Do you ever get the end of the day and suddenly you’re faced with the question … “Mom, what’s for dinner.” Too often my response is, “I have no earthly idea. I haven’t even started to think about it.” Sometimes, if there’s a selection of leftovers in the fridge I might say, “Tonight is fend for yourself.” Usually this is met with groans and complaints. The exception is if I was considering something they didn’t particularly like, then the response is rather enthusiastic.

If we don’t have leftovers, my mind races through the possibilities and quickly discards several ideas that would have been great if only I’d considered this earlier and taken something out of the freezer. But I didn’t. And now it’s dinner time and I need to come up with something fast.

In Northern Europe, north of Belgium and nestled between Germany and the North Sea lies the kingdom of The Netherlands, commonly referred to as Holland. It’s a tiny country, roughly the size of Maryland. It’s known for windmills, wooden shoes, tulips, cheese, Blue delft, canals and bicycles. Once upon a lifetime I had the privilege of living there for a few years. It’s a beautiful country, wet, green and picturesque.

While the Dutch are not known for their cuisine, that does not mean there isn’t delicious dutch food. One of our favorites is Pannenkoeken, or dutch pancakes.

While Americans enjoy pancakes for breakfast, in Holland they are found on the dinner table. More like a crepe than an American pancake but thicker than French Crepes they are often savory rather than sweet and topped with things like cheese, onions, peppers, mushrooms and ham or bacon. It’s much like choosing toppings for a pizza.

Traditionally, the Pannenkoeken is drizzled with hot molasses. If you try this at home, please don’t skip this! Molasses with ham, cheese, and vegetables might sound unappetizing. It did to me when I was first tried it, but its delicious! Leaving out the molasses would be like skipping the whipped cream on the pumpkin pie. You can do it and it would still taste good, but it would fall somewhere short of awesome!

Because my pallet still hasn’t matured beyond the point where vegetables can be enjoyed rather than merely tolerated, and then only on rare occasions, I eat my Pannenkoeken with ham and cheese, but bacon and cheese are exquisite as well.

It’s a perfect meal for those nights when the day managed to get away from you and you find yourself scrambling to put a meal on the table in a hurry. It’s also great when your little, (or not little) eaters have varying likes and dislikes. Each family member can customize their Pannenkoeken to suit his or her own tastes.

Pannenkoeken – Dutch Pancakes

Because Holland is a European country and uses the metric system, some of the measurements provided are in metric. An electric scale is both easy to use and accurate. If you don’t have one, I’ve provided Imperial conversions. 

250 grams self-rising flour, or 250 grams plus 2 teaspoons of baking powder 

(2 cups of sifted flour is roughly equivalent to 250 grams of flour)

1 teaspoon sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1 egg

450 ml milk (scant 2 cups)

40 gram of butter melted or oil (generous 2 tablespoons)

Place the flour and baking powder (if not using self-rising) in a bowl with the sugar and salt. Mix the egg, milk and butter or oil in a separate bowl. Gradually add 1/2 of the liquid ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix until smooth. Continue adding the remaining liquid ingredients slowly. 

Heat a skillet to medium heat. Lightly butter or oil a skillet or griddle then pour the batter onto the hot pan and swirl to coat.

I use this 14″, round, cast iron griddle. It’s great for pizza too! To flip, I use an icing spatula similar to this one. The narrow profile allows me to get under the Pannenkoeken and lift without tearing it. 

Cook until the underside is lightly browned. Loosen the edges then flip. 

Sprinkle the Pannenkoeken with cheese, ham and other toppings of your choice.

Alternatively, all toppings with the exception of the cheese can be added as soon as the batter is added to the pan. Cook until the other side is slightly brown, flip the Pannenkoeken and cook the second side. Flip again, add cheese and cover until the cheese is melted. If you are adding a lot of toppings, this method makes it easier to flip as the toppings cook into the batter. 

Drizzle with warmed molasses. Enjoy! 

You can find a printable version of the recipe here. Or, if you really want to keep this quick and easy, you can buy a Pannenkoeken mix here. When your family bites into this deliciousness, I promise you, no one will care if you used a boxed mix or measured the flour yourself.

Tonight when my girls ask, “What’s for dinner?” I won’t hesitate. Pannenkoeken!