Breakfast: Aebelskivar (Filled Pancakes)

One holiday season, we found an Aebelskivars pan on sale at Williams Sonoma. We have enjoyed these treats ever since. And we've provided them at holiday parties to some delight. We've tried many recipes for Aebelskivars. Many. There have been good ones, but the best so far is this one. This basic recipe came out of Ebelskivars: Danish-style filled pancakes and other sweet and savory treats by Keven Crafts. The aebelskivars in the photo are chocolate filled, white chocolate filled, blueberry filled, and some lemon poppy seed. The lemon poppy seed and blueberry filled had a cornmeal based batter. The basic batter and instructions are given here.

Surprisingly, this many served my family of 4 with only a few leftover.

Ingredients:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs, separated
1 cup whole milk
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
Fillings, such as jam, peanut butter, chocolate ganache, chocolate chips or fruit
Syrup, whipped cream, or powdered sugar for serving

Directions:
Making Batter

1. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. In a small bowl, lightly whisk the eggs yolks, then whisk in the milk and melted butter. Add the yolk mixture to the flour mixture and, using a wooden spoon, stir until well blended. The batter will be lumpy.
2. In a clean bowl, using an electric mixer on high speed, beat the egg whites until stiff, but not dry, peaks form. Using a silicone spatula, fold one about-third of the egg whites into the batter to lighten it, then fold in the rest just until no white streaks remain. Use the batter right away.

Filling and cooking ebelskivers

1. Butter the pan: Using a pastry brush, coast the wells of the ebelskiver pan evenly with melted butter and place over medium or medium-low heat, depending on the recipe. Let the butter heat for a few moments.
2. Add the batter: When the butter begins to bubble in the pan, use a 1-ounce ice cream scoop or two soup spoons (one spoon to scoop and one spoon to scrape) to add 1 to 3 tablespoons batter to each well, depending on the recipe.
3. Add the filling: If you are making filled pancakes, working quickly, carefully spoon abut 1 teaspoon of the desired filling into the center of each pancake.
4. Enclose the filling: For filled pancakes, add about 1 tablespoon batter on top of the filling to enclose it. Cook the first side until bubbles rise from the centers of the pancakes and they are lightly browned and crisp on the bottom, 3-5 minutes.
5. Flip the pancakes: Position 2 short wooden skewers on opposite sides of a pancake, slide the tips between the edge of the well and the cooked edge, and lift and rotate gently. Repeat to turn the remaining pancakes.
6. Cook the second side: Cooke the pancakes until lightly browned on the second side, abut 3 minutes longer. Use the skewers to transfer the pancakes to a plate or a platter.

Other Details:

• Makes batter for 21 pancakes (nutrition per unfilled aebelskivar) 
• This is a workhorse batter, perfect for sweet and savory ebelskivers alike. The small amount of sugar mixed with the dry ingredients helps the pancakes brown and both enhances sweet flavoring and offsets savory ingredients.
• Note that a specialty pan is required to make these. 
• We top with powdered sugar and maple syrup. 
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