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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Table of Contents
- 1 How to Make Finnish Pancakes
- 2 Recipe for 10 Finnish Pancakes
- 3 Finnish Pancakes Recipe with Finnish Measurements
- 4 Finnish Pancakes Recipe with American Measurements
- 5 Most Common Questions about Finnish Pancakes
- 6 Finnish Pancakes vs Crepes
- 7 Finnish Pancakes vs Finnish Oven Pancake
- 8 How to Find Finnish Pancakes in Finland
- 9 Psst... Want to discover the Finnish way of life & communication style?
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 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:
Warm wishes from Finland,
Varpu
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...feel connected with the Finnish culture (even if you aren’t in Finland)
...be confident with the Finnish communication style (even when it’s filled with silence)
...be prepared to meet and get to know Finns
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Hello there!
I’m Varpu. One blonde,
travel-loving,
Finnish engineer driving this site.
I love this recipe, as it’s what I grew up with. My grandmother was Finnish. I understand almost everything. I speak Estonian. Thank you. Kitos
Hei Einike! My pleasure. <3 I'm so happy to hear that you liked this recipe and the English - Finnish text!
My Finnish grandmother who came over to America in 1913 was a wonderful cook and bread maker, but she made something wonderful I can’t find a recipe for, she called it pannkakka, but is wasnt the usual oven pancake, she made it a huge flat pan maybe 20 x 24 with one inch edge around it. It was a thick creamy type custard, she would cut a 6×6 piece to hold on my fingertips and eat would not break or fall apart, so delicious just wonderful to remember, do you have a recipe?, thanks.
Yes, I definitely know what you mean and I do have the recipe here too: https://herfinland.com/finnish-oven-pancake/ Enjoy!
My mom Anya-Riitta has a rule that the first lettu always gets thrown out , and my rule is that I get the crispiest thinnest lettu , the crispy edges are the BEST!!!
Hahahh, yes, Kay! In our household kids always say the first lettu is for adults. 😀 I also love the crispy edges!
I’ve been making Finnish Pancakes for 50 years! My dad’s family was from Finland. I recently taught my 9 year old granddaughter how to make them, she loves that she can make them all by herself! When I wrote the recipe for her, I said that rule number one, the most important thing to remember is that the cook MUST eat the first one!
Haha Traci, that’s sooo awesome! In my family, the most desperate eats the first one 😀
I have just about the same recipe. It was my Finnish grandma’s. It has been, and always will be, my favorite breakfast, but it’s just as good for dinner for me and my husband. Whenever my kids come home, or any guests to be sure, this is what I serve and what they ask for. I have the same problem with flipping the crepe some times, but then I eat that one while I am cooking the others!
Yes! The broken pancakes are always for parents! This is true in all Finnish households <3
Hei Varpu, Our old family recipe is real similar, although we always called them “Swedish pancakes” – it might have been brought over by my Finnish-speaking Swede step-grandfather, hence the Swedish label. We add an extra egg, use a whole cup of flour, and add a tablespoon of sugar too, so a bit of difference there. I’ve always used a large teflon-coated electric griddle, poured a long single pancake the whole length of the griddle, then cut it up into 3 -4 pieces after it set up, then flipped them with a long plastic spatula, so they are more rectangular in shape. After my dad got the recipe his mom, it was a regular Saturday morning staple growing up. In college, I was always sought after by my friends to host pancake meals after they discovered my secret recipe. It’s still a family favorite for us to this day. Thanks so much for sharing your recipe and bringing back great memories for me too.
Hei Rich! Wow, what a lovely story, thank you so much for sharing it. I can believe you were the brunch buddy NRO 1 in college! Your family recipe sounds super delicious, I’ll have to try it next time I make pancakes!
Newly hatched Finn here, just married…..but have been loving finish food for 50 years, you have a marvelous column here!
Hi Anna! Congratulations!! Thank you so much, I’m so happy you liked my post! <3
I love Finnish crepes but not so much with jam… my favourite topping is fresh lemon juice with a sprinkling of sugar 🙂
Hi! What an interesting combo, I have never tried that! I promise to test it too the next time I make crepes. 🙂
You definitely should! Even my Finnish husband who is a traditionalist with jam and (ice)cream admitted that it’s really good 😀
Hi! I tried this yesterday as we were making crepes at the summer cottage. To be precise: there was a team of four Finns (adults) as food testing is serious business. 😉 The result: surprising and really good! Thank you for this tip! 🙂
I’m so glad you tried it and enjoyed it! Something different to the traditional toppings but so refreshing and yummy 🙂