Pannenkoek (Dutch Pancake)
The Dutch pancake, Pannenkoek, is a thin pancake that can be served sweet or savory. There are so many ways to enjoy this easy treat for breakfast or a fun snack!
Dutch Pannenkoeken
A pannenkoek (plural pannenkoeken and pannekoek in Old Dutch) is a pancake that comes from the Netherlands. They are typically large, whole-pan size and are much thinner than a traditional American pancake (but not quite as thin as a French crepe).
(And definitely don't confuse these guys with the Dutch Baby, which isn't even Dutch.)
Pannenkoeken are made from a simple batter of eggs, milk, flour, and a bit of salt. (Traditionally you would often find them using buckwheat flour, however not so much any more.)
Topping and Fillings For Dutch Pancakes
They can be eaten plain with a dark, thick apple syrup, called stroop and powdered sugar.
But, you will often find them filled as well. The fillings can be sweet or savory. Thinnly sliced bacon, apples, cheese, or raisins are most common. But feel free to get a little crazy.
We loved the combo of mushrooms and bacon, Gouda and apples, apples and raisins, bacon and cheddar.
You get the picture.
While with French crepes, the fillings are wrapped into the pancake, with pannekoeken, the fillings are typically added to the batter during cooking.
How To Eat Pannenkoeken
With a pancake so large, the question might come up, how should you dive in?
Traditionally these Dutch pancakes, filled or not, are rolled and then eaten. Slice them and use a fork and knife if you're feeling civilized, or just grab a bite if you're eating them on the go!
South African Pannekoek
With the Dutch colonization of South Africa, pannekoek are often seen as "South African pancakes" as well. In South Africa, the singular "pannekoek" is most often used, even if you're talking about a stack of pannekoek.
The one difference we find in South Africa is that they are most commonly served sprinkled with cinnamon sugar and rolled.
We tried a couple of our pannekoek this way, and the cinnamon sugar melts into the warm pannekoek, creating a delicious, warm and sweet treat.
Plain. Sweet. Savory. Which will you try first??
More pancakes from around the world
Nearly every culture loves pancakes in one form or another. Here are some other sweet and savory pancake recipes from around the world that are worth a try.
Pannenkoek (Dutch Pancake)
The Dutch pancake, Pannenkoek, is a thin pancake that can be served sweet or savory. There are so many ways to enjoy this easy treat for breakfast or a fun snack!
Ingredients
For The Batter
- 2 eggs
- 2 c milk
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 c unbleached all-purpose flour
- Butter, for cooking
Optional Add Ins
- Chopped bacon, (thinly sliced)
- Mushrooms, (thinly sliced)
- Shredded cheese
- Apples, (thinly sliced)
- Raisins
- Cinnamon sugar
Instructions
- In a large bowl, beat the egg until slightly foamy. Add the milk and salt, whisking to combine. Add the flour, slowly, whisking as you add, until the batter is smooth.
- Heat a 10 inch skillet over medium heat. Add a little butter to coat the skillet.
- Add ½ cup of batter to the pan and swirl it around to coat the pan. (If using add-ins, sprinkle them over top of the wet batter.) Cook the pannekoek over medium heat until it is just getting dry on the top and releases from the pan, 2-3 minutes.
- Flip the pannenkoek and cook for 1-2 minute on the second side, until lightly golden.
- Remove the pannenkoek from the plan and place on a platter. Keep your stack of pannekoeken warm in a warm oven while you coat the skillet again with butter and cook up the rest of the batter.
Notes
Leftover pannenkoeken keep well in the refrigerator for up to 2 days.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
4Serving Size:
2 pannenkoekenAmount Per Serving: Calories: 414
Sarah founded Curious in 2010 as a way to save her recipe creations and share culinary experiences. Her love for cultural cuisines was instilled early by her French Canadian Grandmother. Her experience in the kitchen and in recipe development comes from over 10 years working in professional kitchens. She has traveled extensively and enjoys bringing the flavors of her travels back to create easy-to-make recipes.
The Dutch pancake was light and fluffy, and the touch of sugar and vanilla made it the perfect sweet treat for breakfast.
Thank you. We're so glad you liked it!
