🍢 SNACK
Æbleskiver (Danish Pancake Balls)
Light, round buttermilk pancake balls scented with cardamom, turned in a special cast-iron pan until golden all over, served hot with icing sugar and jam, with gløgg in the weeks before Christmas.
Danish · medium · serves 6
prep 15 min · cook 30 min
~304 cal · 10g protein · 43g carbs · 10g fat · 1g fiber · 11g sugars · 6g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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Æbleskiver are round, golden pancake balls with a crisp shell and a light, airy inside, and in Denmark they are the taste of December. Through Advent they are eaten in the afternoon or evening with a glass of gløgg, the Scandinavian mulled wine, three at a time on a plate with a dusting of icing sugar and a spoonful of strawberry or raspberry jam to dip them in.
The name means apple slices, and early recipes did include pieces of apple, and in some parts of the country, such as Sønderjylland and the island of Ærø, cooks still hide a little prune purée inside. The modern æbleskive is plain: a batter of flour, eggs and buttermilk, raised with baking soda and scented with , often lightened with whisked egg whites. It is cooked in an æbleskivepande, a heavy pan with round hollows, and the balls are turned with a knitting needle or skewer as they set so they become round.
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Make it yours
✓ Naturally vegetarian and nut- and pork-free. No swaps needed.
Toggle a diet and the ingredients rewrite themselves with regional substitutes.
🥕 Vegetarian
🌱 Vegan
🌾 Gluten-Free
🥛 Dairy-Free
🥜 Nut-Free
🥚 Egg-Free
🐖 Pork-Free
Dietary labels are a cooking guide, not allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish; we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, read the label on every product you use, and note that a kitchen can cross-contaminate in ways a recipe cannot control.
Ingredients
US
Metric
Serves 6
- 250 g plain flour
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1/2 tsp ground
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 3 eggs, separated
- 400 ml buttermilk (kærnemælk)
- 50 g butter, melted, for the pan
- 2 tbsp icing sugar, to serve
- 6 tbsp strawberry or raspberry jam, to serve
Instructions
- 1Mix the flour, sugar, cardamom, baking soda and salt in a bowl. Whisk the egg yolks with the buttermilk and stir into the flour to a smooth, thick batter.
- 2Whisk the egg whites in a clean bowl until they hold stiff peaks, then fold them gently into the batter.
- 3Heat the æbleskive pan over medium heat and put about 1/2 tsp melted butter in each hollow. When it sizzles, fill each hollow almost to the top with batter.
- 4Cook for about 2 minutes, until the bottom is golden and the edge has set, then turn each ball a quarter turn with a knitting needle or skewer so the raw batter runs down into the hollow. Keep turning every minute or so for another 3 minutes, until round, golden all over and cooked through. Repeat with the rest of the batter, buttering the hollows each time.✎ Chef’s noteIf the outside browns before the middle cooks, lower the heat. A skewer pushed into the middle should come out clean.
- 5Serve hot, three to a plate, dusted with icing sugar, with jam for dipping and a glass of gløgg if you like.
Danish Advent and Christmas tradition.
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Zealand (Copenhagen). Zealand is the island around Copenhagen, where smorrebrod turned lunch into architecture: dense rye bread built up with pickled herring, roast pork, remoulade, or shrimp. Curing, pickling, and rye run deep, and the New Nordic movement rebuilt from exactly those roots.
🗺️
Denmark. Denmark gave the world smørrebrød, elaborate open-faced rye sandwiches, and, more recently, the New Nordic movement of foraging and hyper-seasonality. Pork, rye, herring, and pastry anchor a comforting Scandinavian table.
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Europe. Europe has written a great deal of its food into law. A regulation of 1992 created the protected designation of origin and the protected geographical indication, tying a name to a place and a method, and an EU evaluation published in 2021 counted more than three thousand registered names across those schemes, from cheeses and hams down to particular shapes of bread.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.
More from Denmark
Smørrebrød (Three Classics)Denmark’s open-faced rye sandwiches, built in proper order: egg & tomato, potato & chive, and beet & apple.
WienerbrødThe original "Danish": flaky laminated pastry with custard or jam, glazed and eaten with coffee.
FrikadellerPan-fried pork-and-veal meatballs, flattened and golden, the everyday staple at the heart of Danish home cooking.
Browse all Denmark recipes →
Good to know
You’ll need: Whisk.
Storing it: Best fresh and hot. Keep batter covered in the fridge for up to a day, and rewarm cooked ones in a dry pan.
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Frequently asked questions
What is Æbleskiver (Danish Pancake Balls)?
Light, round buttermilk pancake balls scented with cardamom, turned in a special cast-iron pan until golden all over, served hot with icing sugar and jam, with gløgg in the weeks before Christmas.
Where does Æbleskiver (Danish Pancake Balls) come from?
Æbleskiver (Danish Pancake Balls) is a Danish dish from Zealand (Copenhagen), Denmark.
Can Æbleskiver (Danish Pancake Balls) be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Æbleskiver (Danish Pancake Balls) recipe includes substitution suggestions for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free, and pork-free versions. Treat the substitutions as a starting guide rather than a guarantee, and see the allergen note below.
Is Æbleskiver (Danish Pancake Balls) safe for people with food allergies?
Our dietary labels and substitutions are a cooking guide, not medical or allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we still count coconut as a tree nut to be cautious, although the FDA stopped listing it as one in 2025), fish, and shellfish, but we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, always read the label on every product you use, and remember a home or commercial kitchen can cross-contaminate ingredients in ways a recipe cannot control.
How long does Æbleskiver (Danish Pancake Balls) take to make?
About 45 minutes total (15 minutes prep, 30 minutes cooking), serving 6.
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