Puffed Dutch pancakes (poffertjes) are delightfully fluffy mini pancakes made in a special poffertjes pan. The pan gives them their signature puffy UFO shape! Serve them hot with a sprinkling of powdered sugar and some butter, and you might even prefer them to traditional pancakes!
Help Us Out!If you love a recipe, be sure to come back and share your ratings. This helps future users, and allows me to continue sharing free recipes! Angela
Instructions
Sprinkle the active dry yeast into the warm milk and stir to combine. Let sit for 5-10 minutes or until the milk becomes frothy.
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, and salt until combined. Then, add the large egg and the milk with the yeast and mix until just barely combined. *Do not overwork the batter or it can become dense.
Let the batter rise for at least 1 hour before cooking your pancakes.
Once the batter has risen, brush the cavities of a poffertjes pan or aebleskiver pan generously with butter and place it over medium-low heat.
Add 1-1½ tablespoons of the batter to each pancake round with a piping bag, squirt bottle, or sandwich bag with the corner snipped off. It should fill the pancake divets in the pan about halfway.
Use a skewer or chopstick to quickly flip each of the pancakes. Cook the opposite side for 1-2 minutes until done.
Remove from heat and flip the pancakes out of the pan using the same method you used to flip them. Serve while warm with butter and powdered sugar or maple syrup.
Notes
You want the milk to be lukewarm between 100°F-110°F (38-43°C), so it will dissolve the yeast. Pour the milk into a microwave-safe dish and microwave for 60-90 seconds.
Allowing the yeast batter to rise for at least 1 hour makes these Dutch pancakes so fluffy! If you have a particularly cold kitchen, the batter may take up to 2 hours to rise fully.
To more easily fill the pan with risen batter, I used a piping bag. You could also use a Ziploc bag with one corner snipped off, a small 1-tablespoon (15-mm) cookie scoop, or a squeeze bottle. The batter gets thicker once it has risen and won't pour as easily as regular pancakes.
Traditional poffertjes are made with buckwheat flour. Some people choose to use all-purpose flour. Instead, pastry flour also works well, or you can use a 50/50 blend of buckwheat and all-purpose flour. *Keep in mind, buckwheat flour in the US is typically darker and stronger than it is in Europe.
This recipe should make roughly 10 servings of 4-5 puffed pancakes per person.