Ebelskivers: Puffy Danish Pancakes
Ebelskivers are a delightful ball of Danish breakfast love that can be stuffed full of delicious things. This post has a helpful step-by-step Ebelskiver how-to.
When I asked the question “do you ebelskiver?” on The Facebook last week, I wasn’t prepared for the excited response I received.
Many of you actually knew what ebelskivers are (we must be soulmates, you and I).
Others didn’t know but were interested in learning more which I love you for. Trust me. You want to know more about ebelskivers.
Years ago, my awesome and crazy Uncle Dan made them for my family when we visited them on one of our yearly cross-country treks from Texas to Idaho. I think I was only nine or thereabouts but I remember thinking my Uncle Dan and Aunt Marilyn had to be the coolest people in the universe to know how to make pancakes that were puffy spheres.
To a 9-year old girl with a wild imagination, that was, like, a very stellar super power.
They have become a staple in our house ever since (both the house I grew up in and now with my own little family).
Although many people reserve them for special brunches or Christmas morning type deals, we eat them quite often on Sunday afternoons when this momma doesn’t want to mess with the whole big Sunday meal.
Jackson, my 9-year old (must be the age), has taken an avid interest in ebelskivering (yep, it’s a thing) and has become quite proficient at turning them in the pan which leaves me to other important tasks like cleaning out the inside of the nutella jar.
Ebelskivers are a Danish pancake that cook up in a special pan to form a delightfully fluffy ball of breakfast love that can be stuffed with any variety of things (bits of sweetened cream cheese, fruit, nutella or other chocolatey decadence) or just cooked up and drizzled with syrup, dusted with powdered sugar or served with fresh fruit and whipped cream.
Surely you see how the possibilities are endless.
You can go all out or keep it ultra-simple. You’ll see from the step-by-step pictures below how the batter goes from a runny puddle to a puffy puff.
We use a knitting needle to turn the sweet things (appropriate since I’ve tried and failed to learn how to knit, oh, at least 13 times; this is a far better use for the needles than throwing them across the room in frustration) or metal chopsticks my brother brought back from Korea for me when he was there years ago.
You can see how good I am at repurposing skinny metal items, no?
Chances are if you’ve known our family long enough, you’ve eaten ebelskivers at our house.
Nothing solidifies friendship like ebelskivering together.
One Year Ago: Cheesy Zucchini Rice
Two Years Ago: Oreo Cheesecake Bites
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Ebelskivers {Puffy Danish Pancakes}
Ingredients
- 3 large eggs
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 3 cups buttermilk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- ¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons vegetable or canola oil
- 3 cups (426 g) flour (see note)
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
Instructions
- In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs and sugar. Mix in the buttermilk, vanilla and oil. Stir in the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt until just combined.
- Pour 3-4 tablespoons oil in a small cup and keep near the stove. You’ll need a pastry brush or paper towel to rub oil into the pan between batches.
- Preheat an ebelskiver pan over medium heat for 4-5 minutes until hot (the batter should sizzle when poured into the pan – but take care it isn’t so hot to burn the ebelskivers). Brush each cup with a tiny bit of oil.
- Pour enough batter into each cup to fill about 3/4 of the way. If you are planning on adding a filling (like fruit/jam, etc.) don’t fill quite as full. Let the ebelskivers cook for a minute or so until tiny bubbles begin to show on the surface and the edges look like they are setting a bit. Add any filling to the center of the batter at this point and top with a tiny bit of batter to cover.
- Using a knitting needle or other similar long, thin tool, push the tip into the middle of the batter to the bottom of the cup and gently lift the ebelskiver so that it turns and the cooked part is lifted out of the pan. The uncooked batter will run into the bottom of the cup.
- Let the ebelskiver cook a bit more (it will depend on how hot your pan is – don’t let them burn!) and turn again, slightly twisting so the seam from the first turn lifts out of the cup, with the needle so that it begins to form a ball shape (see the step-by-step pictures below). If the cooking process seems confusing, just simply keep turning the ebelskiver so it doesn’t burn and so that it cooks evenly on each side.
- Again, let it cook for a minute and then turn again so the opening is now on the bottom of the hot pan to cook all the way through.
- I like to toss the cooked ebelskivers in a 9X13 pan and keep them in a warm oven (about 175 degrees or so) until they are all cooked. Serve warm with any variety of toppings: syrup, fruit and whipped cream, nutella, powdered sugar, jam. The options are endless!
