Aebleskiver or Danish pancakes

Aebleskiver; I am pretty sure you might have a hard time remembering that name, but trust me: they are so worth making! Aebleskiver are essentially Danish pancakes that are a bit bigger than Dutch poffertjes. See them as little pancakes that you can fill with whatever you like! Check this aebleskiver recipe!

Aebleskiver – Danish pancakes

Funny detail first; aebleskiver means literally apple slices in Danish. Which is on the odd side as you can fill these Danish pancakes with just about anything. Not necessarily only apple slices. They are Danish by origin and are typically served over Christmas.

Aebleskiver are the Danish version of our Dutch poffertjes. Or so I like to think. I’ve grown up on poffertjes or tiny pancakes. Every year in the summer we would go to the “poffertjeskraam” in the village that always had the best pancakes. You could buy waffles and regular pancakes there as well but everyone went for the poffertjes with a big scoop of butter and icing sugar. It was the best treat ever.

But then I tasted aebleskiver for the very first time… and was sold. The texture of these fluffy pancakes is somewhere of a cross between the aforementioned poffertjes and something like Yorkshire pudding. They are crispy on the outside, fluffy and sweet on the inside.

Ingredients for Aebleskiver recipe

The ingredients for this aebleskiver recipe is not much different from any other pancake. You use baking powder and you split the eggs so the batter becomes more fluffy then a regular pancake. Although I have made pancakes this way too. The secret to making this aebleskiver recipe is in the pan you use for it.

• all purpose flour
• baking powder
• sugar
• salt
• eggs
• milk
• butter

Aebleskiver pan

When I first went on the lookout for the specific pan needed for making aebleskiver I couldn’t find it anywhere. I finally found a dusty specimen in the corner of a cooking store in Amsterdam but up till that point everyone looked at me funny when I asked for this specific pan. You can now buy it online quite easily. Check out this one for example.

The one I bought is weird. I cannot place it on the stove properly and need to use something underneath to stabilize. You can see how I tried that in the below photos where I have a rack below the pan. I’ve seen other ones with flat bottoms now, which I might buy to make my life easier.

Preparations

Making this tiny Danish pancakes is not difficult. You start by preparing the batter. To make this you first split your eggs. Keep the yolks and the egg whites separately and make sure you keep the egg whites in a grease free zone. You mix the eggs yolks with the melted (and cooled) butter and milk. Mix this with the flour and baking powder. Then whisk the egg whites to stiff peaks and fold them in carefully.

Baking

My first try of baking aebleskiver was kind of a failure. You have to make sure you use enough butter or oil in the pan to prevent them sticking. Otherwise the mess is complete. Also make sure you have your filling ready to go. You make sure the aebleskiver pan is hot before adding the butter in each well. Than add a tablespoon of batter, place your filling on top and add another tablespoon of batter. Because you have more batter in each well the cooking of it takes a bit longer then it would for regular poffertjes. That means you have to make sure the aebleskiver get enough time to cook through. It takes roughly 2-3 minutes each side You can tell they are ready when the sides pull away from the pan. Now carefully flip them and bake the other side.

I used two wooden skewers to flip them. That worked best for me. Forks are fine too but since the aebleskiver are still delicate when half cooked I found that those skewers where the best tool for the job.

Fillings

You can totally go wild when it comes to aebleskiver fillings. Below some suggestions but you can fill them with just about anything you like.

• apple cubes
• banana
• chocolate
• apple sauce
• blueberries
• raspberries
• jam
• or go savory with cheese

Aebleskiver to the win

So what does make these so much better then the Dutch ones? For one; the aebleskiver are somewhat bigger, so that gives you the opportunity to fill them with the above mentioned things. That also gives them a unique quality in my eyes above the regular poffertjes as I do think that the filling makes a big big difference.

That plus the fluffy and airy texture of them. I think it is the beaten egg whites that go into the batter that gives the Aebleskiver the airiness and the slight crunch on the outside. Combine that with fruity or chocolaty insides and you have a real winner. I think it would work really well with cheese too. I haven’t tried that yet, but that is on the agenda to try soon.

Frequently asked question about aebleskiver

Also try these pancake recipes

• Old Dutch poffertjes
• American pancakes
• Pancakes with cranberries
• Simple and healthy coconut banana pancakes

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