A classic Japanese confection, Dorayaki is a honey pancake sandwich filled with sweet red bean paste called anko. It‘s a wildly popular snack and dessert among children and adults alike in Japan.
Dorayaki (どら焼き) is best described as a dessert with red bean filling between two slices of sweet fluffy pancakes. If you are familiar with Japanese cartoons from the ’70s, you probably know this dessert from the anime character Doraemon who is crazy about this snack and falls for any trap involving them.
Different Types of Dorayaki
Besides Doraemon, my entire family including my children and husband all love this snack. This traditional Japanese confectionery is most commonly filled with sweet azuki red bean paste called anko; however, custard cream (recipe), chestnuts (kuri), and cream (matcha cream, cream with fruits, etc) are also popular.
The soft moist honey pancake with sweet red bean filling goes perfectly with warm and slightly bitter Japanese green tea. I am drooling just thinking about these tasty pancake snacks.
Golden Brown Dorayaki Pancakes
For perfect golden brown pancakes, make sure to wipe off all excess oil on the frying pan’s surface. If you leave oil streaks on the pan, the pancakes will not turn into nice golden color without spots. Don’t worry if the first few don’t turn out perfect, just keep going and you’ll get the hang of it very quickly.
Most of the Japanese confectionery stores in Japan carry these traditional sweets. Here in the U.S., Japanese and Asian grocery stores carry packaged dorayaki. They taste good, but homemade ones are very easy to make and I hope you give this homemade recipe a try!
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Dorayaki (Japanese Red Bean Pancake)
Video
Ingredients
- 4 large eggs (50 g each w/o shell)
- 140 g sugar (⅔ cup + ½ Tbsp)
- 2 Tbsp honey
- 1⅓ cups all-purpose flour (plain flour) (weigh your flour or use the “fluff and sprinkle“ method and level it off)
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1–2 Tbsp water (adjust to achieve the desired batter consistency)
- neutral oil (for greasing the pan)
- 1.1 lb sweet red bean paste (anko) (you can make Homemade Anko)
Instructions
- Before You Start: I highly encourage you to weigh your ingredients using a kitchen scale for this recipe. Click on the “Metric“ button at the top of the recipe to convert the ingredient measurements to metric. If you‘re using a cup measurement, please follow the “fluff and sprinkle“ method: Fluff your flour with a spoon, sprinkle the flour into your measuring cup, and level it off. Otherwise, you may scoop more flour than you need.Gather all the ingredients.
To Make the Batter
- In a large bowl, combine 4 large eggs (50 g each w/o shell), 140 g sugar (⅔ cup + ½ Tbsp), and 2 Tbsp honey. Whisk well until the mixture becomes fluffy.
- Sift 1⅓ cups all-purpose flour (plain flour) and 1 tsp baking powder into the bowl with the egg mixture and mix until combined. Put the bowl in the refrigerator to rest the batter for 15 minutes.
- After resting, the batter should be relaxed and slightly smoother. Now, stir in half of the 1–2 Tbsp water and check the consistency. It should be similar to pancake batter. Add more of the water, as needed, until you achieve the right consistency. Depending on the size of the eggs and how accurate your flour measurement is, the water amount may vary.
To Cook the Honey Pancakes
- Heat a large nonstick frying pan over the lowest heat setting for 5 minutes. It‘s best to take your time and heat the pan slowly. When it is thoroughly heated with no hot spots, increase the heat to medium low. Dip a paper towel in neutral oil and coat the bottom of the pan with oil. Then, use another paper towel to remove the oil completely. This is the key to evenly golden brown Dorayaki pancakes. With a ladle or a small measuring cup (I use a 4 Tbsp measuring cup), pour 3 Tbsp of the batter from 3 inches (8 cm) above the pan to create a pancake that‘s 3 inches (8 cm) in diameter. Cook one pancake at a time.
- When you see the surface of the batter starting to bubble, flip the pancake over and cook the other side. (With my stove and frying pan, it takes 1 minute and 15–30 seconds to cook one side and 20–30 seconds for the other side.) When done, transfer it to a plate and cover it with a damp towel to prevent it from drying out. Grease the pan between batches, as needed. Continue making the rest of the pancakes; you can make about 12 pancakes.
To Assemble the Dorayaki
- Assemble the Dorayaki by making sandwiches using two pancakes and a scoop of the 1.1 lb sweet red bean paste (anko) as filling. Put more red bean paste in the center of the pancakes so the sandwich‘s middle is thicker than the edges and the Dorayaki's overall shape is curved. Wrap the Dorayaki with plastic wrap until ready to serve.
To Store
- The leftovers can be wrapped in plastic and stored in a cool place for 2 days. They also can be put in a freezer bag and stored in the freezer for a month.
Nutrition
Editor’s Note: The post was originally published on October 28, 2011. The new post includes updated images and the new video.
I love red bean flavored anything so I’m finally learning to cook with it myself. Today I made tsubuan from your recipe and now I’m using it for these! It’s so hard not to eat them immediately out of the pan, lol.
One bit of trouble I’m having is that the pancakes are cooking a bit unevenly – when the first side is brown, they’re still too soft to flip without messing them up. I’m going to try turning the heat down and putting a lid on the pan and see if that helps.