Notes
Recommended Products
Recipe Source: ebelskiver recipe from my Aunt Marilyn; she and my Uncle Dan introduced my parents to ebelskivers years and years ago!
112 Comments on “Ebelskivers: Puffy Danish Pancakes”
I have made ebelskivers for years but I always make them as we eat, giving the fresh batch to whoever is ready. I am hosting a brunch next month and wondered if I can make the entire batch all at once and keep them warm? Or do you stand at the stove and serve each batch as it’s done? Would they get soggy or “limp” as they sat?
I usually heat my oven to warm/low (about 175 degrees) and dump the cooked ebelskivers on a sheet pan in a single layer and keep them warm until they are all mostly done cooking.
A friend is coming over next week and we’re going to try and make these. I don’t see a local source for white wheat flour (or at least nothing identified as such) and don’t have time to order on line. What do you suggest?
I would just sub all-purpose flour
I know I’m being nit picky here, but they are called ÆBLESKIVER. (I know as I’m 100% Danish ) The singular is ‘æbleskive’ adding the ‘r’ at the end to make it plural.
And they are wonderful and tasty. Regardless of which recipe you use (there are probably as many variations as there are cooks who make them), traditionally they are served with jam and sugar.
Each of my children, I have 5, was given an æbleskive pan for a wedding gift by my parents. It’s a much loved tradition. They all loved æbleskiver as kids and now enjoy making them for their own children.
Hi Mel. I have been a fan of yours for a long time. I have a notebook that contains just your recipes. I tell all my friends about you and your wonderful goodness. I just ran across this recipe. I grew up eating these. They were a big treat. Served rolled in cinnamon sugar or covered in butter and syrup. And of course sausage with them. Only on special occasions did we have them for breakfast. Mom made them much more often for supper. I am so glad to see the recipe. Thank you.
Thank you so much, Sharon!
I use a fondue fork to turn ours. It’s tiny,but having two prongs makes it a little easier to not slip.
It’s such a great food associated with such happy memories! My Mom would make them for us. When I got married and made them for my husband the first time he ate twenty! We love them!
Which end of the knitting needle is used: the hook end or the other side?
I use the pointed end.
Can you freeze them?
Yes!
I have made ableskivers for years for my family but the end of December I have been asked to make enough for 60 people. Can you help me with the amounts of ingredients, I will need? I am only going to sprinkle with powdered sugar. How many should I make for each adult? I would appreciate any suggestions you may have.
Thank you for any help you can offer.
Hi Judy – is that the only thing that you will be serving or will there be other dishes? If they are being served with other foods, I’d say probably 4-5 per person? That’s just a guess. So much depends on if there is a mix of adults/kids, etc.
I would love it if you would do a video 😉 I want to do male these soooo bad!! Its so intimidating lol. HELP! 🙂
I was taught by my danish grandmother to use six eggs, beat egg whites then fold into the batter for the most amazing treat ever.
My grandmother made these when I was a kid (67 now.) Her recipe also used more eggs and the whites were folded in separately at the end. I have lost that recipe. So, I’m looking through the websites trying to find one similar. But Mel’s here looks pretty good. I like the buttermilk.
I saw someone make these on a camping trip. Any idea how far in advance you can make the batter? I’m excited to try your recipe.
I think you could probably make the batter a few days in advance.
Thanks!
I found a Nordicware Ebelskiver pan at Goodwill today. Your recipe and directions really helped me feel confident giving these a try! They came out so cute! I can’t stop smiling at how easy and fast they are to make. I love this recipe too! It’s light and not too sweet. Thank you. I use many recipes from your blog. Anytime I want to make something, I check here first. I’m feeling like a rock star tonight!
Made these for Christmas- they were a hit! My husband has Danish ancestors and we attempted to make some traditional foods from our heritage as a fun, different menu on Christmas. These ebelskivers were requested for a birthday breakfast. Thank you for a delicious and fun recipe!
So happy to hear this, Suzanne! Thanks for taking the time to let me know! 🙂
This is something the Harrison side of my family does for special occasions although, we tend to put most of toppings such as fruit or chocolate inside of ebelskivers and sauces or powdered sugar for the outsides.
just back from Camden market and a chap was making Dutch pancakes just like these and it reminded me that I’d read up on these in Denmark once but my husband coming from Denmark has not passed on this lovely tradition to me and his daughter who LOVE pancakes and sweet things!! so just ordered a pan and printed out your recipe….can’t wait for my pan to arrive!
