A truly delicious Chocolate Pannukakku recipe is a thing of beauty to be sure. Also, to say it is to love it. This deeply chocolatey Finnish oven pancake is very much like a Dutch Baby (if not exactly like a Dutch Baby, to be honest), and it is truly a delight to both prepare and enjoy. This type of recipe really finds a welcome home here at My Kitchen Little, what with it’s meager assembly of utterly humble ingredients, and it makes a wonderful addition to any breakfast or brunch table. Or if you’re me, dinner.
If you like the sounds of this chocolate pannukakku recipe, I’d suggest you peek at my easy cinnamon sugar popovers, this Southern Cinnamon Pecan Coffee Cake, and my favorite cinnamon toast ever. Breakfast never had it so good.
Why we love this chocolate pannukakku recipe
I find the various iterations of specific recipes from country to country to be so interesting. From noodles and dumplings to sauces and apparently, giant pancakes, it seems the world really has a core conglomeration of dishes, that expand and shape-shift a little when they cross borders, sail across oceans and step into new time zones. I love this. Cultures around the world will have their way with these core recipes, adding their own techniques, spices, and spins – breathing new life and a uniqueness into them until they can claim ownership.
This truth can be seen in dishes like Potstickers in China and their resemblance to Galician empanadas, Appalachian meat hand pies, and Polish pierogi. Dumplings have walked all over this world, making their presence known and well-loved … they just change their steps a bit from one port of call to the next. The giant, ever-popular, oven pancake is no different, and this Finnish chocolate pannukakku recipe is a total knockout.
What is Pannukakku?
Read it again. Sounds a lot like pancake, no? Just with Finnish flair. This dish, the beloved pancake of Finland, is a very egg-based, oven-baked pancake/crepe/popover hybrid of sorts that, like a German pancake/Dutch Baby, climbs the sides of it’s baking dish as it cooks – like it’s trying to escape, to break free. Get me outtttttt of here!!! It’s really a dramatic thing.
Most Dutch Baby recipes tend to be void of sugar, though, and I’ve noticed that most Pannukakku recipes call for it. As such, I leaned into the Finnish iteration of the baked pancake because I wanted to play with dark cocoa powder, and dark chocolate benefits from a spoonful (or two) of sugar. Helps it go down and all that.
How to make this chocolate pannukakku recipe
This brilliant combination of the most basic of pantry staples is a thing of beauty and really couldn’t be simpler. We’ll create the whole bater by throwing the requisite ingredients into a blender and then swirling it into the sizing hot butter that has already melted in the baking dish. The trick, incidentally, to achieving the fetching peaks and valleys in a proper oven pancake comes from swirling the batter into the pan. I find this method works a bit better with a Dutch Baby, but I do recommend you give that a try when you pour this chocolatey mixture into your 9 by 13.
Last trick: try brushing some of the melted butter up the sides of the pan, before you pour the batter in. I equate this to giving a rock climber rungs or handles to grab onto as they climb, lifting them ever higher as they go. The butter is the rungs. Ahem.
More Morning Treats for your baking Pleasure
If you’re a breakfast lover like me, then you’re probably the right person to introduce to some of my favorite morning treats. These are things that never fail to make my whole day better – just starting things off on the exact right foot, you know?
I’ve got a berry coffee cake that will become your favorite thing, it has a knock for that, truly. But if the cooler months have set in and you’re looking for a coffee cake that’s a little more seasonally apropos, then this pear coffee cake this your dream boat for sure.
Or, maybe you’re a breakfast casserole person (who isn’t, honestly?). I’ve got a savory option and a sweet one for you, and you truly cannot go wrong with either one. In fact, I often just make both at once and call it good. Boom! Something for everyone.
Or let’s say you’re kind of the ambitious sort and want to try your hand at baking some classic store-bought treats yourself, right in your own kitchen. You’ve sampled this chocolate pannukakku recipe and are ready for more. If this sounds like your bag, then try my easy homemade cinnamon toast crunch or toaster strudel. They’re easy and super fun to make. People will be wowed by you though, so just be ready for that, okay?
Dark Chocolate Pannukakku (Finnish Oven Pancake)
Very similar in appearance to a Dutch Baby and in structure/composition to popovers, this huge chocolatey pancake (Pannukakku) is made more according to the Finnish preparation, as it calls for a bit of sugar in the mix as well. These bake up big and puffy and the sides will climb all the way up the pan, giving the most fun breakfast or brunch experience, and providing the perfect bed for plenty of toppings.
- Yield: Serves 6 to 8 1x
Ingredients
- 6 tablespoons butter
- 1 1/4 cups whole milk
- 6 eggs
- 3 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 cup flour
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 cup dark cocoa powder (such as Hershey’s Special Dark)
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- Any toppings you like (maple syrup, whipped cream, fruit, etc.)
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 450 degrees F. Add the butter to a 9-by-13-inch baking dish and place in the oven to melt.
- In a blender, combine the milk, eggs, vanilla, flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt. Blend just until smooth and well-combined.
- Once the butter has melted, pull the pan out of the oven (carefully!) and brush the butter up the sides of the pan.
- Pour the batter straight out of the blender into the baking dish in a swirling motion (this helps build the peaks and valleys). Bake until risen and poofy, about 25 to 30 minutes.Â
- Serve right away with maple syrup, sliced fruit, whipped cream, and other desired toppings.Â
