Blender Swedish Pancakes Recipe
Tender, delicious Swedish Pancakes are a special treat for breakfast, dessert or even dinner. Made in a blender, they are ready in minutes.
The summer Olympics are here and it’s the perfect excuse to update my Swedish Pancakes recipe, first published in 2011. Our family’s been eating these for years, both in a local Swedish Restaurant and at home for special breakfasts.
Yes, the family was psyched to have a “special breakfast” on an ordinary day. And I was excited because I was going to get big points making something that’s really easy–just 5 ingredients!
How are Swedish pancakes different from crepes?
Of course everyone’s first question is how do they compare to crepes–even from my daughter who started eating them as a baby! After reading a number of answers (some of which made no sense), I decided to do a recipe comparison myself. And the short answer is that Swedish pancakes have more milk.
The average Swedish pancake recipe has a ratio of 1 cup flour to 2 cups milk to 2 eggs. A typical crepe recipe has 1 cup flour to 1 ¼ cups milk (or a combo of milk and water) to 2 eggs. Both recipes had similar amounts of sugar, butter and vanilla (those seemed to vary randomly)
This may be responsible for the slightly greater strength of crepes that allows them to wrapped around fillings more easily. When you see a crepe, the filling is frequently inside where for Swedish pancakes it is usually on top.
Step by Step Directions
Making the batter in a blender makes this recipe super easy!
You start by blending the liquid ingredients together, then adding the flour.
Set your burner to medium and preheat your pan. Spray your pan with non-stick spray and pour in about 1/3 cup of batter. Tilt the pan and swirl around around to create a thin round layer (but not too thin). Imperfect rounds are absolutely fine!
When surface is dry and edges are turning golden, run a spatula (metal for a stainless pan, silicone for non-stick) under the pancake to ensure that it’s loose, then flip the pancake over.
Continue cooking until the second side is turning golden, then fold into thirds for serving. You can keep warm in a 200F oven if desired.
Scrape or wipe pan between pancakes and re-spray. Repeat until batter is used up.
And as a special tip, using two frying pans at a time will speed things up!
Serving Accompaniments
The most common way to serve Swedish Pancakes is with butter and syrup or with lingonberry preserves. Berries or other fruits with whipped cream is also popular.
You can even serve Swedish Pancakes with savory sides. Al Johnson’s Swedish Restaurant in Sister Bay, WI offers options like Ham and Swedish Meatballs.
My personal favorite is to go sweet, topping half with butter and syrup and the other half with lingonberries. Or loaded with fresh berries. Plus a side of Canadian bacon to balance the carbs!
Using a Stainless Steel Pan
While most people use a non-stick pan, I don’t own one (for why, see Harvard School of Health on PFAS) and use a stainless steel pan (cast iron should work similarly). There are a couple secrets however. First you need a decent quality pan, which will be thicker and smoother.
Next the pan needs to be hot before you start—a few drops of water dropped on the surface should immediately sizzle (if they spurt off, volcano-like, the pan is too hot). Then a spray of Pam completes the preparation process—butter is not recommended since the solids in it can burn and stick.
Finally, when the pancake is ready to turn, I run a thin stainless steel spatula gently under it to loosen any small areas of sticking. Then between pancakes, I scrape off any leftover residue with the same metal spatula. The first pancake or two is the hardest, so sometimes, I just have to eat those myself!
And of course, back when Swedish pancakes were first made, Teflon-style pans didn’t even exist.
Tips and FAQs
Can I use whole wheat flour?
Since there is no need to develop gluten in pancakes, they will work with whole wheat flour, but the flavor would change. Less intensely flavored options like white whole wheat flour might work better. Start by swapping out just half the flour at first (these are about 2/3 white whole wheat flour).
And if you are really looking for healthier options, consider serving with fresh berries. Then you get a serving of fruit plus less sugar than with syrup or preserves. And even if you still add a little whipped cream or syrup, you are likely to use less.
Can I freeze these?
While I hear these freeze well, if you are looking for a make-ahead recipe, consider this. Since these are blended in a blender and cook quickly, the time spent wrapping, freezing, and re-heating will probably take more time than cooking up a fresh batch.
But if you do need to freeze leftovers, be sure to separate the individual pancakes with wax paper so they don’t stick.
Are Swedish pancakes only for breakfast?
On a busy day, I think having breakfast for dinner is a perfect “Desperate Mom” option. And, happily, this recipe requires no unusual ingredients. Since you should really have a vegetable too, add a bagged salad or serve some carrots and dip “while you wait”. And a little leftover ham or cheese could add some protein.
Pretty sure your kids will love it!
