How to Make Aebleskivers (Danish Pancakes)

What’s an aebleskiver? We’re sorry you have to ask — because it means you’ve never had the pleasure of tasting these delightful mini pancakes. (Which, to confuse us even further, are also known as ebelskivers). Luckily, they’re easier to make than they are to pronounce. (Hint: it’s “abe-el-skee-ver”.) The name means “apple slices” because that was the original filling — but these days, the Danish pancake bites are usually stuffed with scrumptious fillings like jam, lemon curd, chocolate, or cream cheese.

Aeblsekivers are cooked in a special pan with little wells for the batter. You can buy one online, and once you try these we’re sure you’ll agree that it’s well worth the investment.

Now if you were a Danish granny making aebleskivers, you’d probably use a special tool that looks like a crochet hook to flip them — but we found that chopsticks or skewers work just fine.

You could use pancake mix, but the batter won’t be nearly as fluffy as ours; we folded in whipped egg whites to make them light, airy, and puffed up like a popover.

These are just like pancake puppies, minus the deep frying. Which means this recipe is also a fun weekend breakfast idea that kids will love to get involved in. (OK, you’ll probably have to kick them out of the kitchen because everyone’s going to want to steal a few of these off the griddle — they’re just that yummy.)

But trust us, wait till the aebleskivers are golden brown and done, because a generous dusting of powdered sugar at the end makes these stuffed pancakes even more irresistible.

Aebleskivers (Danish Pancakes)

Serves 5 – 6
Prep Time: 10 Minutes
Total Time: 35 Minutes

Ingredients

  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • ½ teaspoon baking powder
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • 2 eggs, whites and yolks separated
  • 1 cup milk
  • ¼ cup butter, melted (plus more for greasing the pan)
  • ½ cup jam (we used lingonberry and blueberry — thicker fruit spreads work better because thin jams tend to seep through)
  • chocolate chips (optional)
  • powdered sugar (for dusting)

Equipment

  • aebleskiver pan (or takoyaki pan)
  • chopsticks or skewers

Directions

  1. In a small bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt.
  2. In a large bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, milk, and melted butter just until blended.
  3. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix just until they’re combined. (Don’t overmix — it should be lumpy.)
  4. In a medium bowl, beat the egg whites using a hand mixer until stiff peaks form. Fold them into the batter.
  5. Heat the aebleskiver pan over medium-high heat. Grease each well of the pan with ⅛ to ¼ teaspoon of butter. (You can also use oil, but butter will give you better flavor.) Add one tablespoon of the batter to each well. Add ½ to one teaspoon of your preferred filling into the center of each well, then top each well with another tablespoon of batter.
  6. Cook for 3 – 4 minutes, or until the bottoms have started to brown. Use chopsticks to push and flip the aebleskivers over in the pan. Continue to cook them for an additional 3 minutes. Remove the aebleskivers from the pan and keep them warm in the oven set to low while you repeat the process with the remaining batter. Dust your finished aebleskivers with powdered sugar and serve.

Try some of our other favorite easy pancakes recipes: