Recipes

Pannukakku (Finnish Oven Pancake)

Pannukakku is the Finnish oven pancake — not the thin rolled kind, but a thick, eggy, custardy sheet baked in a buttered pan and cut into squares. It's a Finnish-U.P. breakfast fixture, somewhere between a Dutch baby and a baked custard, and it's about the easiest special breakfast there is: whisk, pour, bake, and it puffs and browns at the edges with a soft custard middle. We eat it with berries and jam — and if you have thimbleberry jam, this is where it goes. More on the [Finnish Table](/upper-peninsula/finnish-table/).

Upper Peninsula · Finnish · Breakfast · Baking

Pannukakku (Finnish Oven Pancake)
Prep 10 mins
Cook 30 mins
Serves one 9x13, serves 4 to 6
Level Easy

Pannukakku is the Finnish oven pancake — not the thin rolled kind, but a thick, eggy, custardy sheet baked in a buttered pan and cut into squares. It’s a Finnish-U.P. breakfast fixture, somewhere between a Dutch baby and a baked custard, and it’s about the easiest special breakfast there is: whisk, pour, bake, and it puffs and browns at the edges with a soft custard middle. We eat it with berries and jam — and if you have thimbleberry jam, this is where it goes. More on the Finnish Table.

Ingredients

  • 4 Tbsp butter (for the pan)
  • 3 eggs
  • 2 cups whole milk
  • 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp vanilla (optional)
  • To serve
  • fresh berries; jam (thimbleberry if you’re lucky); a dusting of powdered sugar

Directions

  1. Key ingredients
  2. It’s a custard batter — more milk and egg than flour — so don’t expect pancake thickness.
  3. Melt the butter in the pan, in the oven:
  4. Put the butter in a 9x13 (or a big cast-iron skillet) and set it in a 425°F oven until melted and the pan is hot. A hot, buttered pan is what gives pannukakku its browned, slightly crisp edges and keeps it from sticking.
  5. Whisk a thin batter:
  6. Beat the eggs well, then whisk in the milk, then the flour, sugar, salt and vanilla. Keep it loose and smooth. Pour it straight into the hot buttered pan — it’ll sizzle at the edges.
  7. Bake until puffed and set:
  8. Bake 25–30 minutes, until the edges are puffed and deep golden and the center is just set with a custardy wobble. It will deflate as it cools — that’s normal, that’s the dish. Cut into squares and serve warm with berries and jam.

Notes

The thick-vs-thin thing In Finland ‘pannukakku’ can mean a thinner oven pancake, but the Finnish-American U.P. version is the thick, custardy, cut-in-squares one, and that’s what this is. Some families make it eggier still (closer to a clafoutis). It is a very close cousin to the Dutch baby / German pancake — same idea, less drama, made to feed a table.

Serving Berries and jam are traditional; lingonberry, blueberry, or thimbleberry are the U.P. answers. Also good with just butter and a squeeze of lemon and sugar.