We’re not Catholic but we love the humble holiday of Pancake Day (or Shrove Tuesday). We pull out our favorite pancake recipe and heat up our favorite pancake maker – the cast iron Ebelskiver pan! Here’s our simple recipe for sourdough ebelskiver and an easy tutorial in how to use the pan. Celebrate Pancake Day in style this year!
This recipe has been updated since its original publication in 2015. Eat up! 
More Holiday Foods
Golden Irish Soda Bread for St. Patrick’s Day
Sourdough Kulich Bread for Easter
What is Pancake Day?
I like any holiday that’s so simple all you have to do is become a pancake maker to celebrate it. Pancake Day is traditionally a Catholic holiday (although other Christian sects observe it).
It’s celebrated right before Lent when eggs and fats are forbidden as part of an introspective spiritual observance of the time before Easter. In order to prevent their going to waste, those ingredients are used up making pancakes for dinner. What genius!
- Pretty much every culture on earth has some kind of pancake – injera, crepes, tortillas, naan – it’s all just a pancake of sorts. And I love. every. single. one.
To learn more about Pancake Day and other winter/spring holidays, grab your copy of our book Homestead Holidays!
A Unique Pancake Maker
We were introduced to the ebelskiver pan years ago and now have three or four banging around my kitchen. Ebelskiver pans make the very traditional Danish pancake of the same name.
Here’s a little tip from an intrepid reader – thank you, Lisa!
“A little fun fact from me, a Danish gal: the correct spelling for these is Æbleskiver, and this word is already plural. There is no need to add an “s” to the end.”
Using this pan with small wells all around it, you make these rounded pancakes with basic pancake ingredients, although you add egg whites for creating the traditional poof.
- My pans are made from cast iron, but there are electric versions of this pan that you can purchase.
In order to ease the use of grain on our tummies, we ferment our ebelskiver batter with sorudough. Culturing our batters and doughs with sourdough has brought such healing to our family – grateful for those happy, little yeasts and bacteria!
More Sourdough Recipes for Later:
Chocolate Chip Cookies (Includes how to convert a cookie recipe to sourdough)
Why You Need an Ebelskiver Pan
This Ebelskiver pan is truly a magical pancake maker and gives these pancakes their distinct shape. Plus, using cast iron ensures an even bake and uniform results.
Don’t worry if it takes you some time to make friends with your cast iron – it will be worth it. If you’re using an electric ebelskiver pan, it will most likely be non-stick.
We have more details in the recipe, but just as an overview, here are the basics of how to use a ebelskiver pan.
- Preheat the pan on the stove, grease the wells with butter, and add the pancake batter.
- Wait for the pancakes to bubble and turn them over with bamboo skewers (trying hard not to crush them).
- Add inclusions like apple pie filling, jam, or chocolate chips for dessert ebelskiver. You can also add savory ingredients like cheese or sausage for dinner ebelskiver.
- After a few more minutes of pan baking time, remove the pancakes to a plate and eat hot with butter.
My son and I are often in charge of making the ebeslkiver and we always seem to burn a few in first batch as we adjust to the heat of the pan. My favorite part about making these isn’t eating them, it’s chatting with him while we make them and watching him gain culinary skills.
Honestly, even the ones you completely deform as you learn your new skill will taste divine.
Sourdough Ebelskiver Recipe
Here’s a basic sourdough ebelskiver recipe but feel free to fiddle around with it to find a variation you love. Add herbs, toss in some raising, or try a natural color to dye them blue!
Plan to set up your batter six hours before you need to use it. You may also ferment the batter overnight, in the fridge or on the counter.
Sourdough Ebelskivers (Danish Pancakes)
Ingredients
Initial Batter
- 3 Cups Organic White Flour May use whole wheat.
- 1 tsp. Sea Salt
- 1/4 Cup Coconut Sugar Raw sugar works well, too.
- 1/2 tsp. Nutmeg
- 2 Cups Filtered Water
- 1/2 Cup Starter
- 2 Fresh Eggs*
Before Baking, Add In:
- 3 Tbsp. Melted butter May use coconut oil.
- 1 tsp. Vanilla
- 1 tsp. Baking Soda Optional but it will make them poofier.
Instructions
Initial Mix:
- Mix 3 cups of flour, 1 tsp. of sea salt, 1/4 cup of sugar, and 1/2 tsp. of nutmeg in a ceramic bowl.
- In a different bowl, mix 2 cups of water, 1/2 cup of starter, and 2 eggs (if using at this stage). Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix until incorporated. Do not overmix.
- Cover and let the batter sit on your counter for six hours or overnight. If your kitchen is warm, consider refrigerating overnight so you don't over ferment the dough.
Before Baking:
- Preheat the Ebelskiver pan on medium-low heat and put a dab of butter in each well to melt.
- Melt 3 Tbsp. of butter or coconut oil and set aside for a few minutes to cool. Add 1 tsp. of vanilla and 1 tsp. of baking soda, if using. Add this mixture to your fermented batter and mix until incorporated.**
- Fill each well of your pan about 3/4 full with batter. Do not overfill.
- If you're going to use an inclusion like spiced apples, chocolate chips, or sausage, do it now. 1-2 tsp. of anything should be enough to give flavor but not overfill the well of the pan.
- Cook until the batter begins to buble and the underside becomes stiff.
- Using a bamboo skewer or knitting needle, carefully turn the pancake over so that what was on the top is now on the bottom.
- Bake a further 3-5 minutes or until golden browned. If you've included a filling, allow a little more time.
- Plate and cover and serve hot.
