventurous you could try Polish Faworki instead.
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✔️ Why you'll love this recipe
- The fluffiest pancakes ever.
- Yeasted batter/dough makes them so much more substantial and filling.
- They keep and reheat really well.
- Can be enjoyed with apples but are also great plain.
- Suitable for breakfast, snack, dessert or, dare I say it, dinner (see Fun Fact above).
- Easy to make vegan.
- Great recipe to venture into Polish cuisine.
📝 Ingredients and substitutes
Here's what you will need to make Polish Apple Pancake (Racuchy z Jabłkami):
Plain (All-Purpose) Flour
Egg - Traditional racuchy are made with eggs and as we do occasionally consume organic, free range eggs, it's included in the recipe. If you'd like to keep these vegan, simply use 1 tablespoon of oil instead of an egg.
Caster or Granulated Sugar - There isn't a lot of sugar in racuchy as they do rely on the sweetness from the apples and of course the topping.
Pinch of salt - Flavour.
Soya Milk - Original recipe uses dairy milk but as we don't consume dairy I opted for soya milk. You can substitute it with any other neutral tasting plant milk or use dairy milk.
Vanilla Extract - In Poland we tend to use vanilla sugar which is basically fine sugar scented with vanilla. I opted for vanilla extract here as it's what most of us will have in our kitchens.
Yeast - When I was growing up most people would use fresh yeast. That's changing now a bit although fresh yeast is still the most popular one and widely available to buy in most shops in Poland. In the UK, on the contrary, fresh yeast is very hard to come by hence my recipe uses quick/instant dried yeast. If you'd like to use fresh yeast, however, I have included some advice below.
Ground Cinnamon - As far as I'm concerned, where there are apples, there must be cinnamon hence its addition here. You can omit it if you wish.
Apples - Use your favourite eating apples. These pancakes don't contain a lot of added sugar so the sweeter the apples, the sweeter the pancakes.
🔪 Instructions
Ingredient quantities & detailed instructions to be found in recipe card at the bottom of the post.
In a large bowl mix together flour, sugar, salt, cinnamon (if using) and yeast.
***Quick Tip*** I like to use a whisk for mixing but you could also sieve flour into the bowl first, add sugar, salt, cinnamon (if using) and yeast and mix them all together with a spoon or spatula.
Pour the milk into a small saucepan and heat it up very gently until just warm to touch.
***Quick Tip*** If you have digital thermometer you want your milk to be anything between 38–43ºC/100–110ºF. Alternatively, you can put clean finger into the milk and if it feels just warm to touch it's the right temperature.
Next, to the bowl with flour mixture add one egg and vanilla extract.
As you start mixing them into the flour, slowly start adding warm milk and whisking it into the mixture. Once all the milk has been added, continue whisking the batter until it's nice and smooth (similar to really thick pancake batter).
***Quick Tip*** You could use hand mixer here instead of a whisk.
Cover the bowl with clean tea towel or plastic shower cap and leave it somewhere warm for about an hour to prove.
Towards the end of proving time, peel, core and cut the apples into small chunks.
***Quick Tip*** The smaller the apple chunks the quicker your pancakes will cook but if you like biting into apple pieces don't cut them too small. Conversely, if you have a picky eater who doesn't like apples, you can grate them instead.
Add them into proved batter and fold them in gently. Let the batter sit for another 10-15 minutes.
Once pancake batter had another quick rest, you can start frying pancakes.
Put little bit of oil in a frying pan and let it get nice and hot. Spoon 1 heaped table/soup spoon of batter per pancake onto a pan and fry until puffed, golden and edges are starting to come away from the pan. Flip your pancakes and fry on the other side.
***Quick Tip*** Once your pan is nice and hot, keep it on low to medium-low to ensure pancakes are cooked both on the outside and on the inside without burning.
When ready, transfer the pancakes onto a plate lined with some paper towel and repeat the process with remaining pancake batter.
To serve, sprinkle with icing sugar and enjoy!
🥞 Making racuchy with fresh yeast
You will need approx. 14g of fresh yeast (double the weight of quick instant yeast) to make racuchy z jabłkami.
Before you can use it, first you need to activate fresh yeast by crumbling it into few tablespoons warmed up milk (REMEMBER: Milk should be warm to touch but not too hot as it will kill the yeast) and adding 1 tablespoon of sugar and 2 tablespoon of flour (all out of the prepared quantities as per recipe not extra amount).
Whisk the mixture well to dissolve the yeast, cover and let sit for about 20 minutes until puffed up a bit and/or bubbly.
***Quick Tip*** Make sure to put the bowl with yeast somewhere warm to speed up activation process.
Next, add the remaining ingredients to prepare the batter/dough (with the exception of apples) and proceed as per the recipe using quick dried yeast.
🥡 Storing
Store: Leftover racuchy can be stored in the fridge for up to 4 days.
Reheat: The best way to reheat them is in a dry pan over a low heat until warmed through. Alternatively, you can do so in low oven at 160-170°C (320-340°F) for a few minutes until warm.
My favourite way of reheating Polish apple pancakes is in the air fryer. I use reheat setting at 170°C/340°F for 4-5 minutes. They come out perfectly crispy on the outside and fluffy and soft on the inside, just like on the day they were made.
