Poffertjes are small, fluffy Dutch mini pancakes, traditionally served warm with butter and powdered sugar. This easy poffertjes recipe is made for home baking and gives you a reliable batter, clear steps and a soft, airy result. You can make them within about one hour, including resting time for the batter. All you need is a good batter, a poffertjes pan and a little patience when turning them.
What you need to make poffertjes
To make poffertjes at home, you need a simple batter made with flour, buckwheat flour, yeast, milk, eggs and a little melted butter. Buckwheat flour gives poffertjes their gentle traditional flavour, while yeast helps create the light texture. If you want more background on the ingredients, you can read more here: What are poffertjes made of.
You will also need a Poffertjes pan. For home use, these pans are often made from cast iron or have a non-stick coating. The small round molds help the batter stay in place and puff up instead of spreading flat like a regular pancake. A squeeze bottle or piping bag is useful for filling the molds neatly, but a small spoon also works.
Recipe card: homemade poffertjes
Makes: about 40 poffertjes
Serves: 3–4 people
Prep time: 10 minutes
Resting time: 30 minutes
Baking time: 15–20 minutes
Ingredients
- 150 g all-purpose flour
- 75 g buckwheat flour
- 7 g instant yeast
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1 pinch of salt
- 350 ml lukewarm milk
- 2 eggs
- 30 g melted butter, cooled slightly
- Palm oil or neutral oil for greasing the pan
- Butter and powdered sugar for serving
Tools
- Poffertjes pan, often cast iron or non-stick for home use
- Mixing bowl
- Whisk
- Squeeze bottle, piping bag or small spoon
- Skewer, fork or small turning tool
Poffertjes batter: yeast or baking powder?
For traditional poffertjes, yeast is the better choice. Yeast gives the batter time to develop, which creates a softer, more airy texture and a slightly deeper flavour. That is the texture most people recognise from fresh poffertjes in the Netherlands.
Baking powder is faster, but the result is usually closer to a small pancake than a traditional poffertje. It can still work if you are short on time, but the inside will be less light and the flavour will be a little simpler.
The difference comes from how the batter rises. Yeast creates small air bubbles during resting, and those bubbles help the poffertjes become fluffy when they hit the warm pan. If you want to understand this more deeply, read Why are poffertjes so fluffy.
For this recipe, we use yeast. It takes a little longer, but it gives a better result.
Step by step: how to make poffertjes
- Make the batter
Mix the all-purpose flour, buckwheat flour, yeast, sugar and salt in a large bowl. Add the lukewarm milk little by little while whisking. Add the eggs and melted butter, then whisk until you have a smooth batter. Cover the bowl and let the batter rest for about 30 minutes, until it looks slightly bubbly. - Heat and grease the pan
Place the poffertjes pan over medium heat and let it warm up properly before you start. Grease each mold lightly with neutral oil. The pan should be hot enough for the batter to start cooking quickly, but not so hot that the outside browns before the inside is cooked. - Fill the molds
Pour the batter into a squeeze bottle or piping bag, or use a small spoon. Fill each mold about three-quarters full. Do not overfill them, because poffertjes need a little room to rise. - Turn at the right moment
Wait until small bubbles appear on top and the edges begin to set. Then turn each poffertje carefully with a skewer, fork or small turning tool. The first side should be lightly golden. Let the second side bake briefly until the poffertje is cooked through but still soft inside. - Serve warm
Serve the poffertjes immediately while they are still warm and soft. The classic way is with a small piece of butter and a generous dusting of powdered sugar.
Troubleshooting: common poffertjes problems
If your poffertjes stick to the pan, the pan may not be hot enough yet, or the molds may not be greased properly. Let the pan warm up before adding the batter and use a light layer of oil in every mold.
If the poffertjes are too flat, the batter may not have rested long enough. With yeast batter, those 30 minutes matter. The batter should look slightly alive before you start baking.
If the outside browns too quickly while the inside stays wet, the heat is too high. Lower it slightly and give the poffertjes a little more time. Poffertjes need steady heat, not aggressive heat.
If they are dense instead of fluffy, check your yeast and milk temperature. Milk that is too hot can damage the yeast, while cold milk slows everything down. Lukewarm is best.
Tips for the best homemade poffertjes
- Do not let the batter stand for too long after it has risen. Bake the poffertjes while the batter still has life in it.
- Let the poffertjes pan heat properly before the first batch.
- Grease lightly, but do not drown the molds in oil.
- Fill the molds only three-quarters full.
- Turn the poffertjes when the top shows small bubbles and the edges look set.
- Eat them straight away. Fresh poffertjes lose some of their softness once they cool down.
Prefer the real thing?
Making poffertjes at home is fun, especially when you want to understand the batter, the pan and the timing. But freshly baked poffertjes from a real poffertjes place still feel different. Professional poffertjes ovens, like the ones you see at markets, festivals and at Pat’s Poffertjes, are often large copper ovens. They hold heat differently, create a steady baking rhythm and make it possible to serve each portion warm and fresh.
At Pat’s Poffertjes, we bake poffertjes fresh in a large copper poffertjes oven and serve them warm in the classic Dutch way. You can find us in Amsterdam at Nieuwendijk 32 and Oude Leliestraat 7.
Eet smakelijk.
