For Superior Pancakes, Use This Tried-and-True Dutch Method

One of the first meals my Dutch husband cooked for me was pannenkoeken. They weren’t fluffy like the pancakes that I was used to, but they were enormous and speckled golden brown. Syrups in Dutch packaging and jars of jams were spread out on the table, but what really caught my attention was the apples, bacon, and sometimes cheese cooked right into the pancakes.

My husband grew up making pancakes with his mother who grew up making them with her mother. The recipe was passed down not on a kitchen-stained card but by shared experience. They mix the batter intuitively by eye and feel rather than the precise by-the-gram measurements I employ. 

To find the ratios for this recipe, I had to chase my husband around with a kitchen scale, placing it under the bowl and quickly taring as he moved the bowl around, adding more milk to thin the batter or flour to thicken it.

What Are Pannenkoeken?

Not to be confused with oven-baked Dutch baby pancakes, which are Pennsylvania Dutch (Deutsch) or German, Dutch pancakes from the Netherlands are cooked on the stove. Like crepes, they have an eggy batter and take on the flavor of what you add to them, but they’re not as delicate. Dutch pancakes are heartier and sturdier, supporting all kinds of mix-ins and toppings.

Dutch pancakes are larger than American pancakes—homemade ones are generally as large as your pan allows, and at Dutch restaurants, they can be more than a foot in diameter.

Pancakes are ingrained in Dutch culture, and restaurants specializing in them (called pannenkoekenhuizen) are in every city. Even more fun and especially popular with children are the pannenkoekenboten that cruise down the canals and rivers. 

Tips for Pancake Success

On our most recent visit to the Netherlands, I took the opportunity to ask family and friends for some guidance and tips for making Dutch pancakes:

• Use a non-stick frying pan or a well-seasoned cast-iron skillet. Usually I have to use more butter in a cast iron skillet to prevent the pancakes from sticking.
• Just like American pancakes, you may have to practice to find the sweet spot for the heat level and timing. My husband's family reassured me that the first pancake rarely turns out right, but it's a good snack for the cook while making the rest.
• Because they’re so large, Dutch pancakes can be tricky to flip. Everyone advised me to wait until the top dries before sliding a wide spatula underneath the pancake to flip it. If the batter is still wet, you’re likely to splatter it across the kitchen. If you’re feeling confident, you can use the pan to fling and flip them in the air without a spatula. 

Get Creative with Mix-Ins

A wide range of mix-ins are what really set Dutch pancakes apart, ranging from sweet and simple slices of fruit to savory brie and bacon.

For most mix-ins, you add them just after pouring the batter into the pan, gently pressing them in. I like this method for thin slices of apple, which lightly caramelize and soften when you flip the pancake. I shocked my husband when I added banana slices one morning—a delicious addition in my opinion, but apparently uncommon in the Netherlands.

Dutch pancakes don’t have to be sweet. Spekpannenkoeken made with bacon are enticingly sweet and savory when drizzled with syrup. Cook a couple of bacon slices in the pan, then pour the batter over the cooked bacon. You don't need to add butter to the pan as the pancake cooks in the flavorful bacon fat.

Even slices of cheese make it into pancakes. The Netherlands is famous for Gouda (I’m required to inform you it’s pronounced “how-dah” and not "goo-dah"), but we sometimes add cheddar or other medium-hard cheeses. My husband’s family taught me to press the slice of cheese into the batter, then use your spatula to encourage the surrounding batter to envelop the cheese, adding more batter on top if necessary to cover it completely and prevent it from burning.

Pannenkoeken Toppings

Dutch pancakes can be a vehicle for a plethora of toppings. The quintessential topping is stroop (rhymes with hope, not loop), a dark syrup made from sugar beets that's not as sweet as maple syrup but not as bitter as molasses. Try them with apple butter, honey, maple syrup, jam, fresh fruit or fruit compote, or a simple dusting of powdered sugar.