Regardless, thank you so much for the recipe! It’s so easy, I guarantee I’m going to be making this again 😀
Hi Ida! Thank you for trying this recipe as well as my red bean paste recipe! From reading your comment, my first thought was the same as your thought. Your heat might be too strong (as you “need” to flip already when the batter is not settled yet). Hope that helps! 🙂
Thank you for the recipe! I just made them and they are delicious. I may have over mixed the batter but they still turned out pretty good. I will definitely be trying this again to perfect them (and just because they are too tasty!)
Hi Mia! Thank you so much for trying this recipe! I’m so glad you liked it! Thank you for your kind feedback. xoxo
Amazing desert! Always wanted to try these and being able to make these at home is great. I thought we would store a few, but my family ate them all in 2 sittings. Thanks Nami.
Hi Grace! Haha, it’s a good sign when your family enjoyed them. I’m glad they enjoyed the homemade dessert. 🙂 Thanks for trying this recipe and for your kind feedback. xo
hi i wanna make movhi pancakes woth maple syrup and butter found at the 7 elevend in japan.. can i substitute some of the flour w mochi flour to get tht consustency? some of the mochi recipes ask for milk?
Hi Mimi! I had never tried mochi pancakes from 7 Eleven before, so I’m not sure how the texture is like. But I would play with the amount of cake flour and mochiko (glutinous rice flour) to make the right consistency you need. Milk or water is required, and I guess milk makes it more pancake tastes.
This recipe is so awesome! I LOVE dorayaki and made it tonight – so delicious!
The one tricky part: I got some of my pancakes’ edges to stick together after I put the anko inside (yay!), but others did not. I would put some balls of (cold leftovers from previous night) anko in the middle (about a big tablespoon) – I wonder if that might be too much, or if I should spread more? Or is it more about whether the pancakes are dry?
Hi Mike! Thank you for your kind feedback. 🙂 Cold anko is definitely a bit too stiff, you can microwave it if you like, or at room temp. I think 1 Tbsp should be okay… if you can work with someone else, he/she can help with the filling while pancakes are warm. More elastic to work with. Another option is to wrap “tightly” that will stick together. 🙂
Outstanding! Made this on Christmas Eve for my Japanese father-in-law. The Dorayaki looked so perfect he thought I was joking about making them myself. Not only were they beautiful, but he thought they were absolutely delicious and authentic! This recipe is very easy to execute … I’ll definitely make this again.
Hi Jill! Hahahaha! That’s the best compliment you can get! I’m so happy your father in law enjoyed your homemade dorayaki! 😀 Thank you for sharing your stories with us! 🙂
Hi Nami-san. Can I change the white sugar with brown sugar/palm sugar?
Hi Hana! Sure, the taste is slightly changed but you can use it. 🙂
Hi Nami! I love Dorayaki, and I decided to try your recipe.
Unfortunately, I had difficulties making them. I’m not sure if because of the electric hob or the pan too large.
The cooker has 6 heat levels. When I was using 2 or 3, the Dorayaki took ages to cook and was still raw inside but, with 4 or 5, it came out perfect inside but burned outside.
Do you have any suggestion?
Thank you very much, I love your site!
Hi Antonio! Thanks for trying this recipe. I think the heat control of the pan is pretty difficult and different as everyone has a different stove and pan. But in general, your pan should not have a hot spot and evenly heated. You can slowly cook the pancake and never cook on higher heat as it gets burnt. Slow cooking is important. Do not put the batter until the pan is well-preheated. It has to be hot enough when you put the batter and slowly cook it. Hope the next batch will be better. Good luck, Antonio!
Hi! Thanks for the recipe. If i freeze it, how should it be defrosted? Can I do it in the microwave (how long, with or without the plastic wrap) ?
Im hoping to make a lot and have it as breakfast on the go.
Hi Vy! I would defrost overnight in the fridge. It’s not something we eat hot/warm… so I wouldn’t microwave it. 🙂
I used to work, as hostess, in a Japanese restaurant, & would buy dorayaki all the time. There was a Korean grocery in the same plaza as the restaurant, & they sold them. Oh, they are so fabulous! I’ve not lived in the city for quite some time, & I rarely get them. I am SO excited to try your recipe! The next time I’m in the city, I’ll pick up the red beans! Thank you for all of your recipes. They are all so amazing!
Hi Tess! Thank you for your kind words and I’m so happy to hear you like dorayaki! 😀 Have fun making them at home!
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Hello!
I used granulated sugar and cake flower but all my cakes turned out crunchy and it was impossible to scrape off my non-stick.
What did I do wrong?
Hi Lucky! It seems like your heat was too strong. Did you use oil to coat the pan (even though you literally “wipe off”, there needs to be a thin layer of oil coated the pan). When you say “crunchy” it seems like your pancake was overcooked. It’s a bit difficult to give advice without seeing how you prepared, but that’s the first two things I thought of from reading your comment. 🙂
[…] Una volta tornata a Roma e finite le scorte pensavo che avrei dovuto accettare il fatto che non avrei più mangiato dei Dorayaki fino ad un altro viaggio in Japan… ma il fato ha voluto che il mio zonzo per youtube mi facesse incontrare Nami intenta a preparare proprio dei deliziosi Dorayaki! […]