In 2005, our entire family visited Sweden. Of course, food planning and preparation was a major activity, feeding 9+ people, and we adults were constantly in the kitchen when we were not out touring around Stockholm, or on a boat trip to an archipelago. As a former breakfast cook at my frat house, I was used to dealing with massive breakfast preparations and offered my services. My cousin’s wife, Agneta, mixed up a batch of traditional Swedish pancake batter, and I did the cooking on the traditional Swedish plett pan. The batter has much more egg than American mixes and is quite runny. The plett pan cooks several 7 cm (2 1/2-inch) pancakes; and, thus, to feed the horde, I had to cook several batches. We had sausage with the pancakes, topped with maple syrup, lingonberries or cloudberries, and whipped cream.
When I returned to Chicago, Fran pulled out about 20 Swedish pancake recipes and we started down the list. My algorithm is maximum taste for minimum effort, so I went to cooking American style pancakes (~5” dia) with the Swedish batter. I use a skillet so I can cook 4 pancakes at a time. Since the batter is so thin, they cook incredibly fast.
My mom was 97 then, lived nearby, and still had an incredible sweet tooth. For her, I made slightly larger pancakes, crepe thickness so I could roll them up with a lingonberry filling and sprinkle of confectioner’s sugar on the top. With a cup of fresh coffee, she was in 7th heaven – reminding her of breakfasts in Sweden when she was a child. Most Sundays, I would bring her this breakfast, and watch her scarf it down while we talked job, family history, politics, etc., over a fresh cup of coffee. Today is her birthday so, in honor of her memory, I made them for the family breakfast.
These Swedish pancakes are a nice change from traditional American pancakes, with much more opportunity for creative toppings and fillings; and, as such, they could be served as appetizers, sides, or desserts. For now, let’s just stick with a Swedish breakfast pancake!
Swedish Pancakes
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups milk
- Dash of salt
- 1 tbl. sugar
- 1 cup flour
- 3 eggs
- 1/4 tsp. baking powder
- 2 tbl. butter, melted
Directions
Beat eggs. Add sugar, milk and butter. Mix with dry ingredients. Cook on a hot griddle or Swedish plett pan turning once. Serve with Swedish lingonberries or jam of your choice. In our area, lingonberries can be found in most grocery stores. Of course, everything Swedish can be found at IKEA.
Swedish pancakes cooked in plett pan
Crepe style for my mom
Source: My cousin’s wife, Agneta.
I know it’s redundant, but I am an Italian foodie. My two sisters and I grew up in a thoroughly Italian household with a Sicilian mom and a Neopolitan dad—both equally good cooks. My dad and uncle owned a small Italian restaurant together, and it was the place to go for great home style Italian food, including wonderful homemade pizza. My dad has passed on; but, to this day, even if my 80-plus-year-old mom doesn’t know you’re coming, she’ll pull a 5-course meal out of the fridge in no time flat.
About Swedish pancakes:
I am glad to have inspired you for making and eating Swedish pancakes. If you taste it once you are stuck with it because it is so good. It is very common here in Sweden, and almost every child
(and adult) have it as a favourite.
Agneta
Oh, yes–it is a favorite here as well! Roger made them for his mom and us, of course, every Sunday morning and would bring her over a plate of them. Roger and I had never had them until you made them for us.
I haven’t tried these yet but will do so soon. My Aunt Ann used to make the most awesome pancakes for us when all the cousins headed to northern Wisconsin w/ our parents and gathered in her kitchen for her pancakes. We were very young but even as adults, we’re still talking about Aunt Ann’s pancakes and ask if any of us has ever duplicated them. Will let you know!