I have rephotographed and reposted this recipe from my archives for the upcoming Passover holiday.
How cute is this recipe? Even the name is cute. “Bubaleh.”
My friend Etti Hadar shared this simple Passover recipe with me. Bubaleh is made with just four ingredients – matzo meal, egg, sugar and baking powder (plus a little oil for greasing the pan). It couldn’t be easier. Each batch makes one large bubaleh. It’s like a fluffy, eggy, chametz-free version of a pancake. Serve it on a pretty floral plate, and you’ve got a certifiably adorable breakfast, brunch, brinner or snack – especially when served alongside a dish of my world famous scrambled eggs.
Curious about how baking powder could be kosher for Passover? This issue has been discussed at length on kosher websites across the web. Baking powder is mineral based, not grain based, and therefore it does not fall under the banner of “chametz,” the group of foods that are banned for Passover. There are, in fact, several brands of kosher for Passover baking powder. Some choose not to use baking powder because they feel it does not fit the “spirit” of the Passover holiday. Others have no problem using baking powder, as long as it has a kosher hechsher. Suffice it to say, the choice to use baking powder is a matter of tradition and preference. If you’re not comfortable using baking powder during the holiday, save this recipe to use up your leftover matzo meal after the Passover week is finished.
Top your bubaleh with maple syrup, like a traditional pancake, or get creative with your toppings. My friend Beth likes hers with Passover powdered sugar or sour cream. Sweet jam or fruit toppings like strawberry would be lovely, too. So cute, so yummy… what’s not to love?
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Bubaleh
Ingredients
- 1 large egg
- 1 tablespoon matzo meal
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder (for Passover use a kosher for Passover-certified brand)
- Nonstick cooking oil spray or vegetable oil to grease the pan
NOTES
Instructions
- In a small bowl, whisk together the matzo meal, egg, sugar and baking powder until a yellow batter forms. Make sure the ingredients are well mixed.
- Lightly grease a nonstick skillet; I recommend a medium or large skillet because the bubaleh will be easier to turn. Heat over medium till a drop of water sizzles on the surface. Pour the batter onto the hot skillet, forming a large circular pancake.Let the bubeleh cook for about 2 minutes till bubbles rise and pop on the surface of the batter and the bottom is golden brown. Flip the bubaleh and continue cooking for another 2 minutes or so, till the bubaleh is cooked through and golden on both sides.
- Serve with your choice of toppings-- maple syrup, KFP powdered sugar, butter, sour cream, or jam. Dairy toppings will make the dish dairy instead of parve.
Nutrition
made it without sugar and poured maple syrup over instead. Yummy! Makes two little pancakes for my bubaleh 😉
Hi Tori,
Thank you for posting this yummy looking Passover pancake recipe. Do you think this recipe would work with gluten free matzo meal as my daughter in law is celiac.
Thank you kindly,
Susan
I have not tried that! I think it would probably work, but haven’t tested it myself.
oh, you took me back! my aunt called me bub
elah and my brother tatalah. thanks for the memories!
I make these for my father in law since my mother in law died. He loves them.
This recipe saved me from using boxed Passover pancake mix! I have three small kids so would quadruple the recipe and make variations. Our favourite was to add ripe bananas mashed, cinnamon and blueberries.
A real hit and new holiday breakfast favourite.
Thank you!
These work! I have been looking for a recipe that was close to what my aunt used to make. They were so good that we ate them all year long. If you are vegan, you can use an egg subst (3 T Water to 1 T flax meal, let sit for 15 min in the fridge), but you will need to add a small amount of milk subst (or milk if you consume dairy; I used buttermilk) to get a batter that you can work with. You will also need to cook them much longer, and take more care in flipping them. Your batter will be brown, not yellow.
Sorry, I forgot to add a rating.
Easy and yummy! Thank you for sharing!
First time for me . I just found your sight. I have been making matzo meal pancakes for many years and this is by far the best recipe. I look forward to many other recipes.
Thank you, Janice
Long story , but my husband pulled up this recipe , after talking about pancakes his nanna would make at Passover ( and other times for a treat). He recognized your name bc I talk about your recipes and blogs and he knows I use your challah recipe as a benchmark for other ones ! So he was like , Oh! Tori Avery has it!”
