Editor’s note: For 12 days leading up to Christmas, St. George News is featuring staff members’ favorite holiday recipes. Here’s the latest installment.
On Christmas Eve, Stephanie Degraw’s family placed traditional Dutch wooden shoes on the mantle instead of traditional stockings, like her father’s shoes shown here, location unspecified, Dec. 18, 2023 | Photo by Stephanie DeGraw, St. George News
ST. GEORGE — Christmas Eve dinners had a Dutch flair in my childhood. But before we ate, we set out our hand-painted wooden shoes from Holland upon our fireplace hearth for Sinterklaas. No traditional American socks hung on the mantle for us.
Then, my father would cook pannenkoek on the stove.
The classic Netherlands delight is a cross between a large light crepe and a pancake. The fun part was trying different fillings inside them.
My mother set out toppings, including apples, tangerines, walnuts, yogurt, fresh fruits, chocolate syrup, powdered sugar, cinnamon and whipped cream. The Pannenkoek was so light we could stuff ourselves.
Pannenkoek
Ingredients:
2 eggs
2 cups milk
½ teaspoon salt
2 cups flour
Butter, for cooking
Directions:
In a large bowl, beat the eggs until slightly foamy. Add the milk and salt, whisking to combine. Slowly add flour until the batter is smooth.
Heat a large skillet over medium heat on the stove. Add a little butter to coat it.
Add ½ cup of batter to the pan and swirl it around to coat the pan. Cook the pannenkoek over medium heat until it barely dries on the top and releases from the pan for 2-3 minutes.
Flip the pannenkoek and cook on the second side for 1-2 minutes until lightly golden.
Remove it from the pan and place on a plate. Place a hand towel over your pannenkoek stack to keep it warm. Coat the skillet again with butter and cook up the rest of the batter.
Serve with toppings on the table so people can design their pannenkoek and roll it up with the filling inside.
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