13 Pancakes From Around the World You Need to Try at Least Once

Almost every country on the map has its own pancake. Some are thick and fluffy, some are lacy and crisp, some are rolled around sweet cheese and some are folded over spicy potatoes. Pancakes from around the world tell you a lot about the people who make them: what grows nearby, what they celebrate and how they like to start the day. Grab a skillet, because we are going on a breakfast trip without leaving the kitchen..

Pancakes From Around the World Share One Simple Secret

Flour, liquid, egg and heat. That is the base of nearly every pancake on earth. What changes is the ratio. More flour and baking powder make thick, fluffy pancakes. More milk and eggs make thin crepes. Rice and lentils make crispy dosa. Learn the ratios and you can travel the world from one skillet. Which style do you love most: thick, thin or crispy?

You will need: You need for a basic thin batter: 1 cup flour, 1 1/2 cups milk, 2 eggs, 1 tablespoon melted butter, 1 tablespoon sugar, pinch of salt.

How to make it: Steps: 1. Whisk eggs and milk. 2. Add flour, sugar and salt and whisk until smooth. 3. Stir in melted butter and rest the batter 20 minutes. 4. Pour a thin layer into a hot buttered pan and swirl. 5. Cook 1 minute, flip and cook 30 seconds more.

Japanese Hotcakes, the Coffee Shop Classic

In old Japanese kissaten coffee shops, hotcakes are served as one or two perfectly round, extra thick pancakes with a square of butter and a pitcher of syrup. Cooking them low and slow with a lid gives that smooth, even golden top. They look like a cartoon pancake come to life. Isn’t that the cutest breakfast?

You will need: You need: 1 1/2 cups cake flour, 2 teaspoons baking powder, 2 tablespoons sugar, 1 egg, 3/4 cup milk, 1 tablespoon melted butter, 1 teaspoon vanilla, butter and syrup to serve.

How to make it: Steps: 1. Whisk wet ingredients, then fold in dry until just smooth. 2. Heat a nonstick pan on low and wipe with oil. 3. Pour a thick round of batter. 4. Cover and cook 5 to 6 minutes until bubbles appear. 5. Flip and cook 3 minutes more.

Pancakes From Around the World: Japanese Dorayaki

Dorayaki are two small honey pancakes sandwiched with sweet red bean paste, and they are a favorite snack all over Japan. Honey in the batter gives them a deep golden color and a soft, cakey texture. You can find red bean paste in Asian grocery stores, or fill them with Nutella. Poll: A) red bean, B) Nutella, or C) whipped cream?

You will need: You need: 2 eggs, 1/3 cup sugar, 1 tablespoon honey, 1 cup flour, 1 teaspoon baking powder, 3 tablespoons water, 1 cup sweet red bean paste.

How to make it: Steps: 1. Whisk eggs, sugar and honey until frothy. 2. Add flour and baking powder, then water. 3. Rest 15 minutes. 4. Cook small rounds in a lightly oiled pan on low until bubbles form, flip briefly. 5. Sandwich two pancakes with red bean paste.

Pancakes From Around the World: Russian Blini for Maslenitsa

In Russia, blini are so loved that a whole week called Maslenitsa celebrates them at the end of winter. They are thin yeasted pancakes, a little lacy, served with sour cream and red caviar for special days or with jam and honey every day. Would you try caviar on a pancake?

You will need: You need: 2 cups milk (warm), 1 teaspoon instant yeast, 1 tablespoon sugar, 1 1/2 cups flour, 2 eggs, 2 tablespoons melted butter, 1/2 teaspoon salt, sour cream and red caviar or jam to serve.

How to make it: Steps: 1. Mix warm milk, yeast, sugar and flour, rest 1 hour until bubbly. 2. Whisk in eggs, butter and salt. 3. Pour thin layers into a hot buttered pan. 4. Cook 1 minute per side. 5. Stack with butter and serve with toppings.

Buckwheat Mini Blini With Smoked Salmon

Small buckwheat blini are a classic holiday appetizer, and they are perfect for Christmas and New Year parties. Buckwheat flour gives them a nutty, earthy flavor that loves smoked salmon, creme fraiche and dill. Make them a day ahead and warm them in the oven before guests arrive.

You will need: You need: 1/2 cup buckwheat flour, 1/2 cup all purpose flour, 1 teaspoon baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 3/4 cup milk, 1 egg, 1 tablespoon melted butter, smoked salmon, creme fraiche, dill.

How to make it: Steps: 1. Whisk dry ingredients. 2. Add milk, egg and butter and mix until smooth. 3. Drop teaspoons of batter into a buttered pan. 4. Cook 1 minute per side. 5. Top with creme fraiche, a curl of salmon and dill.

Ukrainian Blinchiki Stuffed With Sweet Cheese

Blinchiki are thin crepes filled with sweet farmer’s cheese, rolled into little packets and browned in butter. Grandmothers in Ukraine and Russia make huge batches and freeze them for quick breakfasts. Serve with sour cream and berry jam. Have you ever had a stuffed pancake like this?

You will need: You need: 1 batch thin pancake batter, 2 cups farmer’s cheese or ricotta, 1 egg yolk, 3 tablespoons sugar, 1 teaspoon vanilla, 1/4 cup raisins, butter for frying.

How to make it: Steps: 1. Cook thin pancakes on one side only. 2. Mix cheese, yolk, sugar, vanilla and raisins. 3. Spoon filling onto the cooked side. 4. Fold the sides in and roll into packets. 5. Brown in butter 2 minutes per side.

Pancakes From Around the World: South Indian Masala Dosa

Dosa is a giant, paper thin, crispy pancake made from a fermented rice and lentil batter. In South India it is stuffed with spiced potatoes and served with coconut chutney and sambar. It is naturally gluten free and so crispy it crackles. Ready for a savory twist?