But he looked at the picture and said his nanna’s were “puffier.” So with that I put, I decided she had likely used the whipped eggs white technique a lot of folks talked about in the comments. So, I made a patch using one of the recipes someone provided in comments.
Well, he said he’d used the wrong word , and he didn’t mean puffy , he meant thicker and cake-like. Ok. We ate those, but the texture wasn’t awesome.
So since I always try to recreate what my husband’s nanna made, I tried your recipe but doubled it. They were amazing and he said spot on to Nanna Helen’s! Yay, success !
They’re so delicious and indeed cake like.
Love love love them ! We won’t wait until next year to make them again, that’s for sure. But it was a great treat to end Passover with. Thank you for another great recipe, Tori! I can always count on you!
I thought baking powder was not allowed for Passover! No leavening of any kind is allowed!
Chaya, this is addressed in the blog post above. It is addressed in more detail in this article: https://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/05/dining/05leav.html
Really good but add some milk
Looks lovely, but if it has baking powder it is not Kosher for Passover.
Please read the post – I’ll copy and paste that section here. “Curious about how baking powder could be kosher for Passover? This issue has been discussed at length on kosher websites across the web. Baking powder is mineral based, not grain based, and therefore it does not fall under the banner of ‘chametz,’ the group of foods that are banned for Passover. There are, in fact, several brands of kosher for Passover baking powder. Some choose not to use baking powder because they feel it does not fit the ‘spirit’ of the Passover holiday. Others have no problem using baking powder, as long as it has a kosher hechsher. Suffice it to say, the choice to use baking powder is a matter of tradition and preference. If you’re not comfortable using baking powder during the holiday, save this recipe to use up your leftover matzo meal after the Passover week is finished.”
My father in law would make this at Passover too. His included orange rind and wine. Do you have a recipe that includes these ingredients?
Interesting! No I do not have a recipe similar to that on the site.
My mother (and I) was an enthusiastic Bubaleh maker. Except, she used to beat the egg whites to a froth (not a stiff meringue) and then fold in the yokes so the bubaleh was fluffy and airy.
And add Manishevitz grape or cherry wine instead of sugar to the egg yolk and matzo meal.
Sugar was added after the pancake was done.
Perfect
My bubbie used to make it like this! I loved watching the egg yolk and then the matza meal get folded into the egg whites.
Thanks from Ontario, Canada. For years I had forgotten about the Bubaleh my Mother used to make but just thought, “Bubaleh would be perfect for the group coming this weekend”. I did a web search and found your, sounds exactly right, recipe. I’ll make them for lunch but also make them bite-sized and serve them as appetizers. Delighted to find your website.
We made them tablespoon size and called them matzomeal latkes growing up.
We called them “CHREMSELS”
Here’s my recipe. It does not use Baking Powder!!
1/2 C matzo meal
1/4 tsp salt
1 Tb sugar
3/4 C cold water
3 eggs
Combine matzo meal, salt & sugar
Separate the eggs
Beat yolks & combine w/ water
Add liquid to dry ingredients & let sit 15-20 minutes
Beat whites til stiff & fold into matzo meal mixture
Drop by tablespoons onto well greased griddle/ frypan & brown on both sides
I was also taught that they were chremsels.
Yes, my mother also made these small fluffy pancakes with only beaten egg whites as the leavening agent. We would eat them with a little butter and powdered sugar. I loved using g the old fashioned hand egg beater to whip up the egg whites.
After making this and eating it, who would ever believe such a delicious meal was made from so little!
Thank you for the Bubelah recipe. I used to make them all the time when my kids were little. The recipe was on the back of the Manischewitz box of matzo meal, in the 70’s. Not there any more.
Then I moved to California – nobody here has ever heard of a Bubelah. I think it is an East Coast or maybe a Polish thing. My Bubby and my mother made them all the time.
As for the word Bubbelah, my Bubby always called the little girls Bubelah and the little boys Tatalah. Yes, a term of endearment!!
Super dry.
Sorry to hear that! This doesn’t typically turn out dry for us.
My Grandmother used to make this every time she came over & stayed the night. Except her ingredients were: matzo meal, egg & sour cream. The sugar she would sprinkle on when it was done :). Heavy breakfast but oh so yummy!
Thank you Tori.
Sounds lovely.
Will try it out for my grandchildren.
Mathilde Cobb (Australia)