Gluten Free Swedish Pancakes | Homemade Thin Swedish Crepes

Traditional gluten free Swedish pancakes are like a cross between American pancakes and French crêpes. Serve them with sweet fillings, or even savory. Or just by themselves!

What is a Swedish pancake?

Swedish pancakes are simple, delicious creations are made mostly of flour, milk, and eggs. Of course, traditional Swedish pancakes use wheat flour; this recipe uses oat flour in place of conventional flour, and I think you'd struggle to taste the difference.

American pancakes vs. Swedish pancakes

The most obvious difference between an American pancake and the Swedish style is that our American version is thicker. We also use leaveners like baking powder in our recipes to help with fluffiness; you won't find any in Swedish pancakes.

There's also the matter of serving pancakes. We typically drench ours with maple syrup and a dollop of butter, while the Swedes tend to enjoy their thin, rolled up pancakes with fruit or jam.

Crepes vs. Swedish pancakes

Visually, you may not be able to tell the difference between crepes and Swedish pancakes — they look almost identical! But when you take a bite of each, you'll quickly see how they differ.

Our gluten free crepes are generally made with more flour than pancakes, so they tend to have a chewier consistency. Swedish style pancakes — also referred to as Swedish crepes — are made with more flour, so they're fluffier.

Why I love this recipe

For starters, this is the best gluten free Swedish pancakes recipe because it tastes just like authentic Swedish style pancakes. Even though I've substituted the flour, the consistency and flavor is spot on.

This recipe also uses ingredients that I'm certain you have in your pantry right now. And if you don't, just head to the grocery store to pick them up — they're readily available.

The pancakes that this recipe produces are amazing. They're light and fluffy, and they're perfect for serving with a variety of toppings. Eat them with hearty fillings for breakfast, savory fillings for lunch, or something sweet for dessert.

Swedish pancake ingredients

• Gluten free oat flour – Oats don't contain gluten, but they can be contaminated during the manufacturing process, so depending on your needs, you may want to look for certified gluten free oats. For the smoothest consistency, use commercially-ground oat flour rather than grinding your own like we do in our gluten free banana pancakes recipe.
• Eggs – Eggs provide a lot of the structure in this recipe, so that's why we use 3.
• Sugar – We use only a little bit of sugar to add sweetness and tenderize these pancakes.
• Milk – We need a liquid to combine the dry ingredients; you could use water, but milk offers a richer taste.
• Salt – Just a pinch of salt balances the flavors.
• Vanilla extract – A couple of teaspoons of vanilla adds incredible depth.
• Butter – While we don't use any in these pancakes; melted butter is a must for frying them up.

How to make Swedish pancakes: tips for success

Do make your own oat flour

Don't have oat flour on hand? Don't want to pay those expensive prices for it? Make it yourself!

Oat flour is nothing more than finely ground oats. You can easily make your own gluten free oat flour with a container of oats and a blender, coffee grinder, or food processor. Simply add the oats and pulse until the whole pieces have turned to powder.

Don't fret that first pancake

You know when you make pancakes and that first one comes out too dark? It takes a little while to get your pan at the perfect heat point. Guess what? You're going to experience the same thing with these Swedish crepes.

You need a well-heated pan for Swedish pancake success. But you don't want it so hot that the pancakes burn before they cook through.

A good rule of thumb is that it should take 45 to 60 seconds to cook a pancake. If it takes longer, you need to increase the heat. If they burn before that, lower the heat.

Do stir the batter between pancakes

Oat flour is a bit heavier than wheat flour, so when you let it sit, even for just those couple of minutes between frying pancakes, the oat flour will start to settle to the bottom of the bowl.

To keep the right consistency as you fry, give your pancake batter a quick stir before pouring it into the pan.

Don’t skimp on the butter

A well-greased, nonstick pan is a must when making pancakes. Using melted butter not only keeps the cakes from sticking, but it also imparts tons of flavor and gives you a slightly crisp pancake.

When frying these cakes, keep the butter on hand and add more to the pan as needed.

Do pay attention to pan size

For this recipe for Swedish pancakes, I use a 9-inch cast iron skillet for frying. You'll need to adjust how much batter you use with a different sized pan.

If you use a larger pan, you'll need to add a little more batter to get the right consistency. Likewise, pull back on how batter you use when you're working with a smaller pan.

Don't forget to swirl

How do you make thin pancakes? Well, when you make American style pancakes, you just pour the batter in the pan and flip when it's time.

