Trifles.nl – Trifle – Joyful culinary adventures of little weight

April 15
2007

Category
Breakfast & Lunch

Poffertjes: Pancakes for Pixies

What do you want for lunch? Every ones in a while, without processing this question in my brain, I hear myself shouting: Poffertjes! I don’t know if you’ve ever tasted them, but if you like (Dutch style) pancakes you probably are going to love poffertjes.

Poffertjes are a Dutch speciality, served at fairs (kermis) or pancake restaurants but you can also make them yourself. They’re like tiny pancakes, only thicker and sweeter. You can make them with a ready made poffertjes mix but of course I do not recommend this. Like all good food, making your own batter is so much better and tastier and it only takes a minute.

I have a weak spot for all things tiny when it comes to food. If somebody makes a mini version of any food item, I am the sorry person that’s probably going to buy it. I just love bite size food. As a child I developed, in other peoples eyes, weird habits like drinking soda with a tiny spoon and cutting up a mars bar into tiny slices and serve them on a plate. You can analyse this behaviour any way you like, I just like it like that and I am not harming anyone in the process, so I’m sticking to my love for little. So these tiny pancakes are perfect if you feel with me. It’s just a very satisfying way of eating a lot without eating a lot. Not that these tiny circles fall into the healthy food category, with the butter and sugar combo, but they would be naked without them. So if you are going to eat them, you might as well indulge.

Over the years we have ‘perfected’ our recipe to our own taste to make the poffertjes we love.

This is what you need for the poffertjes batter

makes approx. 44 poffertjes

80 grams of wheat flour

40 grams of buckwheat flour

a good pinch of salt

2 tsps of sugar

1 egg

1 tsp of vanilla extract

enough milk to make a slightly runny batter

1 tsp of vegetable oil

This is how you make the poffertjes
Now this is a bit of a challenge if you do not have a poffertjes plate. I suggest you take the batter recipe and make pancakes or crepes with it, which works really well. If you can get a hold of a poffertjes plate or pan (the cast iron ones are best, we also have an electric device with changeable, non stick poffertjes and waffle and sandwich plates (Tefal brand), not very authentic, but it works well), then it’s simple: heat the plate, butter the little holes. Squeeze batter (best done with a plastic squeeze bottle) in each of the circles on the plate until filled up to the rim. Bake on one side until firm, then turn with a fork and bake to other side. When nice and golden brown serve hot on a plate with fresh dairy butter and lots of powdered sugar.

PS: I also like mini vegetables like cherry tomatoes and little one person cauliflowers, cress (see previous post), I cheered when celebrations were introduced, I love mini muffins and tiny cookies. But I don’t trust those mini bottles in hotel mini bars and on planes…weird…

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27 Comments »

Ivonne said,

April 16, 2007 @ 6:35

Ahhh! I had these while I was in Europe in December. I had them drizzled with Nutella and they were delicious. Thank you so much for sharing the recipe!
Patricia Scarpin said,

April 16, 2007 @ 15:20

Wow! I don’t even know how to pronounce the word but I’m more than willing to try this recipe!

Oh, and I’m a sucker for mini food, too. The hard thing is not having seconds, thirds…
gilly said,

April 17, 2007 @ 20:17

These look so dainty, delicate, and gorgeous!

I’m with Patricia – how do you pronounce “poffertjes”?
Marieke said,

April 17, 2007 @ 21:03

Thanks for the nice comments!
Poffertjes is pronounced with the ‘o’ like in ‘cold’and both’e’s like in the word ‘just’ Poffurtjus. You can also translate this word to ’small puffers’. You can also add 5 grams of dried yeast to the milk, make the batter and leave it for 30 minutes. This is the traditional version, but if you want it quick and good, the recipe above works very well.

Hope this helps a bit

Marieke
Kristen said,

April 19, 2007 @ 0:36

Thank you, thank you, thank you for posting this.

I’ve had a poffertjes pan (and squeeze bottle!) for a couple years now — and I waited so long to attempt translating the instructions on the box of poffertje mix, it actually expired.

Poffertjes, here I come!
Marieke said,

April 21, 2007 @ 10:01

Hi Kristen,

How nice to hear you own a poffertjes pan. Never mind the expired mix, easy and better to make it yourself. Love to hear about the result!
junglegirl said,

June 21, 2007 @ 13:48

I love to eat with a tiny spoon too! Actually, it’s a long-handled silver iced tea spoon. Also, I have never ever heard of anyone else who cut their candy bars into thin slices on a plate, like I did (when I still ate candy bars : ) ha ha…! I could make it last for an hour instead of two minutes and enjoyed the thinness so much. Now I have a special tiny glass for elixer drinks that I sip like cordials. I wish we knew why we did that, because it’s such a pleasure!
aria said,

June 23, 2007 @ 22:16

oh these look so delicious to make and easy too. i think i;ll try these tonight for a late dinner for just me and my husband

thx for the recipe! -aria
Carol said,

August 4, 2007 @ 12:23

I am an Aussie & was marrried to a dutchman & had these yummy yummy treats often only at a Dutch tea house & friends homes & Dutch Festivals.Our local monthly market has a Poffertjes stall & the queues are always long but the wait is worth it. I have recently aquired the equipment and will now be making my own for my new Aussie husband who loves them with the works.ie Maple syrup/icing sugar & whipped butter.DELICIOUS!!!!!!
REGARDS CAROL
Anonymous said,

August 19, 2007 @ 8:17

tiny food tastes better.
CAROL WILKNSON said,

September 9, 2007 @ 6:59

THESE LITTLE CAKES LOOK YUMMY.CAN YOU JUST USE ANY SORT OF FLOUR LIKE SELF RAISING.AND WHERE DO I GET A PAN AND KIT FROM CHEERS CAZ.
Marieke said,

September 9, 2007 @ 12:21

Hello Carol,

Yes, you could use self raising flour (the result will be a little bit fluffier but also very nice)in stead of plain flour or whole wheat flour. In Holland you can buy this stuff almost everywhere but for all other cases there are internet sites that maybe can be of service. For instance: Hollandsbest.com and thedutchshop.com (they sell the one by Koopmans which is a very well know brand here in Holland. It’s a light weight non stick version.

