Dutch pancakes explained by an American Food Scientist

Dutchies take pancakes to a whole new level!

The first time I visited a pannenkoeken huis (pancake house) in The Netherlands, I was surprised by the food I saw on the table. There was little resemblance to the tall stacks of fluffy flapjacks that I grew up with in the U.S.

Instead, Dutch pancakes are thin and dense. Usually made to be as big or larger than the plate itself.

For comparison’s sake, they’re not quite as thin as crepes — I made the mistake of calling them crepes to a Dutch person once! I don’t recommend uttering those words.

You might also notice that there’s no maple syrup to be seen. Powdered sugar is the king of pancake toppings here.

Similar to the U.S. you can get sweet pancakes with cinnamon and apples for example, but it’s also quite common to order savory pancakes which can feature various meats or even be kimchi inspired. There’s much more variety than I’ve experienced back home.

Even with all the deliciousness and variation in toppings, the food scientist in me couldn’t help but think what makes these two styles of pancakes — American and Dutch — so different.

And for that, I needed to take a deeper look at the ingredients.