Traditional Pönnukökur: Icelandic Pancakes (Crepes)

Welcome to The Storied Recipe Podcast, a podcast about food, culture, and love.

My podcast guest, Alda Sigmundsdóttir, author of the famous Little Books of Iceland, shared her memories of making these Icelandic Pancakes (Islenskar Pönnukökur) with her grandparents. This recipe comes from my friend Gudmunda, who grew up in the West Fjords of Iceland and whose family has been making these for generations! 

This traditional pancake from Iceland is a real treat made with simple, available ingredients - just flour, baking powder, salt, eggs, milk, and butter. 

(If you're looking for sugar in the list - it's not in the batter, but it's often sprinkled on top - read on!).

These are also FUN to make! I've never made crepes before, so I was intimidated by this very similar pancake recipe. Several sites make a big deal about the technique and the pan. I'll admit, there's a knack to it if they're going to look perfect. But really, the recipe is forgiving and I didn't have the special Icelandic pan! So don't be intimidated. Always remember that imperfect pancakes are still delicious pancakes!! 😉

Pairing: Serve these golden pancakes for dessert after a meal of hearty, creamy, delicious Plokkfiskur (fish and potato stew), another traditional Icelandic recipe shared by my podcast guest, Chef Stefan, owner and head chef of the famous Prir Frakkar in Reykjavik!

Look, Flavor, and Texture

Look:

• Crepe-like pancakes. 
• These are more golden brown than French crepes.
• Sometimes mine get lacy edges or a lacy pattern - just so pretty

Texture:

• Thinner than American pancakes, but just as warm and soft. 
• They're bendable, wrappable, rollable, tearable.  
• If you eat them piping hot JUST off the pan, you'll enjoy the very thinnest layer of a slightly crispy exterior. (If you stack them, this goes away, but that's alright 😉

Flavor:

• Perfect pönnukökur is not sweet in and of itself. Gudmunda's recipe includes NO sugar and as you'll see on this Reddit thread, traditional recipes do not include sugar.
• However, a light sprinkle of sugar (while the pancakes are still hot) is a simple traditional topping and gets nice and melty. 
• See below for more toppings and fillings. 

Alda's Memories of Enjoying Pönnukökur

I associate this recipe with my grandmother, after whom I am named. After her three sons moved out of the house and started their own families, my grandparents hosted an open house every Sunday. My grandmother would always make these pancakes, which are traditionally Icelandic. The extended family, i.e. the three brothers, their spouses and children, would always show up on Sundays, unless they were away or had something else very pressing. It was a wonderful chance to meet up and nurture the family bond. 

We often talked about how special it was, since not many older people (like my grandparents were at that time) could depend on their children and grandchildren coming to spend time with them every week, and really enjoying it. It actually attracted notice from outside the family and when my grandparents passed away (five weeks apart) I remember that people would mention to us that they hoped the family would continue this tradition of meeting up each Sunday. (Alas, it didn't happen.)

-Alda Sigmundsdóttir

​How to Serve

According to Alda, there are two approaches:

• Roll into a cigar shape and top with a light sprinkle of sugar.
• Top with a thin layer of jam and whipped cream

Some more notes on toppings:

• Jam options: Anything, of course! Gudmunda prefers hers with homemade rhubarb jam. I made this strawberry rhubarb jam recipe and it was delicious!
• A couple of recipes floating around call for smothering in Icelandic Skyr yogurt. While this is surely delicious - and relatively healthy! - I haven't any recipes that suggest this is the way Icelanders eat their Pönnukökur. But, certainly, there's no wrong way to eat them! Enjoy what you enjoy! (Also, if you want to try this approach, whole milk Greek yogurt is similar to Icelandic-style yoghurt if you can't find Skyr). 
• You'll never go wrong with fresh fruit / fresh berries. Pretty and delicious 😉
• Happy Gourmond says she ate them cold with butter and brown sugar on top, then rolled up.

Notes on Basic Ingredients

• Every recipe agrees on these: All purpose flour, Baking powder, Salt, Eggs, Milk, Butter
• Any Icelander will tell you to search out Icelandic butter. European butter is higher in fat (and therefore lower in water) than American butter, so this is good advice. But honestly, I used American and they turned out just fine
• Whole milk will provide the richest flavor. Again, it's not what I had - and all was well! 😉

Substitutions & Variations

• Many recipes call for a tablespoon of sugar, but this Reddit feed suggests that's not the traditional Icelandic way. 
• Gudmunda's recipe calls for a teaspoon of vanilla extract; others call for a couple of teaspoons or not. 
• Your Friend in Reykjavik suggests a tablespoon of coffee.
• Time Warp Iceland suggests a sprinkle of cardamom (and various people say a teaspoon of cinnamon as well) in his equally hilarious and informative video.

Instructions

Mix the Batter

• Choose a large bowl. (You'll be adding a lot of milk!)
• Mix dry ingredients together with a fork.
• Add half of the milk and eggs and whisk to incorporate.
• Add remaining milk and vanilla. Add more milk if necessary to make a very runny, thin pancake batter. 

Cook the Pancakes

• Turn a burner to medium heat or medium-high heat and place your pancake pan (crepe pan) on top.  
• Pour enough batter directly into the middle of your crepe pan to go halfway to the edges (about a cup of batter for a large pan).
• Tip and swirl the pan until the batter runs to the edges.
• Watch and wait until there are no bubbles and no wet spots on the pancake and the pancake.
• Slide a long offset spatula all around the bottom of the crepe, making sure it won't stick to the surface when you try to flip the pancake. When the pancake is released, from the pan, slide the spatula under the middle of the pancake and flip it over.
• Wait until the second side is golden and slide the pancake onto a waiting plate.

Serve

• Serve the crepes with sugar and a small spoon as well as jam and whipped cream.
• Roll some crepes and sprinkle with sugar.

History of Pönnukökur

Here's what my podcast guest, Alda Sigmondsdottir has to say:

The recipe also has a broader cultural significance. For centuries Iceland was extremely isolated, and extremely poor, and one of the things that was scarce was flour. Therefore many of the treats from those days were designed to be made with as little flour as possible. We have the laufabrauð, or "leaf bread" (wafer-thin, deep fried bread) that is still traditional at Christmastime, and which was considered a luxury back in the day. The same goes for flatkökur, "flatcakes" or "flatbread" that are thin slices of bread made on a skillet and slightly burned. And of course the pönnukökur.

• For more details on when and how Icelanders started making pönnukökur... well, it's murky. What's clear is that similar recipes are popular in Nordic countries (Norweigian pannekaker), but also France (obviously), South Africa (pannekoek), and frankly, all around the world. 

Equipment

• Pönnukökupanna: This is the Icelanders special pan which is available everywhere in Iceland AND passed down through generations. However, the Icelandic Pancake Pan isn't available anywhere outside Iceland. 
• A crepe pan works just great - I experienced almost zero learning curve with this one. 
• I'm sure you could even use a round skillet. Either a nonstick skillet and/or a skillet with a thick bottom will work best - these two things will make it most similar to a crepe pan.
• At the advice of Time Warp Iceland, I found an offset spatula to be the easiest way to flip the Pönnukökur.
• You'll also need a large mixing bowl and metal whisk.

Storage

• These will be best eaten fresh!
• If you want a head start on making the pancakes, you can make the batter in advance.

More Scandinavian Recipes

More Pancake Recipes Around the World

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