Good luck and thanks for your comment,

Marieke
mark crook said,

September 13, 2007 @ 16:08

i have a copper poffertjes plate with 48 cups.
ilove them.
yours does not have yeast in them .
is there a basic recepi for poffertjis.
and is the the copper plate the best well its what the man told me as i parted with my money gas burner and all its very nice bright and shiney.
dont want to get it dirty.
yeast or not
Marieke said,

September 14, 2007 @ 19:23

Hi Mark,

I have never seen a recipe with yeast for poffertjes. The really basic recipe is just a batter of flour, milk, eggs and some salt. The batter should be of a runny consistency. Although we like our recipe better with the added buckweat/syrop/vanilla the poffertjes will have more taste this way. We use a non-stick poffertjes pan, although old fashioned pans are either cast iron or indeed sometimes copper. Your copper pan seem to be a very fancy poffertjes pan!

Good luck with deciding on making your copper pan dirty,

Marieke
joe said,

January 22, 2008 @ 14:52

where can i get a poffertjes plate like the one mark crook has?
ravin69@aol.com
Marieke said,

January 22, 2008 @ 18:26

Hello Joe,

A plate for 48 cups is not a plate that we consider for ‘home use’ here in Holland. Our home use plates are usually for 15 poffertjes in a batch. Pans for that you can check out a.o. at http://www.fantes.com/aebleskiver.htm#poffertjes and http://www.dutchpoffertjes.com.au/products.html

I saw some professional equipment (for 50 poffertjes or more in one go) at this site: http://www.misterpop.nl/overige/overigeapp_en.htm

Traditionally, the pans were made of copper, but now they are made of cast-iron or non stick material. Copper pans will be more of a second hand item I guess.

Hope Mark can tell us were he found his.

Marieke
Catherine said,

April 17, 2008 @ 19:45

They really looks like my danish Æbleskiver

Catherine/Culinaria
Marieke said,

April 18, 2008 @ 19:00

Hi Catherine,

Yes, I think they are close family. This summer I will visit Denmark so I hope I can taste them there so I can compare!
Amy said,

June 16, 2008 @ 10:33

Thanks for that recipe. I have been madly hunting down a pan and finally found one a couple of days ago. but the recipe I got was the one with the yeast and didn’t taste like the ones at the markets much to my kids disgust! So can’t wait to try this one.
Anonymous said,

July 7, 2008 @ 3:23

how do u make the BATTER! we lost our recipe
Marieke said,

July 7, 2008 @ 16:56

Like it says in the recipe in this posting

Mix:

80 grams of wheat flour

40 grams of buckwheat flour

a good pinch of salt

2 tsps of sugar

1 egg

1 tsp of vanilla extract

enough milk to make a slightly runny batter

1 tsp of vegetable oil

Good luck!
Darion said,

November 17, 2008 @ 5:44

Thanks for the recipe ,I’m from Australia and just recently found a company that produces a range of plates that fit 14 up to 200 poffertjes at a time ,I have purchased the cast iron plate that holds a4 and have been making them for a few days now with the packet mix provided with the kit ,I was searching for an authentic recipe and came across yours ,many thanks as It would be pointless buying the pre – mix everytime I needed to make them .

For anyone from Australia interested in purchasing the plates in Australia this is the site to go to http://www.poffertjesman.com/ ,they are located in Geelong ,although I puirchased mine from Melbourne in the city from a kitchen shop for $59 AUS …it came with a 14 hole plate,2 skewers a squeeze bottle and a 1 kilogram pre mix …

You can also purchase the electric non stick unit for around $70 ,I just find the cast iron authentic style better myself ,anyway enough talk from me …thanks again
Marieke said,

November 17, 2008 @ 21:43

Hi Darion,

Poffertjesman! Now that sounds Dutch to me!
I think the cast iron works best and is the most authentic.
Enjoy your poffertjes
And be generous with butter and icing sugar…
Rene said,

February 2, 2009 @ 4:35

The best Poffertjes are the original ones that we have had in Adelaide since the 1970’s
I have travelled around and seen some of these eastern states ones; not as good as the original Adelaide ones. These are even yummer then in Holland , I recon,as I found out when I went there last year. Unfortunately they won,t give out their recipe, I don’t blame them. They are far superior to any others I’ve tasted, And I’m a bit of a connisseur…….
Patricia Mahara said,

June 9, 2009 @ 12:23

How do you make whipped butter to go on top and how do you layer poffertjes maple syrup icing sugar cream or poffertjes, butter, icing sugar, maple syrup, cream and i am having trouble finding buckwheat so i use the yeast recipe i live in Brisbane Australia can anyone help
Kimberly said,

August 28, 2009 @ 17:17

What a fun recipe! My grandmother used to make us Ebelskievers when I was a child….could you use the same type pan. I do have a cast iron Ebelskiever pan….so I was wondering if this recipe might work in that.
Thanks.
Marieke said,

August 28, 2009 @ 19:26

Hi Kimberly,

I think your Ebelskiever (Danish right?) and our poffertjes are very close related, so I don’t so any reason why it shouldn’t work. Our pan is cast iron too. Let me know how it goes!

Groetjes,

Marieke