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My hubby’s mom is Finnish. Her parents literally came over to America on a boat from Finland. When I met my hubby’s parents for the first time, they made Pannukakku for breakfast. It was so fun having her teach me how to make this and it was surprisingly easy. One of my favorite memories with them was the weekend I spent meeting them in Chicago. I was seriously amazed at how delicious this pancake was. It is hard to describe a finnish pancake. Basically if a crepe, a custard, a pancake and french toast had a baby, this would be it! Doesn’t that just sound amazing?? All of your favorite things rolled up into one!
My hubby’s mom would make him these pancakes every year on his birthday. So guess who just had a birthday? The hubs. But this birthday was a little more special than the rest. He turned 30!! I had to make him pannukakku of course and then completely surprised him with a getaway to a resort, snow tubing, a nixon watch, and the best tickets that I could buy to the Avalance vs Blackhawks game in Denver! Woot woot! I am a great wife like that. We had such a fun day together. I am so glad that after a year of asking his mom for the recipe to this that I finally got my hands on it! This is one delicious pancake!
Rating: Definitely 5 stars! Difficulty of Recipe: 2 stars
Review: These are so excellent and easy. You probably have all of the ingredients on hand and ready to make. You can serve them up with fresh fruit on top, whip cream, syrup, or even some jam. I also served it with peppered bacon and found a new and delicious technique to make them in the oven. I will never make bacon on the stove again! This is a favorite family recipe that we will be making again and again!
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PANNUKKAU {FINNISH PANCAKE}
Ingredients
Ingredients:
- 4 large eggs
- ยพ teaspoon salt
- 2 ยฝ cups whole milk
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- ยผ cup granulated sugar
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
Peppered Bacon
- 4 slices bacon, I used thick-cut
- ground black pepper
- brown sugar
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Place the butter in a 9×13-inch baking dish, and put it into the oven to melt and become slightly bubbly.
- Using a hand mixer or stand mixer, whisk together the 4 eggs.
- Add in the flour, milk, salt, and sugar. Whisk everything together until the batter is smooth, the batter will be thin.
- Pull the pan out of the oven with the melted butter, and slowly pour the batter on top of the melted butter.
- Put the pan back in the oven and cook for 28-30 minutes. When it's done it will be golden brown around the edges and bubble up over the sides.
Peppered Bacon:
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil.
- Place the bacon lying side by side on top of the aluminum foil, and sprinkle each piece with a little black pepper and brown sugar.
- Bake for about 15-20 minutes or until desired crispness.
- Once the bacon is done, transfer it to paper towels to drain the excess grease.
- Serve the bacon with the Pannukkau and enjoy!
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
2022 and still using this recipe. My mom used to call it Kropsua . Now an Easter tradition. Thank you.
These are amazing and taste just like the pancakes my host mom would make when I lived in Helsinki. Thank you!
I am going to make this for my sonโs lunch today. Thanks
My husbandโs mother was from Finland. I made this for my husband for Christmas morning to honor his Mom who is deceased. I used a black iron skillet to cook it. I also added a little vanilla extract and cinnamon to it. It was delicious. My topping was frozen black cherries cooked down with a little brown sugar and maple syrup and thickened with a little cornstarch at the end. Love your recipe!!!
I make pannu often & my recipe is similar to yours. I appreciate your respect for your husband’s heritage; I am Finn also. Did you notice you left out what to do with the pepper and sugar for the bacon? I just sprinkled it on top before baking.
It is great to learn about our heritage and eating it is even better. Thanks so much for your comment and following along with me! Yes, you can sprinkle it on top. It is a preference. Thanks so much! XOXO
I have been making Pannukakku for many years. It’s definitely a family tradition and reminds me of home, one of our favorite comfort foods. Unfortunately, I lost my go-to recipe and haven’t been able to find one comparable. This one sounds similar, so I’m going to give it a try. thank you for sharing. When I make them, I add cardamom, cinnamon and nutmeg to give the pannukakku a nice spiced flavor (cardamom is one of my fave spices of all time after years of eating Finnish Coffee bread). I serve them with syrup or lingonberry jam.
My recipe too
My maiden name was Jauhola. My grandparents migrated from Kemi, Finland in the late 1800s and my grandmother, Anna Niccoli, brought this recipe with her too. The only differences are baking on 425 and a teaspoon of baking powder.
Thank you so much for sharing this. My daughter always makes this for her daughterโs birthday too.
It is a great recipe! We love to make them and enjoy them very much! Glad you have a similar recipe that tastes just as delicious! XOXO
I am Finnish and love this recipe! We have it on special occasions. Thank you!
Just a warning to anyone attempting this recipe. When the butter started to bubble up, some of it hit the top of the oven and started to spark and smoke. Luckily I turned it off in time but it was very scary. Keep an eye on it!
Why can’t one print this recipe for Pannukkau? I’m able to do so on your other recipes.
Thanks for sharing! My husband and I are both Finnish and we love to make Pannukkua!! I may have to try out your recipe… we have a different one that works really well but it calls for a whole stick of butter! I might try your recommendation ๐ Thank!
Thank you. This was soo delicious! I was a bit skeptical when i put it in the oven, but the results are amazing! It’s like a custard pie!
My Great Grandmother was Finnish and her husband was Swedish. Pannukkau has always been a favorite in our house. When we have it we add a dollap of Thimble berry Jam on top.
Thanks so much for this! My father’s grandparents came over from Finland, and I love French toast, custard, and crepes, so excited to try this!
Just made this AMAZING breakie for brunch today! HUGE SUCCESS!!! My husband said it is THE BEST breakfast he has ever had!! I served the pannukakku with cool whip and homemade blueberry sauceand gooseberry jam. Thank you so much Alyssa for sharing your fam jam recipe!! It was a GRANDE success in my house!! Our tummies are thanking you and can’t wait to try out another one of your recipes!!
Use whipped real cream. Cool Whip is for chemical engineers and giant food conglomerates. ALWAYS use butter and cream in Finnish cooking.
Amen.
I am not sure why this did not turn out for me. I was so disappointed. I double checked the recipe and could find nothing that I did wrong and yet they were raw in the middle even after baking them longer than the time. the sides and the bottom were getting really brown so did not feel I could bake them longer as they had already baked about 40 minutes. What could I have done wrong.
I found that when a recipe totally flops for me it is because my oven is not calibrated correctly. (This normally happens the first couple times I use my new oven after moving!) Check your oven temperature using an oven thermometer and see if the temperature matches your setting. If it doesn’t match, adjust your set oven temperature to make the interior of your oven the right temperature. Write down the “secret settings” for your oven so you don’t forget!
Another thing you can do is use the silver insulated Wilton cake pan strips or a wet towel wrapped around the outside of the pan. These methods cool the sides of the pan so the edges don’t overheat and the whole dish bakes more evenly.
Good luck!
They should be a bit custard like in the middle. You did not do anything wrong.