Chef Joost
Boerenomelet
The name is plain because the dish is plainspoken: eggs, bacon, onion, and yesterday's potato, folded into the sort of meal that kept a farm kitchen moving.
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Appelpannenkoek
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The apple pannenkoek is supper pretending to be breakfast: a plate-wide Dutch pancake, tart apple softened into the batter, and cinnamon sugar doing honest work.
Breakfast & Brunch
Dutch
Weeknight
Comfort Food
Budget Friendly
15 min
Active Time
25 min cook•40 min total
Yield4 large pancakes
In my grandmother's second notebook, the pannenkoek pages are stained more than written. Flour, milk, eggs, salt. That is the whole grammar. During lean years, this was the dish that stretched the cupboard across a table, and after lean years it stayed because children are wiser than economists. They know when a thing is worth keeping.
The name already tells you almost everything: pannenkoek, pan-cake, not a small breakfast stack but a broad, thin pancake cooked one at a time in a skillet and eaten whenever the household decides it has had enough seriousness for one day. But let me tell you a secret. The apple version is not dessert wearing a disguise. It belongs to the Dutch habit of making supper from plain things and then allowing one small luxury, cinnamon, that old VOC cargo now living quietly in the sugar bowl.
Choose a tart apple that keeps its shape, slice it thin, and let the butter catch its edges before the batter goes in. That little head start matters. The apple softens, the sugars darken, and the pancake cooks around the slices instead of merely carrying them. Hou het altijd simpel, always keep it simple: a hot pan, a patient flip, cinnamon sugar at the end, and the first one eaten standing by the stove because nobody has ever successfully waited for a full stack.
Dutch pannenkoeken have been documented in household cookery since at least the seventeenth century, when buckwheat and wheat batters were common cheap meals across the Low Countries. The apple pannenkoek became especially tied to autumn, when stored apples from orchard regions such as the Betuwe and South Limburg could sweeten a plain batter without expensive ingredients. Modern pannenkoekenhuizen made the dish a national classic, but its older home logic remains the same: one pan, a little fruit, and enough batter to feed the table.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
all-purpose flour
Quantity
200g
large eggs
Quantity
2
whole milk
Quantity
500ml
fine salt
Quantity
1/2 teaspoon
melted butter
Quantity
1 tablespoon
plus more for the pan
firm tart apples, such as Elstar, Jonagold, or Braeburn
Quantity
2
peeled if you like, cored and thinly sliced
granulated sugar
Quantity
2 tablespoons
ground cinnamon
Quantity
1 teaspoon
Dutch stroop or maple syrup (optional)
Quantity
to serve
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| all-purpose flour | 200g |
| large eggs | 2 |
| whole milk | 500ml |
| fine salt | 1/2 teaspoon |
| melted butterplus more for the pan | 1 tablespoon |
| firm tart apples, such as Elstar, Jonagold, or Braeburnpeeled if you like, cored and thinly sliced | 2 |
| granulated sugar | 2 tablespoons |
| ground cinnamon | 1 teaspoon |
| Dutch stroop or maple syrup (optional) | to serve |
Equipment Needed
- •26 to 28cm nonstick or well-seasoned skillet
- •Wide flexible spatula
- •Mixing bowl and whisk
Instructions
- 1
Mix the batter
Whisk the flour and salt in a bowl, then add the eggs and about a third of the milk. Whisk to a thick smooth paste first, then loosen it with the remaining milk and the melted butter. This order saves you from chasing lumps around the bowl, which is not scholarship, only annoyance.
- 2
Rest briefly
Let the batter rest for 10 minutes while you slice the apples. It should pour like thin cream, not sit like cake batter. If it has thickened too much, whisk in a splash more milk.
- 3
Season the sugar
Stir the sugar and cinnamon together in a small bowl. Keep it beside the stove. Cinnamon belongs here because Dutch sweet cookery made it ordinary, which is the most successful kind of history.
- 4
Start the apples
Heat a 26 to 28cm nonstick or well-seasoned skillet over medium heat and melt a small knob of butter. Lay in a quarter of the apple slices in a loose single layer and cook for 1 minute, just until the edges begin to shine and soften.
Do not crowd the pan with too much apple. A pannenkoek must still be thin enough to flip; generosity is good, architecture is better. - 5
Pour and set
Pour in a quarter of the batter, tilting the pan so it runs between and around the apple slices. Cook for 3 to 4 minutes, until the top looks mostly set, the edges loosen, and the underside is golden with a few darker apple-caramel freckles.
- 6
Flip with nerve
Slide a wide spatula under the pancake and flip it in one confident motion. Cook the second side for 1 to 2 minutes. If it folds a little, unfold it and continue; the table has forgiven worse.
- 7
Finish and repeat
Slide the pancake onto a plate and sprinkle it with cinnamon sugar while the surface is still glossy from the pan. Repeat with the remaining butter, apples, and batter. Serve each one as it comes, or keep them loosely covered in a low oven if your household insists on manners.
Chef Tips
- •Use a tart, firm apple. Elstar is very Dutch and behaves well in the pan; a soft apple collapses into sauce before the pancake has set.
- •The first pancake is the pan's negotiation. If it tears, adjust the heat down a little, add a touch more butter, and carry on with dignity.
- •For a more old-fashioned supper version, skip the syrup and serve with cinnamon sugar only. Stroop is welcome, but it should not drown the apple.
Advance Preparation
- •The batter can be made up to 12 hours ahead and kept covered in the refrigerator; whisk it well and thin with a splash of milk before cooking.
- •Cooked pancakes are best straight from the pan, but leftovers can be cooled, covered, and refrigerated for 1 day. Rewarm gently in a skillet with a little butter.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 270g)
Calories
430 calories
Total Fat
14 g
Saturated Fat
8 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
6 g
Cholesterol
125 mg
Sodium
380 mg
Total Carbohydrates
64 g
Dietary Fiber
4 g
Sugars
22 g
Protein
13 g
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