Swedish pancakes are a unique but classic breakfast item that you definitely need in your life.
For the uninitiated, a Swedish pancake is similar to a crepe but slightly thicker and less egg-y. They are also cooked to a deeper brown than you will see in many crepes. I almost always make mine for breakfast, but depending on what you top them with, they can be served as a dessert as well.
This exact recipe is my mom’s moms, and it has been living in her head and on a dinged up recipe card for quite a while. But here it is, digitized for the modern world. Now no-one in our family should ever have to ask for it again.
To be totally honest, I’ve still never had a Swedish pancake that wasn’t my moms. So I went to the internet to see what the world had to say about them. It seems like a lot of people are looking for that one special ingredient that makes them as good as they were at some restaurant or the other, or how they remember them from their childhood. Now I can’t say for sure but I have an offering- bacon grease? My family doesn’t make these without it. This recipe always begins with making bacon and using the grease to fry the pancakes. I have made them with butter before as well and that will also work. I would imagine canola or vegetable oil would as well, although I haven’t tried it. But nothing quite imparts that perfect flavor like you get from the bacon grease.
These pancakes can be cooked in any sort of pan, but the best way is in a flat cast iron griddle like the one below. Because these pancakes are large and thin, flipping them can be an adventure. Choosing a pan with no sides makes it infinitely easier to get your spatula under them to flip. Additionally, heavy cast iron retains heat extremely well and perfectly cooks these unique pancakes.
Cooked berries, jam and jelly, butter and powdered sugar are all excellent toppings for Swedish pancakes. But my all-time favorite thing to have with them is maple syrup. And I don’t mean the crappy brown high fructose corn syrup goo that they sell in the grocery stores. Do yourself a favor and get yourself some real maple syrup. You can find more information about that here.
Looking for more Swedish recipes? Head over to my Swedish Meatballs and Gravy, (LINK) Swedish Rye Bread (LINK) or Smörbakelser (Swedish Butter Cookies) (LINK) recipes!
Swedish Pancakes
Equipment
- 1 9" heavy-bottomed round pan or cast-iron (preferably with no sides)
Ingredients
- 6 - 8 slices bacon
- 2 eggs
- 2 tsp sugar
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 cups milk
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
Instructions
- Cook bacon to desired degree of doneness, reserving grease. Set aside when finished.
- While bacon is cooking, whisk together eggs, sugar and salt in a mixing bowl. Whisk in milk.
- Continue whisking and gradually add flour. Once all of it has been added, stir until just combined.
- In a castiron or other heavy-bottomed 9" pan, heat 1 tbsp reserved bacon grease on high heat. Your pan is hot enough when the grease begins smoking.
- Pour a ladleful of pancake batter into the bottom the pan and swirl until evenly coated.
- Cook for 3-5 minutes, until the bottom is golden brown and the top is bubble. Flip and cook for another 3-4 minutes. Repeat with remaining batter and bacon grease.
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