Famous Japanese pancakes here the whole grain oat dorayaki, become a complete breakfast or snack when filled with the classic anko, a sweet and delicious adzuki bean jam. On the other hand, dorayaki can be filled with nut creams. Let’s avoid perhaps the classic supermarket chocolate spread which is not really that healthy.

The classic version of Japanese dorayaki is made with all-purpose flour, but not using refined flours I opted for organic whole grain oat flour.

The history of Dorayaki:

The Dorayaki originates from the Japanese Edo period and at that time it was made with a single layer, not double. It took its name from its shape resembling a small gong, which translates to Dora (gong) and Yaki (grilled).

Then in 1914 they thought of closing it like a sandwich with another pancake on top and filling it not only with anko but also alternatively with a matcha tea cream.

The batter differs from that of the classic pancake because it does not contain milk, butter, or oil. In Japanese, this typical water-based batter for dorayaki is called Kasutera. The dorayaki batter, if possible, should be left to rest for half an hour before pouring it into the pan, so it will be softer.

Unfortunately, here we often find dorayaki filled with Nutella. Why don’t we use whole grain oat or spelt flour or other whole grain flours, sweeten with a bit of malt or honey or even brown rice syrup, and fill with a cream of 100% hazelnuts mixed with cocoa and malt or with anko?

We can spread the dorayaki also with homemade compote, without added sugars, add a pinch of cinnamon or almond granules or even fresh fruit. They’re also delicious filled with kefir, try them.

This time filled with anko with even less sugar, in fact, I’ve only added 1 tablespoon of brown rice syrup, because adzuki beans are already sweet on their own.

The dorayaki batter contains eggs, if you want a vegan dorayaki, here’s a recipe for pancakes to which you will add an extra teaspoon of cream of tartar to increase the thickness during cooking.

Try other special pancakes, here are the recipes and also the quick version of anko, the famous sweet adzuki bean compote:

Start with a jar of cooked adzuki beans preserved in water and salt and rinse them well.
Pour them into a small pot, with 70 ml of water and a tablespoon of malt or brown rice syrup, and cook over low heat for 20 minutes until the compote dries up and becomes like a jam. Blend well with an immersion blender and the quick version of anko is ready.