They look a little pale for a Dutch pancake 🙂 They could use a little more browning 😊
Thanks for sharing Mirjam.
1 cup in grams ple
1 US cup of all purpose flour is 150 grams
Hi Sarah !
Thanks so much for this recipe!
They turned out amazing. On medium heat, over hot butter in a non-stick, Blue Diamond pan, they crispened perfectly. No need for high heat, to avoid the burnt taste. Butter is definitely better for taste and health. Use a proper whisk for the eggs and milk, as you mentioned, whisk till nice and foamy.
Halved the recipe, used 1/2 organic unbleached flour and 1/2 whole wheat pastry flour.
Here are a couple fun flavors to try !
Add-ins:
Savoury - prepare 1 tbsp sliced green and sliced sweet onion, sprinkle of Italian mozzarella, sprinkle of pizza spice, 1/2 a sliced, quality all beef smokie / sausage (like Grimms brand). After pouring batter in pan, arrange above toppings, and drizzle a tbpsn tomato sauce, or a tbpsn chopped Roma tomato. Sprinkle above toppings while pancake is still cooking. Cook additional 2 min, then flip over and cook for additional 4 min, till the sausage releases aroma. For Philly Cheesesteak, use prepared sliced steak (instead of sausage) and chopped green pepper. Serve with barbecue sauce. Fantastic!
Sweet - after pouring, spreading the batter in pan, sprinkle over pancake white grated cheese, sliced ripe banana, wait till cheese begins to melt, then flip and cook in pan approx 3 min. Turn dinner plate upside down onto pancake, then turn pan upside down with plate right side up, remove banana slices from pan and arrange on pancake. Drizzle with home-made choc sauce (melted 2/3 c choc chips and 1/4 c whipping cream, 1/4 tsp vanilla, cook sauce on very low, blend till smooth). Fantastic!
Yum! Thanks for sharing!
Wow what a fab site how about a authentic south African traditional cook book yaaa all very best
Thanks Pearl!
Hi, I would like to clarify a couple of things. First of all, we Dutch people never eat pancakes for breakfast. Pannenkoeken are a typical dinner food!
Stroop is not made from apples, that would be appelstroop. Normal (pannenkoeken)stroop is made from sugar beets. It's basically liquid sugar.
The bacon and cheese are usually just sliced, not shredded or cut in little pieces. Add-ins are also fried in the batter, not on top. So: scoop of batter - slices of bacon/ cheese/ whatever - another scoop of batter.
My recipe is:
500 mL of milk
2 eggs
250 grams of flour
Pinch of salt
(Sunflower) Oil for cooking (I prefer oil because it doesn't burn like butter. You can add a little bit to the batter).
Tip: let the batter rest for about an hour before frying.
Personally I don't pre-cook the bacon. The bacon should still be soft, definitely not crispy. Oh, and don't use bacon with added sugar! Unless you want your pancake get stuck to the pan. Besides, we don't even have that in the Netherlands.
I fry my pancakes on high heat. They should be turned when there's still a little liquid batter on top.
Greetings from the Netherlands 🙂
Hi Jennifer. From what I've seen, I gather there are multiple ways to make these. Thanks so much for sharing what you do!
I'm Dutch, we ate pancakes for breakfast all the time. Still do.
Hey, thanks for sharing this recipe! I tried it and here are a few tips to improve the results, at least per my experience. 1) add about 1 cup of water to the batter... it got too thick as-is and the first two pancakes turned out like naan bread, haha. I wanted them thin and crispy like they are in the Netherlands. 2) cook in canola oil; the butter didn't hold up to make the cakes crispy. 3) add the toppings right after pouring the batter and then pour a tiny bit more batter on top of them so they bake in to the cake, otherwise when you flip the cake, any cheese or delicate toppings just burn. 4) cook on high heat. I used an electric griddle and had to cook these on 400 degree.
I made mine with swiss and turkey bacon and after the adjustments I mentioned, they were amazing.
Hi Heather. Thanks for sharing! The batter should definitely be thin, did you use 16 oz of milk in addition to your 1 c of water? When cooking on medium heat, the toppings shouldn't burn when you flip them, but I can see how you would need the extra batter to seal them in if you were cooking over high heat. Glad you found a method that worked for you! Your toppings sound great!