What’s the Difference Between German Pancakes and Pannekoeken?

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I’ve often referred to pannekoeken as a Dutch version of a German pancake.  That is, until some nice man said, “There is nothing German” about a pannekoeken!

They both can be made with the same mix but they are made differently.

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Everyday Dutch Pannekoeken

This pannekoeken is designed for an 11 to 12-inch Dutch baby pan or a skillet with rounded sides. This is a five ingredient–five step recipe that really goes together quickly.

Ingredients

1/4 cup butter
3 large eggs
1/8 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup milk
3/4 cup all-purpose flour

Directions

1. Place the butter in a Dutch Baby pan or an ovenproof skillet with rounded sides.
   2. Preheat your oven to 425 degrees. Put the rack in the center, not the top, shelf. When you turn the oven on, place the pan with the butter in the oven. When the oven reaches 250 degrees the butter should be melted. Remove the pan from the oven.
   3. Whisk the eggs and the salt in a medium bowl. Add the milk. Whisk in the flour until nearly smooth. Your batter is now ready.
   4. Pour the batter into the pan.
   5. Bake for 11 to 13 minutes or until the top starts to turn golden brown. Serve hot with your favorite syrup.

How to Make Pannekoeken with Fruit

Usually, we make pannekoeken and often load it with fruit after baking. It’s how to get the highest, most dramatic pannekoeken.  It’s also very quick—only eleven minutes in our oven.

But Debbie in our test kitchen made the apple one above by pouring the batter over the fruit.  It works great but you don’t get the tall bowl.  And of course, the heat cooks the fruit.  It works well with thinly sliced apples, peaches or pears.  It also works with raspberries or blueberries.

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How to Make German Pancakes with Fruit

Folks tend to use the two names, German pancake and pannekoeken, interchangeably.  But a German pancake is made in a casserole dish or baking pan, not a specialty pan as used for pannekoeken.

The fruit is typically mixed in the batter or the batter is poured over the fruit so that the batter and fruit are cooked together.  The apple one to the right was made in a rectangular baking pan.

We asked Debbie how she makes her German Pancakes.  She follows the recipe on the package but she adds 1/4-cup of brown sugar to the pan after melting the butter and stirs it in.  This creates a rich, caramelly crust on the bottom of her German pancakes.   She serves them with syrup and a flavored whipped cream.  It makes a very special breakfast.

See her scratch recipe below:

German Apple Pancake Recipe

A German apple pancake is a classic.

We’ve made pannekoeken by sautéing apple slices in cinnamon, brown sugar, and butter and loading it into the pannekoeken when it comes from the oven.  This German pancake is similar but the apple slices are oven sautéed in the butter and brown sugar as the pan heats in the oven and once tender-crisp, the batter is poured over the top.

This is a four-egg German pancake that fits in a 9 x 9-inch pan.
1/3 cup butter
2/3 cup brown sugar
1 cup sliced, tart cooking apples (about 2 small apples)
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup pannekoeken mix
1 cup milk
4 large eggs

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

1. Cut butter into smaller pieces and place in the pan and pan in the oven.  As soon as the butter melts, sprinkle the brown sugar and cinnamon over the bottom of the pan.  Add the apples and place the pan back in the oven to cook until the apples are crisp-tender.  The apples should be cooked sufficiently in ten to fifteen minutes.  Stir the apples twice while they are cooking so that they do not burn.
2. While the apples are cooking, mix the batter by whisking the mix, milk, and eggs together.  A few lumps may remain but it should be smoother than pancake batter.  The batter will be thin.
3. Take the hot pan from the oven and pour the batter over the brown sugar and apples.
4. Return the pan to the oven and bake for 12 to 16 minutes.  It’s done when the pancake is puffed and the edges are brown.

Use this recipe to make easy, everyday Pannekoeken:

Gluten-free Dutch Pannekoeken

Since pannekoeken has more egg than flour, it seemed like a candidate for a flourless recipe for our friends that can’t eat flour. It works. Here’s the recipe.

Ingredients

1/4 cup butter
3 large eggs
1/8 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup milk
2/3 cup rice flour or gluten-free blend

Directions

1. Place the butter in a pannekoeken pan or an ovenproof skillet with rounded sides.
   2. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Put the rack in the center, not the top, shelf. When you turn the oven on, place the pan with the butter in the oven. When the oven reaches 250 degrees the butter should be melted. Remove the pan from the oven.
   3. Whisk the eggs and the salt in a medium bowl. Add the milk. Whisk in the rice flour or gluten-free blend until nearly smooth. Your batter is now ready.
   4. Pour the batter into the pan.
   5. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until the top starts to turn golden brown. Serve hot with your favorite syrup.

About the Author

Dennis Weaver has burned food from Point Barrow, Alaska, to Miami, Florida. He and his wife Merri Ann are the founders of The Prepared Pantry in Rigby, Idaho and he is the author of How to Bake: The Art and Science of Baking available as an E-book.

Dennis and Merri Ann live in Rigby, Idaho. They have five wonderful children and six beautiful granddaughters.