Microwave would be my last resort as it will make your pancakes soggy.
Freezing: I wouldn't recommend freezing racuchy as the consistency after defrosting might be a bit rubbery.
💭 Pro Tips
For best results, always use digital scale to weigh out the ingredients.
Good shallow, non-stick pancake/crepe pan or cast iron griddle/pancake pan makes frying pancakes so much easier.
Make sure to heat up your pan and the oil well before frying pancakes. This will ensure they won't soak up too much fat and remain light and fluffy.
As much as really hot pan is important, when frying your pancakes, keep the heat relatively low to medium-low. You want pancakes to cook through, no raw middle and no burnt outside either.
Keep apple chunks relatively small (I always cut mine too big) as it will help with even cooking.
Only flip your pancakes when you can easily slide the spatula underneath without them falling apart. The bottom should be golden and the edges should be crispy and coming away from the pan.
To keep pancakes warm as you fry, pop them in the oven preheated to 80°C (176°F) until you're ready to serve. Make sure to keep them in single layer or they will go soggy.
❓ FAQ
Yes you can although they will be completely different pancakes.
Simply use 2tsp baking powder instead of yeast and skip proving the dough. Once you've mixed the batter you are ready to fry the pancakes straight away.
My recipe is dairy free as I used soya instead of traditional dairy milk to make them. You can also make them vegan by swapping egg for 1 tablespoon of oil.
Traditional way of serving racuchy is dusting them very, very generously with icing sugar. However, they will be lovely with any liquid sweetener of choice like maple syrup, honey, agave syrup. Your favourite jam or spread would go really nicely as a topping too.
Have you tried my Polish Apple Pancakes (Racuchy z Jabłkami) recipe?
Please consider giving it ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating in recipe card below and share your views or tips in the comments.
😋 More pancake recipes
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📋 Recipe
Polish Apple Pancakes (Racuchy z Jabłkami)
Equipment
Ingredients
- 250 g plain (all-purpose) flour
- 30 g caster or granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoon dried quick yeast (7g sachet) see notes
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon optional
- pinch of salt
- 1 large egg see notes
- 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 250 ml soya milk see notes
- 3-4 eating apples use your favourite eating apples; I like Gala
- oil for frying I use cold-pressed rapeseed oil
- Icing sugar to serve
Instructions
- In a large bowl mix together flour, sugar, salt, cinnamon (if using) and yeast. ***Quick Tip*** I like to use a whisk for mixing but you could also sieve flour into the bowl first, add sugar, salt, cinnamon (if using) and yeast and mix them all together with a spoon or spatula.250 g plain (all-purpose) flour, 30 g caster or granulated sugar, 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, pinch of salt, 2 teaspoon dried quick yeast (7g sachet)
- Pour the milk into a small saucepan and heat it up very gently until just warm to touch. It will take less than 30 seconds. ***Quick Tip*** If you have digital thermometer you want your milk to be anything between 38–43ºC/100–110ºF. Alternatively, you can put clean fingers into the milk and if it feels just warm to touch it's the right temperature.250 ml soya milk
- Next, to the bowl with flour mixture add one egg and vanilla extract. As you start mixing them into the flour, slowly start adding warm milk and whisking it into the mixture. Once all the milk has been added, continue whisking the batter until it's nice and smooth (similar to really thick pancake batter).***Quick Tip*** You could use hand mixer here instead of the whisk.1 large egg, 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Cover the bowl with clean tea towel or plastic shower cap and leave it somewhere warm for about an hour to rest.
- Towards the end of proving time, peel, core and cut the apples into small chunks. ***Quick Tip*** The smaller the apple chunks the quicker your pancakes will cook but if you like biting into apple pieces don't cut them too small. Conversely, if you have a picky eater who doesn't like apples, you can grate them instead.Add them into proved batter and fold them in gently. Let the batter sit for another 10-15 minutes.3-4 eating apples
- Once pancake batter had another quick rest, you can start frying pancakes. Put little bit of oil in a frying pan and let it get nice and hot. Spoon 1 heaped table/soup spoon of batter per pancake onto a pan and fry until puffed, golden and edges are starting to come away from the pan. Flip your pancakes and fry on the other side. ***Quick Tip*** Once your pan is nice and hot, keep it on low to medium-low to ensure pancakes are cooked both on the outside and on the inside without burning.
- When ready, transfer the pancakes onto a plate lined with some paper towel and repeat the process with remaining pancake batter. To serve, sprinkle with icing sugar and enjoy!
Notes
- Nutritional information is per pancakes based on 15 pancakes and does not include oil for frying and icing sugar for serving.
- You can make these pancakes with fresh yeast instead of dried. You will need 14g of fresh yeast which you will need to activate first. See MAKING RACUCHY WITH FRESH YEAST above.
- Egg can be substituted with 1 tablespoon of neutral oil to make these pancakes vegan.
- Traditionally racuchy are made with dairy milk which I substituted for soya. Feel free to use any neutral plant milk instead.
- Leftover apple pancakes can be kept in the fridge for up to 4 days.
- Reheat in a dry pan, low oven at 160-170°C (320-340°F), air fryer (4-5 minutes at 170°C (340°F) or microwave (don't recommend as they'll go soggy).
- I don't recommend freezing.
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