Canjeero (Sourdough Pancake)
Updated April 13, 2026
Julia Gartland for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Spencer Richards.
- Ready In
- 8 hr 45 min
- (45 min plus overnight fermentation)
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
2 teaspoons active dry yeast
2 cups plus 4 teaspoons/500 milliliters warm water
2 cups/256 grams all-purpose flour
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons/128 grams white corn flour (see Tip)
Pinch of fine sea salt
Vegetable oil, for greasing the pan
Preparation
- Step 1
In a large bowl, combine the yeast and ¼ cup/60 milliliters of the warm water; wait 10 minutes for the yeast to activate.
- Step 2
When the yeast is foamy, add the all-purpose flour, corn flour, salt, and 1¼ cups/300 milliliters of the warm water and mix with your hand until evenly incorporated. Use a downward scooping motion to pick the thick batter up and then slap it into the bowl from your palm; repeat for 5 minutes.
- Step 3
Add the remaining ½ cup plus 4 teaspoons/140 milliliters warm water and mix it into the dough. Cover the bowl with a lid or plastic wrap and set aside at room temperature to allow the dough to rise and ferment overnight.
- Step 4
The next day, mix the separated batter back into itself until it’s smooth and slightly thinner than pancake batter. Grease a 10-inch nonstick crepe pan or cast-iron griddle with oil (spread it with a paper towel) and heat the pan over medium-high until it’s hot but not smoking. Ladle ¼ cup of the batter into the center of the hot pan and spread it in a circular swirling motion with the back of the ladle, spiraling out from the center to the edges, as far as the batter will allow. Immediately cover the pan with a lid and cook until the canjeero is browned on the bottom and the batter on the surface has dried, 1 to 2 minutes.
- Step 5
Remove the lid and transfer the canjeero from the pan to a plate; cover with a second plate so the pancake doesn’t dry out. Repeat the process until all the batter has been used, greasing the pan as needed so the canjeero doesn’t stick. Serve warm.
If there is difficulty finding white corn flour in stores, order it online instead (look for Asli Fine Foods or SWAD brands).
Do make sure to also save a little bit of the batter to use as a starter for a future batch of canjeero: Refrigerate about ¼ cup of the fermented batter and use it instead of the yeast and warm water in step 1.
Private Notes
Comments
Confused: why use yeast for sourdough? Use sourdough starter instead?
How are these pancakes typically served? Are there common fillings or toppings?
This recipe seems similar to Ethiopian Injera, except that Injera uses teff flour and only natural fermentation from airborne yeasts & lactobacilli, much like South Indian dosa. Yes, you can use sourdough starter, which also makes for a more reliable/predictable recipe. As a cheat for those who lack starter and want to use yeast, 1 tbsp of live-culture yoghurt mixed with the flour & salt would introduce the lactobacilli.
What is the measurement that has a fraction in the middle…I don’t understand that.
Some of the ingredients listed use a slash (aka fraction bar) to indicate the choice between traditional measurement and metric measurement
Bob’s Red Mill offers sorghum flour. I wonder if this recipe, as written, would work with sorghum instead of wheat and corn. (But I’m sure the wheat/corn adaptation is useful.)
This recipe seems similar to Ethiopian Injera, except that Injera uses teff flour and only natural fermentation from airborne yeasts & lactobacilli, much like South Indian dosa. Yes, you can use sourdough starter, which also makes for a more reliable/predictable recipe. As a cheat for those who lack starter and want to use yeast, 1 tbsp of live-culture yoghurt mixed with the flour & salt would introduce the lactobacilli.