And for more Olympics inspired international recipes see:
Wednesday #SummerGamesWeek Recipes
- Fluffy Japanese Pancakes representing Japan by House of Nash Eats
- Hokey Pokey representing New Zealand by Simply Inspired Meals
- Crepes representing France by Lemon Blossoms
- German Pancakes representing Germany by Devour Dinner
- Japanese Royal Milk Tea representing Japan by Hezzi-D’s Books and Cooks
- Beef Empanadas representing Argentina by Take Two Tapas
- Steakhouse Burritos representing the USA by A Day in the Life on the Farm
- Air Fried Biscuits and Cocoa Tea representing St. Lucia by Our Good Life
- Japanese Steakhouse Ginger Miso Dressing representing Japan by Palatable Pastime
- Tea Brack representing Scotland and Ireland by That Recipe
- Korean Strawberry Milk representing Korea by Magical Ingredients
- Vegetable Fried Rice for One representing China by The Spiffy Cookie
- Scottish Raspberry Buns representing the United Kingdom by The Redhead Baker
- Swedish Pancakes representing Sweden by Art of Natural Living
Swedish Pancakes
Ingredients
- 3 cups milk
- 3 eggs
- 2 Tablespoons melted butter
- 1 Tablespoon sugar
- 1 ½ cups flour
Instructions
- Blend the liquid ingredients (milk, egg, melted butter, vanilla and sugar) together, then add the flour and blend until incorporated.
- Set the burner to medium and preheat your frying pan. Spray the pan with non-stick spray and pour in about 1/3 cup of batter. Tilt the pan and swirl around to create a thin round pancake. Imperfect rounds are absolutely fine!
- When surface is dry and edges are turning golden, run a spatula (metal for a stainless pan, silicone for non-stick) under the pancake to ensure that it's loose, then flip the pancake over.
- Continue cooking until the second side is turning golden, then fold into thirds. You can keep warm in a 200F oven if desired.
- Scrape or wipe pan between pancakes and re-spray. Continue until batter is used up.
Notes
Nutrition
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Ohhh I never knew they were different from the French ones, I just notice when I had them in Sweeden a couple of years ago that they were softer.
I had never thought about that before either. Both good 🙂
The pancakes look wonderful! This sounds easy to make and perfect for any meal. Got to try this soon.
Using the blender makes it so easy! Hope you enjoy!
Thank you for answering my crêpe question before I asked it! 🙂 These look wonderful – and I imagine less eggy than crêpes, too. I really need to put on my big boy pants and try making them in my stainless pan…
They still taste pretty eggy. Go for it David!
I love how thin and tender these pancakes look! I have completely switched over to healthier non-stick options, and I’m making greater effort to use stainless steel more. Thanks for the great tips for preventing pancakes from sticking!
One of these days I’m putting together a video on frying an egg in stainless steel!
These Swedish pancakes were a big hit at home. Very easy and so tasty! Definitely a recipe to keep handy.
These look golden and delicious!
They were!
I use a cast iron pan with cooking spray and it works perfectly.
I was figuring it would. I’m using a cast iron grill pan for so much meat and fish now and we love that. Nice that the pans come pre-seasoned now too, though II took my parents old pan and re-seasoned it without a problem.
I loved making these for breakfast! And making the batter in a blender…what a genius tip! These were so good, crispy and soft at the same time. I can’t wait to try all different kinds of toppings with these!
Love how easy these are to make in the blender.
Hooray for easy!
I love these and your explanation was so helpful.
These look fantastic and I love how easy they are to make. Will be making this weekend for sure. Just need to figure out the toppings.
Almost too many topping options right now! Yum!
Brinner is always a treat. I use a blender for my crepes, I think I will add the extra milk next time and travel to Sweden instead.
I haven’t made crepes in years–will need to try the blender for that too!
Such an informative post! And thanks for clearing up the difference between Swedish pancakes and crepes — as I was reading, I was wondering, and your answer came at the perfect time in the post. I do use nonstick pans, but I’ve been rethinking that lately. Need to do some experimenting — in most ways I actually prefer using stainless or cast iron, just with a bit more lubricant. Anyway, thanks for this.
We have PFAS contamination sites all over Wisconsin. I look at the fact that we can’t eat most Lake Michigan fish more than once a month due to a variety of contaminants and it’s just such a sad squandering of resources. So this is one way I take a stand. Plus I never have to replace a pan 🙂
We have been to Al Johnson’s in Wisconsin and enjoyed their Swedish pancakes a lot! I can’t wait to try these myself and see how they compare!
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I have more nights like that during the week than I care to admit, but I often do dinner for breakfast when I am exhausted. I love pancakes and french toast for dinner. I will have to do your Swedish Pancakes they sound perfect!
And kids never seem to object to pancakes (unlike some of my other “desperate” meals)!
I make crêpes but never Sweedish pancakes; you got my attention. These look fantastic an i know what you mean; when it get s hot it is so nice to have a light meal; gotta try this; thank you for your visit.
Rita
Swedish pancakes are my very best favorite! I have the Ligonberry jelly now all I need is those pancakes; breakfast, lunch or dinner is fine by me!!!
Thanks for sharing, Inger…
Mmmm, I like lingonberries too! A restaurant we go to serves this with Swedish Pancakes but I haven’t found any canned that I like as well. I did use homemade cranberry sauce once after I found out that the two fruits were related. Now I can’t wait for the cranberry harvest to try it again!
Great idea! Love that this looks tasty enough to be breakfast, dinner or dessert!
Mmmmm, dessert! I hadn’t thought of that!
I try to keep hard boiled eggs available regularly to make egg salad sandwiches in a few minutes!
What a great idea–my family loves both hard boiled eggs and egg salad sandwiches. Thanks for sharing!
I have LOTS of nights like that and this recipe will come in handy! Thanks for sharing.
Glad to hear I’m not the only one!