4th of July Dutch Pancakes

It's a national holiday (Independence Day in the US) and so it was a good morning to make Dutch pancakes. It's been a while... I make them in my favorite (and very old) cast iron skillet. It distributes heat evenly. The batter has to be ladled in with a soup ladle because it is so thin. My Jewish friends would call them blintzes, and my French friends would call them crepes, but at our house they're Dutch pancakes. My secret is to add a little cinnamon to the batter. We have them with homemade whipping cream and fresh strawberries. Here they are...

Cooking in my favorite very old cast iron skillet...

All done and ready to eat! It  takes about 30-45 minutes to cook a batch this size...

Dutch Pancakes

It's Saturday morning and I've decided to allow myself the luxury of sleeping in and not going swimming until later this afternoon. That means I finally had some time to make Dutch pancakes! In Dutch, they are known as pannekoeken. It's been so long I had almost forgotten, and as it was, like Phillip said, they "could be a little thinner, Mom." No matter, they were still good, especially with the blueberries on top!

There's a whole etiquette to eating Dutch pancakes... and I cannot remember whether this is something I have invented along the way or whether this is the way it really is... but Dutch pancakes are not stackable pancakes... each one is meant to be eaten alone. They are thin, more like crepes unlike the thicker American pancakes (which are also good). Dutch pancakes are eaten with sugar instead of syrup... however, in a nod to blending the Dutch and the American in our household, we use both!

They are rolled instead of cut into pieces, and the blueberies are always a tribute to my Father, who so loved blueberries! If you were to ask me for the recipe, I'm not sure what to say except that Dutch pancakes are made with a lot of eggs, a substantive quantitive of milk, and a small portion of flour. My secret ingredient is to add some cinnamon to the batter. Cooking requires a stick- free skillet and a ladle... and I fill the ladle 3/4 full when I pour the batter into the pan. Another requirement is to open the window because this will smell up the whole house! Saturday mornings and Dutch pancakes... one of the simpler pleasures of life!