My daughter and her boyfriend attended a beer festival this weekend in Michigan and stayed with friends.  My daughter sent me a text message this morning and said “our friends are making us pannukakku for breakfast!!!”  I asked her if their friends were Finnish and she said no, they had eaten this pancake when they were visiting the Upper Peninsula.  And they obviously enjoyed it.  I haven’t made this in years.  My Mummu (grandmother) made this all the time and it was one of my favorites.  We always called it kropsu.  She had these special pans with a design on the bottom that she would bake the pannukakku in.  We would put a little butter on it and sprinkle it with sugar or ladle on a little fruit soup that she would make.  Usually from blueberries.  It was even good cold; the pannukakku AND the fruit soup.  So, not to be outdone by my daughter’s non-Finnish hosts, I decided we needed to have pannukakku for breakfast today as well.  It is easy to make and is actually a great breakfast to serve guests. You can make a double batch and feed several people.  Why haven’t I been doing this??

Ingedients:

5 T butter

1 1/2 cups AP flour

2 cups whole milk

5 eggs

1/4 cup sugar

Preheat your oven to 425.

Combine the flour, milk, eggs, and sugar.  Use a blender or handmixer and blend or whip until the batter is frothy.

Put the butter pats in a 9×13 pan and put the pan in the hot oven to melt.  The butter should be sizzling but watch carefully so it doesn’t brown.

Tilt the pan to make sure that the hot butter is evenly distributed and pour in the batter.  Bake for 25-30 minutes.  As the pannukakku bakes it will puff up and climb the sides of the pan.

Use a knife or toothpick inserted in the center to make sure that the pancake has set up.  Remove from the oven, cut and serve.

I don’t remember eating Mummu’s with syrup but that’s what we used today.  A couple slices of bacon, a glass of juice and breakfast was perfect!  I think the next time we have guests this is what I’ll be serving for breakfast.

I haven’t posted a Finnish recipe in quite awhile.  I hope that you’ll try this.