I come from a German family with a Danish Branch and aebelskivers were a delicacy we enjoyed at least once a month. Like Mel’s son I enjoyed turning the ‘skivers and consuming them hot usually with preserves cherry or strawberry. I found a skillet (Nordic Wear) in a thrift store today and looked up a recipe and found your post. My mom (now well into her eighties) suggested substituting the buttermilk with dried buttermilk unless I have another use for the remaining buttermilk. That plus Nutella are in my next market basket! Thanks always a crowd fave for a hearty breakfast!
Just made these and they are fantastic! However, just to note…this recipe made over FOUR dozen…not 2 dozen like the recipe states. I know what I’ll be eating for breakfast and snacks for the next few days! 😀
Excellent recipe, and great instructions, thanks!
A note on the yield, however: I use a Williams-Sonoma ebelskiver pan, and consistently get ~7 batches from this recipe. Thus, I get about 50 ebelskivers total…twice the “2 dozen, more or less” described in the recipe. That’s fine, though–they freeze really well, and make for great, easy breakfasts on busy mornings.
Also, FWIW, the Williams-Sonoma ebelskiver pan works fine on our gas range. I use the same heat setting (slightly lower than medium) that I use when I make scrambled eggs in an All-Clad nonstick pan.
I am Danish and grew up in Denmark having two grandmothers who both made delicious æbleskiver – I totally love you are using a knitting needle as the “turning” tool, this is by far the most used tool at least in my family – I even have one for the purpose alone ( I don’t knit), we will usually add a bit of cardamom and serve with powdered sugar and a bit of jam!
Made these last night for dinner and they were fun. Your batter recipe is so much easier than others I found online! Only thing I will do differently next time is to do all white flour. I did half and half wheat and although they were heartier and healthier I just don’t care for the taste of wheat fried in oil. Also, I struggled with the flipping technique so some of mine didn’t turn out too pretty but I will follow the handy guide next time! Also going to add apple chunks next time and they will be just like the ones my mom used to make. There is something heartwarming about cooking with an ebelskiver pan passed down through generations. Thank you for the recipe!!!
I live in Denmark and have eaten æbleskiver my whole life. Danes DONT eat æbleskiver with sausages or whipped cream. NEVER HAVE. That has nothing to do with Danish traditions. Thats an American tradition. We Danes laugh when we hear Americans eat æbleskiver with sausages or whipped cream. Traditionally and very Danish arw æbleskiver eaten with different kinds of marmelade or with sugar or with sirup. And nothing else. And we dont eat them for breakfast.
I would try cooked crumbled bacon inside with real maple syrup
Amazon has a selection of gas burner diffusers on their website. Mine is perfectly flat, but others have a different surface.
Hi! I made ebelskivers for the first time yesterday in a Nordic Ware ebelskiver pan. Mine were flat, but then I had not yet seen your website. We have a gas stovetop, so I use a metal disk purchased years ago from King Arthur Flour to disperse the heat. It works pretty well, although some of the pancakes got done faster than others. Looking forward to trying your method of turning!
Hi Beck: I have a gas cooktop and am using a Lodge cast iron aebelskiver pan. As with most other breakfast items (pancakes, scrambled eggs, boiling water for tea…), I find that the medium setting works to get the pan/kettle hot, but you have to watch it. As soon as a little bit of butter or oil starts to sizzle, I turn the stove to low or a little higher than low. This is how I made successful ‘skivers without burning them. With gas, you really have to watch the pan to ensure it’s not getting too hot, but you can make the aebelskivers with a cast iron pot on a gas stove. And it’s worth it!
Bummer. I just purchased a cast iron ebleskiver pan, but I have a gas stove top… So, it won’t work? I use cast iron all the time, so I just assumed it would work. Now what do I do? I am really hoping to make these soon!
Beck – it’s worth a try. I’ve never used on on a gas cooktop so you might want to look around online to see if anyone has experience with that.
We have gas cook top. the pan works great. keep It on low and turn the cakes often. Yum!