With Swedish style pancakes, you need to give the pan a little swirl after you add the batter. This makes the batter spread across the pan into a thin, consistent layer.

Just don't get too vigorous in your swirling or the batter may fly over the side of the pan. You just need a quick swirl around the pan like you would when making crepes.

Serving gluten free Swedish pancakes

You may find it a bit surprising to learn that overseas, thin Swedish pancakes are typically served for lunch or dinner. In America, you typically see them as part of a weekend breakfast.

Lingonberry preserves are a traditional topping, but the Swedes are big fans of fresh fruit, too, so you'll also find these pancakes topped with bananas, blueberries, fresh strawberries — really anything that's in season can be fair game.

When serving these gluten free pancakes for your family at breakfast, I highly recommend that you pile them high with fresh berries or fresh fruit as this creates a more substantial meal.

If you serve them with just maple syrup, don't be surprised to see all your hard work disappear before you get a chance to snag one (they're just not very filling on their own).

Serving these pancakes as a sweet treat? Other serving ideas include nut butters (how about totally delicious and completely gluten free Nutella?), chocolate syrup, and whipped cream with a dusting of vanilla sugar or cinnamon sugar.

How to store gf Swedish pancakes

Leftover Swedish pancakes will keep in the fridge for about three days. Place them inside an airtight container so that they don't dry out.

I don't recommend freezing these pancakes as the texture is likely to change. It doesn't take very long at all to whip them up, but if you were looking for a time-saving trick, I'd suggest creating a Swedish pancake mix with just the dry ingredients. When you're ready to eat, simply mix the wet ingredients and get to frying.

How do you reheat Swedish pancakes?

Reheating these gf pancakes is super easy. You can pop each one into the microwave for about 20 seconds, or you can reheat them on a skillet over medium heat for about 15 seconds per side.

Gluten free Swedish pancakes: substitutions

Dairy free, gluten free Swedish pancakes

We use milk and butter in this skinny pancake recipe, so if you need to go dairy-free, you'll need to find replacements for each.

In place of cow's milk, you can use a non-dairy milk of your choice. Almond and oat milks are good, but I recommend staying away from coconut milk as it's too thick.

In place of butter for frying, you can use your favorite non-dairy substitute or even some coconut oil. Just note that if you use the latter, you may taste a hint of coconut in the finished product.

Egg free, gluten free Swedish pancakes

This Swedish crepes recipe calls for 3 eggs, so I don't think that my typical egg replacement suggestion of flax eggs is going to work.

Instead, I'd recommend that you try a different recipe. My vegan pancakes (which are of course also gluten free!) is a good choice. While you can't swirl that batter like you can this one, you can spread the batter out a bit with the back of a spoon for thinner pancakes.

FAQs

Are Swedish pancakes gluten free?

Traditional Swedish style pancakes are not gluten free. That's because they're made with wheat flour.

To get around that problem, I've developed this easy Swedish pancake recipe with gluten free oat flour. And let me tell you, no one will be able to tell the difference.

Are Swedish pancakes healthy?

These homemade Swedish pancakes use similar ingredients to the pancakes you're familiar with. What's different is that they're usually served with uber healthy fresh fruits rather than sugary syrups.

If you were to skip the fruit, I wouldn't say that this gluten free version of pancakes is any healthier than other recipes.

Are gf Swedish style pancakes supposed to be sweet?

There's only a tablespoon of sugar and some vanilla extract in this Swedish crepes recipe, so they're not going to come out very sweet.

You can up the sweetness with your choice of toppings. Fresh strawberries and whipped cream are popular choices that help blur the lines between breakfast food and treat.

Can I use Swedish crepes to make a savory breakfast?

Of course! If you want savory, skip the fresh fruit and opt for fillings like scrambled eggs, shredded cheese, sausage, and bacon.

What's the best gluten free flour for gf Swedish pancakes?

For this recipe, I use oat flour. It's got the right consistency and flavor to make these taste like the Swedish pancakes you'd encounter overseas.

Does this mean that no other gluten free flour will work? Of course not, but because I haven't used a different flour myself, I can't quite tell you how they'd turn out.

Why did my Swedish pancake burn?

Was it your first one? If so, this is typical. You need a hot pan to prepare these gluten free Swedish pancakes, but if your pan is too hot, your pancake will burn.

It's generally understood that you have to sacrifice your first pancake to get the right pan temp so that all the others can come out golden brown and delicious.