Leftover matzo? Turn it into pancakes
I have a love-hate relationship with matzo. It’s boring, tough, and yet also deliciously light with such a distinctive toasted flavor. In short: I enjoy eating it at Easter, and then it languishes in the pantry. Until I heard about matzo pancakes.
They’re called chremslach. Good luck pronouncing that, but the great thing is: you only need two ingredients. Matzo and eggs. Okay, also a little salt, water, and butter. But I’m guessing you have all of that at home (especially after Easter, or rather: Pesach, when Jewish people traditionally eat them).
Chremslach: how to make them
This recipe hardly deserves to be called a recipe—it’s that simple. Take some matzo and break it into small pieces. They absolutely don’t have to be uniform; in fact, preferably not: a mixture of very fine and somewhat larger pieces makes for a lovely texture.
Next, soak them in cold water to soften them a little. Drain them again after a minute or two, then mix in a few (already beaten) eggs. Add a pinch of salt and there you have it: your ‘matzo batter’.
How pourable your batter is depends on how finely you broke up the matzo. If the pieces are somewhat larger, it may develop more of a fritter-like texture than a pancake texture, but it won’t taste any less delicious.
Heat a pan, melt some butter in it, add a little batter, and start frying.
Chremslach: how to eat them
Straight from the pan, while they’re still warm, they’re already fantastic. But to really finish them off—and to eat them the way Jewish people traditionally do—top them with a generous layer of sugar. Perfect with that warm toasted flavor. Mmm…
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