Chef Joost
Appelpannenkoek
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.
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Poffertjes (Dutch Mini Pancakes)
Created by
The little pancakes of the fairground table, puffed in a cast-iron plate, soft from yeast and buckwheat, and finished the Dutch way: butter first, sugar after.
Breakfast & Brunch
Dutch
Comfort Food
Celebration
Make Ahead
15 min
Active Time
20 min cook•1 hr 20 min total
Yield4 servings, about 60 poffertjes
My grandfather had strong opinions about pancakes, which is to say he had Dutch opinions. A large pannekoek belonged to supper, rolled and eaten with syrup, but poffertjes were different. They came from the market stall, the winter fair, the birthday table when the room was too crowded and everyone was pretending not to want a second plate. Small food has a way of making adults behave like children. For obvious reasons.
The name already tells you what the batter must do. Poffertjes come from poffen, to puff up, and if they sit flat and sulking in the pan, something has gone wrong before the sugar ever arrives. This is not a crêpe batter in miniature. It is a yeast batter, loosened with milk, strengthened with a little buckwheat, poured into kuiltjes, little hollows, in a heavy plate so each one swells into its own soft dome. But let me tell you a secret: the drama is in the pan, not in the cook.
So we keep it honest. Hou het altijd simpel, always keep it simple. Let the batter wake properly, heat the poffertjespan until butter whispers at the edges, turn each one when the top is still a little wet, and do not chase perfect circles. The Dutch table has never required perfection, only generosity. Serve them at once, with butter melting into the dimples and powdered sugar falling like the first mild snow you are still happy to see.
Poffertjes were firmly established in the Netherlands by the nineteenth century as fairground and market food, cooked quickly on heavy cast-iron plates with rows of small hollows. Their name is tied to the Dutch verb poffen, to puff or swell, which describes the way a yeast batter rises in the pan. The use of buckwheat links them to an older northern European grain tradition, especially in regions where poor sandy soils made buckwheat a practical crop long before wheat became cheap enough for everyday baking.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
plain flour
Quantity
150g
buckwheat flour
Quantity
100g
instant yeast
Quantity
7g
caster sugar
Quantity
1 tablespoon
fine sea salt
Quantity
1/2 teaspoon
lukewarm milk
Quantity
350ml
eggs
Quantity
2 large
unsalted butter
Quantity
50g
melted, plus more for the pan
powdered sugar
Quantity
to serve
extra butter
Quantity
to serve
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| plain flour | 150g |
| buckwheat flour | 100g |
| instant yeast | 7g |
| caster sugar | 1 tablespoon |
| fine sea salt | 1/2 teaspoon |
| lukewarm milk | 350ml |
| eggs | 2 large |
| unsalted buttermelted, plus more for the pan | 50g |
| powdered sugar | to serve |
| extra butter | to serve |
Equipment Needed
- •Poffertjespan with small hollows, preferably cast iron
- •Pastry brush
- •Skewer, fork, or poffertjes turning pin
- •Squeeze bottle or small spoon
Instructions
- 1
Wake the batter
Whisk the plain flour, buckwheat flour, yeast, sugar, and salt together in a large bowl. In a jug, beat the lukewarm milk with the eggs, then whisk this into the flour until you have a smooth, pourable batter. Stir in the melted butter. It should be thicker than cream but still loose enough to fall from a spoon; if it sits like paste, add a splash more milk.
Lukewarm means body-warm, not hot. Yeast is alive, and if you scald it, the poffertjes will not puff. The name has made a promise; the yeast keeps it. - 2
Let it rise
Cover the bowl and leave it in a warm place for 45 minutes, until the batter looks lively and lightly bubbled. Do not expect it to double like bread dough. You are looking for a batter that has woken up, smells faintly bready, and gives a soft sigh when stirred.
- 3
Heat the plate
Set a poffertjespan over medium heat and brush the hollows with melted butter. Give the cast iron time to heat evenly. The first batch is often the cook's tax, pale and unsure, so do not despair. By the second round the pan knows its work.
- 4
Fill the hollows
Spoon or squeeze batter into each hollow until nearly full. Cook for about 1 minute, until the edges look set and small bubbles appear on top while the centre is still a little wet. That wet centre matters; turn them too late and you get dry little cakes instead of soft puffed ones.
- 5
Turn them quickly
Use a skewer, fork, or small turning pin to flip each poffertje in one quick motion. Cook the second side for 45 seconds to 1 minute, until golden in patches and springy when touched. Move them to a warm plate while you cook the rest, brushing the pan with more butter between batches.
- 6
Serve with butter
Pile the poffertjes onto a plate, put small curls of butter over the top, and shower with powdered sugar. Serve immediately, while the butter melts into the little hollows. Syrup is allowed at some tables, of course, but butter and sugar are the old fairground answer, and they need no improvement.
Chef Tips
- •Use a proper poffertjespan if you can, preferably cast iron. The hollows give the batter its shape, and the heavy metal gives steady heat. Aebleskiver pans make them too round; a regular skillet makes small pancakes, not poffertjes.
- •Buckwheat matters. It brings a faint nutty bitterness that keeps all that butter and sugar honest. Use too much and the batter becomes heavy, so keep the balance with wheat flour.
- •A squeeze bottle is not traditional, but it is useful. Market stalls use speed because the batter waits for no one; at home, the bottle simply helps you fill the kuiltjes, little hollows, before the first ones overcook.
- •Eat them as soon as possible. Poffertjes can wait a few minutes under a clean towel, but they are at their best when the butter is still softening into them.
Advance Preparation
- •The batter can be mixed up to 8 hours ahead and left covered in the refrigerator after a 30 minute room-temperature rise. Bring it back to room temperature for 20 minutes before cooking.
- •Cooked poffertjes can be held for 20 minutes on a covered plate in a low oven, but they lose their tender edge quickly. For a celebration, cook in batches and serve each pile as it is ready.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 200g)
Calories
515 calories
Total Fat
22 g
Saturated Fat
13 g
Trans Fat
1 g
Unsaturated Fat
7 g
Cholesterol
150 mg
Sodium
430 mg
Total Carbohydrates
65 g
Dietary Fiber
4 g
Sugars
18 g
Protein
14 g
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