You will need: You need: 1 cup rice, 1/3 cup urad dal, 1/4 teaspoon fenugreek seeds, salt. Filling: 3 boiled potatoes, 1 onion, mustard seeds, curry leaves, turmeric, green chili.

How to make it: Steps: 1. Soak rice, dal and fenugreek 6 hours, blend smooth and ferment overnight. 2. Add salt. 3. Spread a ladle of batter thin on a hot griddle in circles. 4. Drizzle with oil and cook until crisp. 5. Fill with spiced potatoes and fold.

Kerala Appam With Lacy Edges

Appam comes from Kerala in South India. The rice and coconut batter is swirled in a curved pan so the edges turn thin and lacy while the center stays thick and soft like a cloud. It is often served with vegetable stew or curry. Which part is your favorite: the crispy edge or the soft middle? Fermented pancakes from around the world, like appam and dosa, have a lovely mild tang.

You will need: You need: 1 1/2 cups rice (soaked 4 hours), 1/2 cup cooked rice, 1 cup grated coconut, 1 teaspoon sugar, 1/2 teaspoon instant yeast, 1/2 teaspoon salt, water.

How to make it: Steps: 1. Blend soaked rice, cooked rice and coconut with water into a smooth batter. 2. Stir in sugar and yeast and ferment 8 hours. 3. Add salt. 4. Pour a ladle into a hot appam pan or small wok and swirl. 5. Cover and cook 2 minutes until the center is set.

Swedish Pancakes With Lingonberry Jam

In Sweden, thin pancakes called pannkakor are a traditional Thursday dinner after pea soup. They are rolled up with whipped cream and lingonberry or strawberry jam. Kids in Sweden look forward to Thursday all week. Would you eat pancakes for dinner? Poll: A) yes, every week, B) only on weekends, or C) breakfast only.

You will need: You need: 1 cup flour, 2 cups milk, 3 eggs, 2 tablespoons melted butter, 1 tablespoon sugar, 1/4 teaspoon salt, lingonberry or strawberry jam, whipped cream.

How to make it: Steps: 1. Whisk everything into a thin, smooth batter. 2. Rest 15 minutes. 3. Cook thin pancakes in a buttered pan 1 minute per side. 4. Spread with jam. 5. Roll up and serve with whipped cream and berries.

Czech Palacinky With Fruit and Cream

Across Central Europe, thin pancakes called palacinky (or palacsinta in Hungary) are a favorite dessert. Fill them with stewed fruit, apricot jam or sweet cheese, roll them up and add a cloud of whipped cream. Peaches make them taste like summer, even in the fall. Of all the pancakes from around the world, these may be the easiest dessert for a crowd.

You will need: You need: 1 batch thin pancake batter, 2 peaches or 1 cup canned apricots (sliced), 2 tablespoons sugar, 1 tablespoon butter, whipped cream.

How to make it: Steps: 1. Cook thin pancakes and stack them. 2. Saute fruit with butter and sugar 3 minutes. 3. Spoon fruit across each pancake. 4. Roll up tightly. 5. Top with whipped cream and a little fruit syrup.

Polish Nalesniki With Sweet Cream and Berries

Polish nalesniki are folded into neat triangles or rolled and served with sweet cream cheese, sour cream and berry sauce. They are a classic quick dinner or weekend treat in Polish homes. A fast strawberry sauce made from frozen berries tastes amazing in any season. Pancakes from around the world like these prove that thin is not boring at all.

You will need: You need: 1 batch thin pancake batter, 1 cup sweet cream cheese or quark, 2 tablespoons powdered sugar, 2 cups frozen strawberries, 3 tablespoons sugar, 1 teaspoon lemon juice.

How to make it: Steps: 1. Simmer strawberries, sugar and lemon 8 minutes for sauce. 2. Mix cream cheese with powdered sugar. 3. Spread over each pancake. 4. Fold into quarters. 5. Spoon strawberry sauce on top.

Pancakes From Around the World: Hungarian Gundel Palacsinta

Named after the famous Budapest restaurant Gundel, these thin pancakes are filled with a rum and raisin walnut paste, folded and covered with warm dark chocolate sauce. It is the most famous dessert pancake in Hungary. Would you order it for dessert or breakfast? We will not judge.

You will need: You need: 1 batch thin pancake batter, 1 cup ground walnuts, 1/3 cup sugar, 1/3 cup milk, 2 tablespoons raisins, 1 teaspoon orange zest, 1 tablespoon rum (optional). Sauce: 4 ounces dark chocolate, 1/2 cup cream.

How to make it: Steps: 1. Simmer walnuts, sugar, milk, raisins and zest until thick, add rum. 2. Fill each pancake and fold into triangles. 3. Warm in a buttered pan. 4. Melt chocolate into hot cream. 5. Pour over the pancakes.

French Buckwheat Galettes From Brittany

In Brittany, savory crepes are made with buckwheat flour and called galettes. The classic galette complete has ham, grated gruyere and an egg cracked in the middle, with the edges folded in to make a square. Want classic American stacks too? See our pancake recipes for weekend mornings. Last poll: which of these pancakes from around the world is your pick? A) dosa, B) blini, C) Swedish, or D) galette?

You will need: You need: 1 cup buckwheat flour, 1 egg, 1 1/2 cups water, 1/2 teaspoon salt, butter. Filling per galette: 1 slice ham, 1/4 cup grated gruyere, 1 egg.

How to make it: Steps: 1. Whisk flour, egg, water and salt and rest 2 hours. 2. Cook a thin galette in a large buttered pan. 3. Flip, add cheese, ham and an egg in the center. 4. Fold the edges toward the center to make a square. 5. Cover until the white sets.