Notes
- FYI, the eggs will be more difficult to incorporate after the fermentation stage. The easiest way I've found to do it well is to use my hands.
- To avoid overmixing, I mix by hand with a spoon instead of in my mixer.
- To get more predicatable results, use a kitchen scale to measure your ingredients. A kitchen scale is not my style, so I simply add a little moisture if I was sloppy with my liquid to flour ratio.
- I'm usually running 2 or 3 pans of ebelskiver at one time, so I don't pause long enough to measure. You'll find your own rhythm!
Sourdough Ebelskiver Pancake Recipe Notes
If you have concerns about salmonella, you may add the eggs after the fermentation stage. You can also ferment with the eggs but in the refrigerator.
- FYI, the eggs will be more difficult to incorporate after the fermentation stage. The easiest way I’ve found to do it well is to use my hands.
If you’ve fermented your batter in the fridge, remove at least one hour before you want to make pancakes to warm the batter enough to mix ingredients.
Be sure not to overmix your batter at any stage of the process. Overmixing sourdough pastry recipes results in bread-like texture.
- To avoid overmixing, I mix by hand with a spoon instead of in my mixer.
Dealing with Stiff Batter
If your batter is too stiff, add some cream, milk, or water to loosen it. It should be spoonable, like any pancake batter you’ve made before.
The fermentation process of sourdough pancake batter can have variable results based on how much liquid was added initially in relation to the kind and amount of the flour added. (There are several other factors, but this is the big one.)
- To get more predicatable results, use a kitchen scale to measure your ingredients. A kitchen scale is not my style, so I simply add a little moisture if I was sloppy with my liquid to flour ratio.
More Tips
You can also bake the pancakes in thirds by turning the pancake 1/3 of the way over. I’m not very methodical and simply turn the pancakes until they’re baked on all sides.
- I’m usually running 2 or 3 pans of ebelskiver at one time, so I don’t pause long enough to measure. You’ll find your own rhythm!
Turning the Abelskiver will not only cook the pancake, but it will also form the top of the pancake’s spherical body.
Just a reminder: If you’ve included a filling, allow a little more time. I always taste test because different fillings have different density, which will affect bake time.
To Serve the Sourdough Ebelskiver
These are best served hot, which means I serve them with other dishes to eat right away and have people come to the stove to get abelskiver when they’re ready.
Dust with powdered sugar, or drizzle with syrup or honey. If you have savory inclusions, top with herbed butter or bechmel or cheese sauce.
Non-Sourdough Ebelskiver Recipes
Try this recipe from Gayathris Cookspot if you need a lower-carb version of ebelskiver.
Not So Modern Housewife has a traditional buttermilk and flour ebelskiver recipe that might appeal to you.
Savoring the Globe has savory potato ebelskiver with a lemon dipping sauce.
I encourage you to pick at least one ebelskiver recipe – or any pancake recipe – and try celebrating Pancake Day with your family. The winter can be long and dark; bring some light into it with this wholesome family tradition.
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Our church does a Pancake Supper on Fat Tuesday, it’s always a lot of fun, and then we have our Ash Wednesday service that is always very solemn. We aren’t Catholic either though. But these sound really good, although I can’t spell it without scrolling back up! I’ll have to try them sometime. I’ll pin for later. Thanks!
The Catholics have fun festivals – so do the Jews – we celebrate a lot of them and food is one of the best parts! These are very much worth a try, even if they are tricky to spell (that’s even the Anglicized version). 🙂
These look wonderful – even the less than perfect ones. I’ve never heard of this pan but will be putting it on my wish list.
It’s actually really easy to use – maybe because you know that, when you’re done, you get to eat an Ebelskiver. Just a guess.
When does the baking soda get added?
Or the baking powder. You’ve mentioned both but not within the directions of the recipe
Thank you for catching that, Gabby! It’s there now. Usually you add the leavening agents towards the end of your mixing, in case you ever have to guess again. 🙂
Thank you.
You still list baking powder in the ingredients, but now I am clear 🙂
Try refreshing the page – you should see both baking powder and baking soda. Unless my recipe plugin is malfunctioning which, honestly, wouldn’t be the first time. I’m not exactly convinced that technology makes our lives that much easier, are you?
You can actually make these without either leavening agent because of the sourdough but to get a really good poof on the pancake, I like to use them. Let me know if you come up with something better. Also, let me know if you perfect filling them and what your method is. I’m such a spazz with the filling that it gets everywhere. Still tasty, of course, but very messy. I think I use too much filling at one time…my kids are actually better at making these than I am. Ha!
These are Danish (from Denmark), not Dutch (from the Netherlands/Holland). The Dutch do have something similar, but they’re called poffertjes.
Thanks for clearing that up, Hannah! I appreciate your precision.
Thank you for the recipe! A little fun fact from me, a Danish gal: the correct spelling for these is Æbleskiver, and this word is already plural. There is no need to add an “s” to the end 🙂 🙂
Thanks so much for that, Lisa! There are about 100 different ways to spell it when you look it up online; I’m so grateful to have an official spelling. 🙂 Thank you, too, for the tip about the plural form – you’re a wealth of information.
So, did you ever eat these growing up?
I’m so glad to find this recipe. Thank you! I have two aebleskiver pans that I’ve only used a handful of times over the years. My mother was half-Danish, so she made them a few times, too. But I think I’ll make them more with a recipe to use with my sourdough starter. Do you happen to remember or know how many aebleskiver this recipe makes?
How fun, Karen, so glad it was useful! This recipe makes about 18-24. Whatever it is, it’s never enough. My kids can eat these faster than I can make them which is why we now have two pans. 🙂