High Altitude Ebelskivers (Danish Pancake Balls)

For a fun alternative to a standard pancake breakfast, these high altitude tested traditional ebelskivers are flavored with cardamom and dusted with powdered sugar. These fluffy Danish pancake balls are best enjoyed hot, served with your favorite jam, lemon curd or Nutella, and can be made for breakfast or dessert.

You might also love these recipes for Danish red berry pudding, beignets, and almond pound cake.

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What are Ebelskivers?

Ebelskivers or aebelskivers (pronounced ay-bl-skew-er) are a type of pancake in Danish cuisine that can be enjoyed for either breakfast or dessert. The batter is airy and fluffy with whipped egg whites, and it’s cooked on the stove in a special ebelskiver pan, which is traditionally a cast iron pan with round wells or molds, although nonstick pans are now often used as well. As the pancakes cook, they’re turned to create the spherical shape. A knitting needle is the traditional tool of choice for turning the pancakes, but I used a chopstick. They can be filled or not, and were originally made with a slice of apple tucked into the batter for a surprise filling.

The texture of ebelskivers is somewhere between a pancake and a doughnut. Their flavor is buttery with a hint of cardamom (a popular spice in Denmark), eggy, and not too sweet on their own, so you can be generous when dusting them with powdered sugar. They’re typically served with jam on the side for dipping, and my kids loved them with strawberry rhubarb jam. My favorite, though, was lemon curd and Nutella.

See the recipe card at the end of the post for the full ingredients list and instructions.

Ingredients

• Flour. Use all purpose flour to give the batter structure and strength.
• Sugar. You’ll need a little granulated sugar to add a touch of sweetness to the batter and to promote browning, as well as powdered sugar for dusting.
• Baking Powder. Leavening agent, so the pancakes puff up as they cook.
• Cardamom + Vanilla. Flavor.
• Salt. Balances the flavors.
• Milk. You can use either milk or buttermilk to add moisture to the dough.
• Butter. The butter adds richness and flavor, as well as contributes to the golden brown crisp exterior.
• Eggs. You’ll be separating the eggs to whip the whites separately. This will create a very light, airy batter.

Instructions

Make the Batter

• In a bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, cardamom and salt.
• Add the milk, melted butter, egg yolks, vanilla and lemon zest, and whisk until combined.
• In a separate bowl, whip the egg whites with an electric mixer on medium high speed for several minutes, until stiff peaks form. Add the whipped egg whites to the batter, and use a spatula to fold them in until combined.

Cook the Ebelskivers

• Set the pan on your stove and heat the pan until hot, over medium low heat. If a drop of water sizzles when it touches the pan, the pan is ready.
• Brush about 1/4 tsp butter into each of the wells in the pan.
• Spoon the batter into the wells, about 2 tbsp of batter per well. Let the batter cook for several minutes, until it begins to bubble around the edges.
• Use a chopstick or wooden skewer to turn the ebelskivers about 90 degrees, as shown in the photos. This will let more batter spill into the wells. Let cook for another 30-60 seconds.
• Turn again, about 45 degrees, and let cook for another 30-60 seconds.
• At this point, you’ll need to spoon a little more batter into each well. Do one final turn, turning the ebelskivers so the uncooked batter spills to the bottom to complete and close the sphere. Let cook for 30-60 seconds, then transfer them to a plate.
• Brush the pan with more butter, and continue to cook the batter in batches, until you’ve cooked all the ebelskivers.

Serving

• Dust the hot ebelskivers with powdered sugar.
• Serve warm with your favorite jam, lemon curd or Nutella, for dipping.
• You could even lightly brush the ebelskivers with melted butter and coat them in granulated sugar, cinnamon sugar or espresso sugar, for more of a donut texture.

Tips and Best Practices

• Whip the egg whites separately for a light and airy batter, resulting in fluffy pancakes.
• Cook over medium low heat. If the heat is too high, the exterior of the ebelskivers will brown too quickly and remain under-cooked in the middle.
• Use a non-stick ebelskiver pan, or a seasoned cast iron ebelskiver pan.
• Use butter in the pan. Brushing the wells with butter before adding the batter adds flavor and crispness, but it also helps the pancakes to turn easily, rather than sticking to the pan.
• Be sure to add a little more batter before the final turn, or you may have a gap in the sphere.
• Serve them hot, as they’re not nearly as good leftover the next day.

Be sure to read all of my BAKING FAQs where I discuss ingredients, substitutions and common baking questions, so that you can be successful in your own baking!

Frequently Asked Questions

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