Finnish Pancakes – The Only Recipe You Need for ‘Lettu’!

Lettu, lätty, plätty, ohukainen and räiskäle. What are these Finnish words? They all mean the same thing: the incredibly delicious, thin, Finnish pancake. It’s a must to try when in Finland!

You know that popular question “What would you eat as your last meal“, right? My answer in a heartbeat: Finnish pancakes with strawberry jam and whipped cream!

At their best, Finnish pancakes combine crispness and soft texture with the flavor of open-fire cooking. They are insanely tasty. I would even say that they are addictive.

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How to Make Finnish Pancakes

Finnish pancakes are ridiculously easy to make. Ok, let’s be honest here, all my recipes are ridiculously easy because that’s the only style of cooking I do.

Finnish pancakes can be done on your kitchen stove or open fire. I totally understand if open fire is not possible for you!

In Finland, pancakes are such a Finnish food staple that many cabins and houses have an open fire place and a big flat frying pan perfect for Finnish pancakes.

Recipe for 10 Finnish Pancakes

This is the Finnish pancake recipe my family uses. I always make this amount in double because ten pancakes aren’t enough in this household.

There’s an old Finnish saying: “Siitähän tulee vain vihaiseksi”, which roughly translates as “That only makes you angry”!

I have put the names of the ingredients in Finnish. If you want to learn a bit of Finnish, this is a fun opportunity to do so!

The Finnish names are also handy if you are in Finland, and trying to find the ingredients in a Finnish grocery store.

Oh, and one last thing before we dive into the recipe. Finnish pancakes are best straight off the press. This is a dish that should be eaten immediately!

Finnish Pancakes Recipe with Finnish Measurements

• 2 eggs (muna)
• 5 dl milk (maito)
• 1,5 dl all-purpose baking flour (puolikarkea vehnäjauho)
• 0,5 dl barley flour (ohrajauho)
• 0,5 dl melted butter (voi)
• Half a teaspoon of salt (suola)

Finnish Pancakes Recipe with American Measurements

• 2 eggs (muna)
• 2 cups milk (maito)
• 1/2 cup all-purpose baking flour (puolikarkea vehnäjauho)
• 1/4 cup barley flour (ohrajauho)
• 1/4 cup runny butter (voi)
• Half a teaspoon of salt (suola)

This no-fuzz batter is so flexible! If you cannot find barley flour, just use regular baking flour for the full amount of flour used in this recipe. I always use butter if I can, but I don’t have it, I substitute it with oil (for example, rypsiöljy in Finnish).

Here we go!

Mix everything with a whisk until smooth. Leave the ready batter to sit at least 30 minutes before frying the pancakes. This makes all the difference!

Time-saving tip: The batter doesn’t go bad, some busy mums do the mixture in the morning and leave it in the fridge for the whole day.

Heat the pan. If you are cooking on the stove, I use almost maximum heat when I start and adjust the heat after the first pancake.

Melt a teaspoon of butter on the hot pan and pour some batter after the butter has melted. Wait a while until the bottom of the pancake is golden brown and flip to get the same brownness for the top side.

Here is a must-know thing so that you don’t panic: the first pancake will look bad. It becomes over or undercook and usually a bit oddly shaped too. It’s impossible to make it perfect!

That’s why Finnish kids always yell: “The second lettu is for me – Toinen lettu on mulle!” 

If you are making Finnish pancakes on open fire, the pancakes can be huge! Don’t worry if you mess up with the flipping, I sometimes do too. It doesn’t matter, the taste is equally good.

Serve the Finnish pancakes with strawberry or raspberry jam and whipped cream. Sometimes we replace whipped cream with whipped vanilla sauce or vanilla ice cream.

Most Common Questions about Finnish Pancakes

Why my Finnish pancakes became rubbery?

If your pancakes become rubbery, try using less flour and make sure that you are using enough heat when pan-frying them.

Can I make Finnish pancakes gluten-free?

Absolutely! Yes, you can make these pancakes gluten-free. All-purpose gluten-free flour or buckwheat flour will work well. The pancakes will be more delicate when gluten-free flour is used.

Finnish Pancakes vs Crepes

As a Finn, I taste a big difference between Finnish pancakes and crepes. I think there are three reasons for this is:

• Crepes tend to be very light in color. Often, they are not as golden brown as their Finnish cousins.
• The classic crepes recipe includes just eggs, flour and liquid, no butter.
• Butter, milk and flour have different tastes in every country

Finnish Pancakes vs Finnish Oven Pancake

Yes, this can be confusing! There are two types of pancakes in Finland:

• The baked oven pancake. This is called pannukakku in Finnish. You can find a delicious recipe for that here!

The name is, literally, pan = pannu and cake = kakku, just like in English. In Ostrobothnia region, this dish is called kropsu so you would be making kropsua instead of pannukakkua.

• The pan-fried, thin pancakes aka this recipe. These pancakes are not called pancakes at all! Lettu and lätty are the most popular names for this tasty dish.

How to Find Finnish Pancakes in Finland

Most restaurants specialized in Finnish food have Finnish pancakes on their dessert menu. Also, especially during the summertime, you can order pancakes at the market square cafés of most Finnish towns.

Have you tried Finnish pancakes? Or are you going to make them soon? Let me know in the comments!

Looking for more Finnish recipes? Check out some of my other Finnish food posts:

• The Super Yummy Finnish Oven Pancake (‘Pannukakku’ Recipe)
• The Irresistible Finnish Cinnamon Rolls (‘Pulla’ Recipe)
• The Finnish Chanterelle Pie
• The Classic and Simple Finnish Salmon Soup