Please join us in welcoming the new pancake in town - it's thicker than a crêpe, and thinner than an American Pancake. These Dutch Savory Pancakes will take over your Fat Tuesday or Breakfast for Dinner nights! We've added bacon, scallions and mushrooms to ours, but you can go to town with whatever toppings you fancy. Just don't forget the Dijon Sour Cream to tie it all together!
It’s Shrove/Fat/Pancake Tuesday! My kids’ favorite dinner of the year as pancakes aren’t a last ‘Breakfast for Dinner’ resort, but an all-out feast. We go BIG on Shrove Tuesday in this house, the only point of discussion being which type of pancakes we’ll have. Are we having delicate French Crêpes? Or, perhaps the smaller, fluffier American kind? Nope, today we’re going Dutch, we’re having Pannenkoeken, which aren’t like either of those.
Whilst my kids love today for the free-for-all syrup, Nutella and cinnamon sugar allowance with a huge selection of fruit and sprinkle toppings, the hubs and I are going savory. My favorite combination is bacon, scallions and mushrooms, and instead of Dutch syrup (which we import at high risk in suitcases, I’m always terrified that the double ziplock will fail me! I live on the edge!) we are having a Dijon sour cream topping to finish it off. This is so good! Needless to say we’ll share a sweet one for the last bite, so our bellies can feel completely satisfied.
Pannenkoeken are served in special “Pancake Houses” all across The Netherlands, and I insist you go if you ever make it over that way. It’s usually our first meal after a long flight, as it’s neither breakfast nor dinner, and therefore perfect for when your soul is still on East Coast time, but your body is in Europe. These are huge (at least 1 foot across), so big that they have special pans and plates for them. These pancakes are filling, one is considered a meal, but as I don’t have a huge pan, gigantic plates or the stove top capacity, I just use a regular skillet to make smaller pancakes.
A traditional Pancake House will have at least 30 different versions to choose from, ranging from plain with syrup, strawberries or apple and cinnamon, to the savory options of bacon, ham & cheese, and even curries! Then you have all the sweet-meets-savory options, my personal favorite is bacon & apple. Now, the key to all this is that every pancake, regardless whether sweet or savory, is served with Dutch pancake syrup. Sounds strange, right? But I assure you, it’s delicious!
Who’s going Dutch with me? xoxo Kirsty
Ingredients for 8-10 10-inch pannenkoeken
For the batter:
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons (100g) flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1-1/4 cup (300ml) whole milk
3 eggs
2 tablespoons melted butter, slightly cooled.
more butter for the pan
Fillings:
2 scallions (spring onions), thinly sliced
8-10 bacon rashers, cooked and roughly chopped
8-10 mushrooms, thinly sliced
For the Dijon Cream:
1/2 cup (60g) sour cream or crème fraîche
1 teaspoon Dijon Mustard
1 teaspoon grainy Dijon Mustard
pinch of salt and freshly ground pepper
Add the flour and salt to a large bowl, combine.
In a smaller bowl, combine the milk and eggs with a whisk. Add the liquid to the dry ingredients with the melted butter and whisk until just combined. Don’t beat it! Lumps are ok! Set aside for 10 minutes to allow the gluten to develop. You know how some people say that the first pancake never works? Well, that’s because the batter hasn’t had a chance to rest properly.
Whilst the batter is resting, prep your fillings. Feel free to use completely different ones! Mix the Dijon Cream ingredients and store it in the fridge until you’re ready to use it.
Heat a skillet to medium-high and wipe a bit of butter all over the pan. I find it easiest to take a chunk of butter, spear it with a fork and use that as my ‘butter wiping tool’. Add the fillings to the pan, if some of them still need cooking, leave them in for a minute or so before adding a ladle of batter. The amount of batter you add will depend on the pan size, but for a 10-inch (25cm) skillet I use about a 1/2 cup.
As soon as the batter hits the pan, swirl it around until the entire surface is covered. You can fill any gaps with a little spoon of batter. When the pancake is golden on the underside and the top is ‘dry’, carefully slip it onto a large plate or flat lid if you have one. Then flip it over to cook the underside. If your pancake is small enough you may be able to use a spatula to do this. And if you’re a real expert, then you can flip ‘em high and hope you catch it!
To keep these warm, stack them in a low temperature oven (around 200F/100C) and cover with a sheet of foil to stop them from drying out.
Serve warm with dollops of Dijon Sour Cream!
