Oven baked pancake (Ugnspannkaka) with capers and chives

We all love pancakes. In Scandinavia we also have another version of the thin pancakes – the oven baked pancake or “Ugnspannkaka”. The batter is similar to the thin pancakes but baked in the oven instead of cooked on a stovetop, which makes it a fluffy pancake perfect for a lunch or quick dinner.

The traditional oven pancake is either baked with bacon (Fläskpannkaka) or without (Ugnspannkaka). I decided to make a vegetarian variant with salty capers, fresh chives and crispy roasted sunflowers seed.

I remember the oven pancakes we often got in school for lunch (yes, kids get lunch in the Swedish schools). They were maybe not so fluffy, but ok. The once we my mom and dad prepared at home in a whole oven tray, I remember as fluffy and creamy inside and crispy on the outside. To an oven baked pancake, you should serve lingonberries and raw grated carrots. If you haven’t been to Ikea to buy lingonberries, you can definitely replace it with e.g. blackberry compote.

Tip: prepare the batter in the morning and let it rest until you prepare it for lunch or dinner. That will make the pancake fluffier.

Ingredients (4 pers):

• 1 1/2 cup all purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 3 cups milk
• 5 eggs
• 1/3 cup sunflower seeds
• 1/3 cup capers
• 3 tbsp chopped chives
• butter for the pan

Add flour, baking powder and salt into a bowl and mix it together. Add half of the milk and stir until you get a smooth batter. Then add the rest of the milk and the eggs into the bowl and stir it all together.

Pre heat the oven to 425F. Place an oven tray (12×15″) in the oven to get really hot.

Roast the sunflower seeds and capers in a dry skillet for a couple of minutes until the sunflower seeds get some color. Chop the chives.

When the oven is warm, take out the oven tray and butter it. Add the roasted sunflower seeds and capers into the oven tray. Pour the batter into the tray. Finish with sprinkle the chives over the pancake batter.

Bake the oven pancake in the middle of the oven for approximately 25 minutes. If the edges are getting too dark, place aluminum foil over the sides and keep it in the oven. The pancake is ready when it’s fluffy and has a nice brown color.

Serve with lingonberries and grated carrots.

Smaklig måltid!

My plate is from Danish “Aida”.