Norwegian-style thin pancakes

I get to talk about a couple of my favorite things today: breakfast and pancakes! They are familiar topics here because I truly love breakfast - it's what I look forward to when I go to bed at night!  

For me, weekday breakfasts are more about quick nourishment - they are important and enjoyable but not the true meal we get to make on the weekends when we have more time.  Everyone is home and there's time to set the table and linger over a hot meal together to kick start the day; I never want to leave the breakfast table!  The fellas in my house love pancakes so I make them often (still no waffle-iron here). While we already have a few favorite recipes, I welcome the chance to try something new every once in a while.

Folded Norwegian (thin) pancakes served with strawberry jam

Which brings me to these Norwegian pancakes, a recipe I've been eyeing from Sweet Paul's Eat and Make.  These are thin unleavened pancakes, very much like crepes or Swedish pancakes.  I honestly couldn't tell you the difference between them, if any, but whatever you call it - these pancakes are wonderfully tasty.  They are tender, light, delicately flavorful on their own and a beautiful canvas for filling with jam, fresh fruit, Nutella, what have you.  

They were also surprisingly easy to make.  I found the thin batter easy to cook and handle, and they cook up very quickly.  When it comes to prep, the key is to let the batter rest for about half an hour before using.  When it comes to serving, make sure to keep the pancakes nice and warm in the oven while you make the batch so everyone can enjoy them that way.  

Filled with Nutella

My pancake-loving family and I gave these a big thumbs up.  This is a great change-up from our traditional thicker American pancakes.  Certainly, both kinds are great though I think there's something special about these thin crepe-like pancakes. It may just be that they're different from our typical thing, or maybe because they look delicate and harder to make than our usual flapjacks.  Whatever the case may be, these are delicious and it's always nice to have some variety.  Now that I have this easy recipe in my back pocket, I plan to make these pancakes a part of our weekend breakfast rotation.  

When those summer berries start to arrive at the farmer's market, I will be loading my plate up with them to enjoy on top of these delicious thin pancakes.

I scaled the recipe down by half to make just about the right portion for one of our weekend breakfasts for three.  Instead of using 1 1/2 eggs, I used 1 extra-large one (this will keep things simple for the future).  I keep both large and extra-large eggs in the fridge; I usually grab the large for baking and crack an extra-large for breakfast and savory cooking.  Interestingly, there was no sugar in the recipe at all.  I choose to add 1/2 teaspoon to my batch.

One of the things I love about Eat and Make is the simple recipes, which are generally short.  The flip side of that is not having as detailed instructions or descriptions as you would from say, one of Dorie Greenspan's books.  

So here, you'll likely need to make some adjustments to the batter - by adding a bit more milk - to get it to the right consistency if it "feels too thick" after the initial blend.  In other words, the batter needs to be fluid but not so thin that it's like water. I'd say we're after the consistency of heavy cream.  I needed to add a bit more milk to my batter after blending it, and ended up using just about a cup.  I snapped the picture below to give you a sense (it should be a little thicker than this crepe batter) of what it should look like.

And speaking of the batter, I used the blender to whip it up.  You could also use a food processor and I'm sure it would be just as well to whisk it thoroughly with a big balloon whisk and a large bowl if you have neither of those equipment.  Letting the batter rest for about half an hour is important.  The flour will absorb the liquids and the batter will be easier to handle/flip when cooking.  

I used a 10-inch non-stick skillet to make these pancakes.  You could grease the pan with a touch of butter but I use a little bit of canola oil.  Use just shy of 1/4 cup of batter per pancake.  From my experience, I found it worked best to stream the batter directly into the center of the pan, then pick it up and swirl around quickly to distribute the batter around.  It takes less than a minute for it to set and be ready to flip. 

You should be able to flip the pancake quite easily.  A handful of seconds on the second side and you can put it on a plate and continue on.  Keep the pancakes in a 250 degree oven (keep stacking them on top of each other) to keep them nice and warm.  

Fill your pancakes with jam, Nutella, fresh fruit, a small pat of butter and a sprinkle of sugar, or whatever you have in mind.  You can fold them or roll them up.  Either way, I think you will enjoy them as much as we did.

Recipe:

Norwegian-style (thin) Pancakes
Adapted from Sweet Paul's Eat and Make

- Makes about 7 thin pancakes - 

1 cup sifted unbleached all-purpose flour (sift before measuring)
Pinch of salt
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1 extra-large egg
Up to 1 cup whole milk
2 1/2 tablespoons butter, melted (plus more for pan)

Place flour, salt, sugar, egg, and butter into a blender or food processor.  Also add all but 2 tablespoons of the milk.  Process mixture until you have a smooth batter (stop and scrape the sides of the blender, as needed).  Let batter rest for 30 minutes.  This is important as it allows the flour to absorb the liquid and make the pancakes easier to flip when cooking.

If the batter seems too thick, add some more of the remaining milk to get the consistency of heavy cream.

Preheat oven to 250 degrees.  Lightly grease (with butter or vegetable oil) a 10-inch non-stick skillet over medium-heat.  Pour a little less than 1/4 cup of batter into the center of the pan, swirl pan to distribute the batter evenly around, and let cook for about 1 minute.  Turn the pancake over using a spatula and cook for about 30 seconds more.  The pancakes should be light brown on both sides.  Set pancake on to a plate or baking sheet and set in the oven to keep warm.  Continue with remaining batter.

To serve, fill or serve with your choice of jam, fresh fruit, or other accompaniments.  Fold or roll the warm pancakes, as desired.