First, thank you for the delightful and informative blog! I received a long-desired ebelskiver cast iron pan for my B-Day recently and appreciated finding staightforward instructions for its inaugural use (to the tune of Young Frankenstein’s It’s Alive! and in the spirit of the season, I sing “I’m inspired! I’m inspired!”). For my novice use, I found a combination of a bamboo skewer and a flimsy plastic handled paring knife with a thin flexible blade (for helping to separate the edge of the e’cakes from the sides of the pre-seasoned pan’s cups) to be very helpful. Yes, two-handed ebleskiver turning is probably heretical in certain quarters and it probably does prove that I am less skilled than your 5-year old, but I am a beginner here….Anyway, thanks for the guidance. Making the e’cakes was a whole lot of fun, after the first nerve-wracking batch, and generated appreciative comments, like “delicious!” from the recipients. One thing I’ll note is that your recipe makes a ton of ‘skivers. The two of us have enough left over for three days of breakfast to come. We can each eat a panful (6-7) before feeling terminal.
Be still my heart, Mel! I have been making/eating ebelskivvers my whole life, which makes me think we are truly food-sisters, or, at the very least, distant cousins. Bless you for introducing Nutella into my ebelskivver heaven. A master stroke! We traditionally make these little balls of goodness the first Sundays of April and October, so I’ll be trying the new combo tomorrow morning.
We had these for breakfast this morning & they were yummy! Thanks for reminding me to use my elbelskiver pan again…it’s been a couple years since I have!
I was telling my cousin all about this post and she had a pan!! I borrowed it and made them several times with great success and cheers from the kids. I even tagged you on Instagram! I didn’t have a knitting needle handle, but I have a ton of wooden skewers that I keep on hand for grilling over the summer. That worked great! Way better than just a plain old pancake. I think I like how they are slightly crisp on the outsides, and with Nutella and strawberries…. Yum. Thanks for the tutorial. (With school starting I am headed over to the overnight breakfast recipes!)
Yeah! I ordered me one of the pans you like and just got it today! We have having aebleskivers tomorrow! Yum! Thanks!
I love me some aebleskivers! I make many different kinds . . . some sweet, some savory, some plain. My husband prefers the plain with just a tad bit of butter and real maple syrup. My daughter prefers the savory stuffed with bacon or ham. I like them topped with powdered sugar, strawberries, whipped cream . . . and syrup. I usually turn mine with the short (maybe three-inch?) wooden skewers; I use two (one in each hand), flip the aebleskiver a quarter to fill the cup, then turn it again. Perfectly round delightful balls of heaven!
I grew up with these… my friends & I would have competitions to see who could eat the most. If you’re in the area of Calgary, Canada, the Danish Canadian Club makes them for their Saturday Brunch.
@ Brinestone… If you have a gas stove, use a pan that has a flat closed bottom, this helps to spread the heat. My sister has a gas stove & I had to bring some flat bottomed pans back from Denmark with me, as all the ones we found here were open on the bottom.
Top it off with butter and caramel.
Right now my children love peanut butter, bacon & maple syrup combo so that is what we would too them with!
Top with blueberries and honey.
This would be nice to have to make a quick dessert or breakfast. Maple syrup and whipped cream would be a nice topping. Thank you.
We are eblskevers too! I don’t know why we haven’t thought of nutella before!!
Upon reading and looking at this post, I promptly bought the pan you recommended on Amazon. It came yesterday, and this morning we made ebelskivers. My first batch was a disaster – pan not oiled enough, heat too high – and they all turned to black sadness. I turned it down, washed the pan and tried again…and SUCCESS – majorly.
These are great! So very fun, and my kids thought they were pretty awesome. We did strawberry jam, powdered sugar and syrup. Ryan stuffed a few of his with bananas and nutella. Holy cow.
Great, great fun for a slow-paced morning! Thank you!
We are of the “flip-once” tradition, although I think I will try your way next time. This Christmas breakfast in my family and I still remember when I was deemed old enough to learn to flip them 🙂
I’ve never heard of these. Could you fill them with with the same filling as a cinnamon roll??
Of course you can and how yummy that will be. In my kitchen ebelskivers are in 2 categories.. main dish and dessert. Cinnamon roll filing would probably fall neatly into both.
My mother-in-law made us some ebelskivers at Thanksgiving and they were so delicious! She filled them with strawberry jam, ricotta cheese and chocolate chips!! So fantastic!