Poffertjes, an old Dutch delicacy of baby pancakes

“Poffertjes” is a Dutch culinary specialty you could compare with a mini or baby pancake served with powdered sugar and creamy butter. They are best eaten freshly made at food stalls on city squares or on markets, events, festivals, or fairs. But luckily you can also make them at home. Poffertjes are made from buckwheat flour and yeast and baked in a special pan with little circular cavities. In the backing process, you flip over your Poffertjes with a two-pronged fork. Poffertjes are moist and chewy inside. Crispy outside. They’re downright addictive and super popular and everybody loves them even better than the bigger pancakes.

When do you eat Poffertjes? Well, this Dutch delicatessen is best eaten every minute of the day. Do not hesitate to eat them for breakfast, lunch, or dinner, just eat them whenever you want.

Poffertjes are easy to make. They puff up while they’re baked. A special pan is not necessary but it’s nice and easy if you have a special “Poffertjespan”. If you don’t have this special Poffertjespan use a good size frying pan.

Traditional Poffertjes are served with powdered sugar and butter but you can also drizzle syrup, Nutella, ice cream, strawberries, or a puree with mixed berries over the Poffertjes. I like them best, steaming hot with powdered sugar and a good scoop of butter.

A nice place to You can eat the tastiest poffertjes at a funfair or market at a poffertjes stall. At some poffertjes stalls, you can bake your own poffertjes, under the supervision of the poffertjes cook. How hilarious is that?

A good place to eat some poffertjes is in Laren, a little town near Amsterdam. Here you find a traditional old Dutch poffertjes restaurant where you can, on the old-fashionable way, enjoy this old Dutch delicacy. This poffertjes restaurant is open from March till September.

And now I am going to share my Poffertjes recipe with you, so you can make them at home and make your family addicted to this Dutch specialty.

Ingredients

• 15 g fresh yeast or 7 g dried yeast
• 250 g buckwheat flour
• 350 ml lukewarm milk
• 1 egg
• 2 tbsp sugar
• pinch of salt
• unsalted butter and icing sugar

Take a mixing bowl and mix the flour, sugar, and salt.  After mixing add the yeast and then the milk. Watch out, the salt must not come into direct contact with the yeast.
Mix well with a whisk to a smooth batter, and mix well so there will be no lumps.

Finally, add the egg, mix well and cover the bowl with a kitchen towel. Put the bowl in a warm place for an hour so the mixture can rise.

After an hour you fill a special batter bottle, can, or pastry bag with the batter. If you don’t have these kitchen tools just use a couple of spoons to put the batter in the Poffertjespan.
Fatten the Poffertjespan with unsalted butter. If you don’t have a Poffertjespan use a normal frying pan. Put the heat on medium. Heat the poffertjes pan, quirt or scoop the batter into the pan.

After a few minutes, when the underside is cooked golden brown, gently loosen them with a fork and flip them over. When both sides are backed, place the Poffertjes on a plate with the best butter you can get and put on a big load of icing (powdered) sugar.