Honey
Honey is a bee-made food from floral nectar or honeydew; breads use it in dough or as a syrup served with cooked griddle breads.
Baghrir
Beghrir · Baghrir pancakes · Moroccan semolina pancakes
Moroccan semolina pancakes made from a thin yeast batter, rested until foamy and cooked on one side until the surface sets with a honeycomb of holes. This source-specific batch makes sixteen 5-inch pancakes.
A honeycombed Moroccan pancake
Christine Benlafquih describes beghrir, also called baghrir, as a Moroccan semolina pancake whose yeast batter makes bubbles rise and break at the surface during cooking. The characteristic holes form while the pancake cooks on one side. She describes serving it with butter-and-honey syrup or offering honey, preserves or jam alongside.
This version uses both dry yeast and baking powder and rests for only 10–15 minutes. Benlafquih notes that baking powder sped up the preparation compared with batters that once needed a longer rest. The recipe is one contemporary formula; its measures and short timing should not be read as a single historical or universal method.
Sources for this section
History
Christine Benlafquih describes beghrir or baghrir as Moroccan semolina pancakes and notes that some quicker formulas use baking powder. This record follows her specific contemporary yeast-and-baking-powder recipe and makes no claim about when or where the food first arose.
Ingredients
Yield 16 pancakes, about 5 inches (12 cm) across · Scaling: source batch only
355 mL1½ cup as recorded
177 mL¾ cup as recorded
Dry yeast
15 mL1 tbsp as recorded
9.9 mL2 tsp as recorded
4.9 mL1 tsp as recorded
4.9 mL1 tsp as recorded
710 mL3 cup as recorded
plus 2 tablespoonsMethod
Risks and precautions · Standard risk
Raw flour batter
The batter contains uncooked wheat and semolina flour and should be cooked before eating.
Hazard sourceCook the poured batter on the pan until its surface has no wet patches and feels set, as the recipe directs. The source gives no validated storage or internal-temperature limit.
Control sourceDo not eat the uncooked batter; the source method cooks each pancake on the pan until its surface is set.
- Put all ingredients in a blender or food processor. Blend on medium-high for about one minute until the batter is smooth and creamy; stop to scrape down the sides if ingredients stick.
- Transfer the batter to a bowl and cover it. Leave it for 10–15 minutes, until it looks light and foamy with many small bubbles.
- Heat a nonstick crepe pan or small skillet over medium heat. Stir the batter with a ladle, then pour some into the center of the hot pan. Let it spread into a circle without swirling the pan.
- Cook without turning for about 1–2 minutes, until the top has no wet patches and feels set and spongy. Move the pancake to a clean towel to cool.
- Repeat with the remaining batter. Adjust the heat if the bottoms brown too much. Cool each pancake in a single layer before stacking so they do not stick together.
- Serve with melted butter and honey syrup, or offer toppings and spreads at the side.
Conditions
Yield16 pancakes, about 5 inches (12 cm) across
Active time5 min
Fermentation0.17–0.25 h
Places
Morocco
Documented preparation · Country evidenceThe inspected author identifies beghrir as Moroccan; this country-level source does not establish a precise origin.
Related
Made from
Semolina
Semolina is a granular wheat milling product; in many markets it means durum, while some standards also use the name for other wheat. In sourdough English muffins, it is an optional surface coating, not the main flour.
More from Morocco
Batbout
A Moroccan yeast-raised semolina pocket bread cooked on a dry pan or griddle; this measured batch makes about twenty 4-inch rounds.
Khobz
A Moroccan round wheat bread with a firm crust and coarse interior; this home formula makes two 8-inch loaves for serving with meals.
Krachel
Krachel, also called el gors, are Moroccan sweet yeast rolls scented with anise, sesame and orange flower water. This version follows the three-rise method documented by Christine Benlafquih.
Meloui
A Moroccan round laminated griddle bread; thin sheets of a lightly yeasted semolina dough are buttered, rolled into layered coils, sliced and flattened.
Msemen
A square Moroccan layered griddle bread made from lightly yeasted wheat dough, stretched thin, folded with semolina and butter, and cooked until crisp and golden.
Amlou
Amlou is a nutty, lightly sweet Moroccan spread of roasted almonds, culinary argan oil and honey. The almonds are ground first, then loosened with oil and sweetened; the balance can range from a thick spread to a dip.
Fresh chermoula
Fresh chermoula is a chopped-herb Moroccan-style sauce of coriander, parsley, garlic, lemon, olive oil and warm spices, made here as an explicitly untested development formula.
Garum (garos, liquamen)
Garum, Greek garos and Latin liquamen, was the fish sauce of the ancient Mediterranean: fish and viscera salted and left in the sun, then drained off as a savoury liquid.
Related in the family
Ablo (rice-based steamed bread)
Soft, lightly tangy steamed cereal bread documented across Benin and Togo. This page gives one measured rice-flour research method; maize-based Ablo and mixed-grain versions remain distinct traditions.
Alsatian kouglof
An enriched Alsatian yeast ring with raisins and almonds, kneaded with butter, proofed in a fluted mould and baked until browned.
Anpan
Anpan is a soft wheat bun filled with sweet red-bean paste and finished with egg wash and black sesame. This dough rises with commercial instant yeast.
Belokranjska pogača
A round Slovenian flatbread scored in a grid and topped with caraway and coarse salt.
Biga
Biga is an Italian bread preferment of flour, water and a little yeast, usually a stiff unsalted mass of about 45 per cent water, fermented ahead and then mixed into the final dough.
Bo lo bao
Hong Kong-style pineapple buns have soft yeast dough beneath a crisp, sweet pastry topping.
Bolo do caco: pan-and-oven version
Sweet-potato wheat breads with fresh yeast, browned in a pan and finished in the oven. This is the bread component of Teleculinária's scrambled-egg dish.
Char Siu Bao (Wei Guo’s 14-bun recipe)
Fourteen fluffy steamed buns filled with cooked char siu and a thickened oyster-soy sauce.
Community
No community contributions have been published for this entry yet.
Share what you made
Sign in to contribute. Published comments and photos are free to read.
Sources
Taste of MarocInspiration · Method · History
Beghrir – Moroccan Semolina PancakesThe US-measure ingredient quantities, 16 pancake yield, preparation and cook times, batter blending and rest, pan method, one-sided cooking and serving suggestions.
The author's account of Moroccan beghrir's honeycomb surface, semolina flour, usual one-sided cooking and the role of baking powder in quicker batter formulas.
Cited in: A honeycombed Moroccan pancake