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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Spekpannenkoek (Dutch Bacon Pancake)
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The Dutch bacon pancake is supper disguised as breakfast: crisp spek set into a broad pannenkoek, with dark stroop proving that salt and sweetness are old friends.
Breakfast & Brunch
Dutch
Weeknight
Comfort Food
Budget Friendly
10 min
Active Time
20 min cook•45 min total
Yield4 large pancakes
My grandfather never treated pancakes as a treat. To him a pannenkoek was a practical thing: flour, milk, eggs, a pan, and enough patience to feed children who appeared at the table as if summoned by the smell alone. When there was spek, bacon, it went straight into the pan first, because thrift has always understood flavour better than fashion does.
The name already tells you the whole architecture. Spek is bacon, pannenkoek is exactly what it says: a koek, a cake, made in the pan. No mystery, no imported grandeur. But let me tell you a secret: the genius is not the pancake, it is the order of events. Fry the bacon first, pour the batter over it, and the spek becomes part of the structure instead of a garnish sitting on top like an apology.
Then comes the stroop, the dark Dutch syrup. People outside the Netherlands sometimes raise an eyebrow at bacon and syrup together, as if sweet and salt had only recently been introduced. We have known each other longer than that. Hou het altijd simpel, always keep it simple: make a thin batter, let it rest, crisp the bacon, and cook one broad pancake at a time until the edges bronze and the centre sets. This is a family-table dish, and it should arrive that way, warm from the pan and already half claimed.
Dutch pannenkoeken appear in early modern household cookery, including seventeenth-century sources such as De Verstandige Kock, where pan-fried batters belong to the practical domestic kitchen rather than the pastry shop. Spekpannenkoek reflects the Dutch habit of making pancakes into a full meal, often eaten for lunch or supper as much as breakfast, with bacon providing fat, salt, and substance in one modest ingredient. The pairing with stroop belongs to the same northern European taste for sweet against salted pork that also appears in griddle cakes and buckwheat dishes across the Low Countries.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
all-purpose flour
Quantity
250g
fine salt
Quantity
1/2 teaspoon
eggs
Quantity
2 large
whole milk
Quantity
500ml
melted butter
Quantity
1 tablespoon
plus more for the pan if needed
thin-cut smoked bacon or Dutch spek
Quantity
200g
Dutch stroop
Quantity
to serve
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| all-purpose flour | 250g |
| fine salt | 1/2 teaspoon |
| eggs | 2 large |
| whole milk | 500ml |
| melted butterplus more for the pan if needed | 1 tablespoon |
| thin-cut smoked bacon or Dutch spek | 200g |
| Dutch stroop | to serve |
Equipment Needed
- •26 to 28cm nonstick or well-seasoned frying pan
- •Wide spatula
- •Ladle
Instructions
- 1
Make the batter
Whisk the flour and salt together in a large bowl. Beat in the eggs, then pour in the milk little by little, whisking until you have a smooth, thin batter about the texture of single cream. Stir in the melted butter. If you see a few small lumps, don't wage war on them; they disappear in the resting.
- 2
Rest the batter
Let the batter rest for 15 minutes. This small pause matters: the flour drinks, the bubbles settle, and the pancake spreads more evenly in the pan. Dutch pancakes should be broad and supple, not thick little cushions.
- 3
Crisp the spek
Set a 26 to 28cm frying pan over medium heat and lay in a quarter of the bacon. Cook until the fat has rendered and the edges are beginning to crisp, turning once if needed. Leave the bacon in the pan. That fat is not a by-product, it is the seasoning.
- 4
Pour and set
Give the batter one stir, then ladle enough over the bacon to cover the pan in a thin layer, tilting quickly so it runs to the edges. Cook until the top loses its wet shine, the edges turn golden, and the underside releases when you shake the pan. The bacon should be embedded in the pancake, not hiding beneath it.
If the first pancake is ugly, good. The first one teaches the pan its manners. Adjust the heat, add a little butter only if the pan looks dry, and continue. - 5
Flip and finish
Flip the pancake with a wide spatula and cook the second side for 1 to 2 minutes, just until golden patches appear. Slide it onto a plate and repeat with the remaining bacon and batter. Serve each spekpannenkoek with stroop at the table, so everyone can draw their own dark line across the salt.
Chef Tips
- •Use thin-cut smoked bacon or Dutch ontbijtspek if you can find it. Thick bacon stays chewy and makes the pancake buckle instead of lying broad and even.
- •Keep the batter thinner than American pancake batter. A Dutch pannenkoek should cover the plate, bend without cracking, and leave room for the spek to crisp through.
- •Serve with real Dutch stroop if possible, not maple syrup. Maple is lovely in its own country, but here you want the dark, beet-sugar depth that meets the bacon without turning perfumed.
Advance Preparation
- •The batter can be made up to 12 hours ahead and kept covered in the refrigerator; whisk it well before cooking.
- •Cooked pancakes are best straight from the pan, but leftovers can be cooled, wrapped, and refrigerated for one day, then rewarmed briefly in a dry pan.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 250g)
Calories
665 calories
Total Fat
32 g
Saturated Fat
13 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
18 g
Cholesterol
155 mg
Sodium
1400 mg
Total Carbohydrates
70 g
Dietary Fiber
2 g
Sugars
22 g
Protein
20 g
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