Poffertjes

I decided that because I missed the poffertjes we get at the NWWA Fair, I was going to try making some myself. I got a little pan at the Kitchen Konnection in Lynden. It has 7 spots for cooking. It is cast iron, and with tax was about $15. I had to season it, which consisted of me heating it til hot, and brushing a small amount of canola oil all over the cooking surface until it started to smoke. This helps it to be a nonstick surface, and seemed to work, as the only thing that stuck was the shredded cheese I tried putting in the first batch (would you believe Safeway only had shredded Gouda, no whole chucks for me to dice up?). After looking for recipes online, I found several that used half regular flour and half buckwheat flour. Since I had buckwheat flour, I gave that a try. My next hurdle was sweet syrup. I wasn't 100% sure what that was, but figured it was like simple syrup. Problem was, I only needed 2 tablespoons, so did not want to make a whole batch. If I was making dessert poffertjes, I figured Karo corn syrup would work...however it has vanilla in it which I was afraid could be weird with ham and cheese. But then I found another recipe that used sugar instead. So problem solved!

So once the batter was made and had a chance to rest (it has yeast in it, so had to rise, but was a softer batter than regular bread, so didn't puff up like regular bread rising does), I scooped it into the pan using my small cookie scoop. For the filled ones, I used a half a scoop of batter, added a chunk of ham (and shredded Gouda to the first batch, which didn't work so well), then added another half a scoop to cover the ham. When they got bubbly on top, it was time to flip them.

They sell special poffertjes forks, which look strangly similar to fondue forks, so I saved some money and used a fondue fork! They were a little tricky to flip to start with, but then I got the hang of it...I had to loosen up the cooked edge before trying to flip.

Here are some of the finished poffertjes. I don't think the ones at the fair use buckwheat flour! They were tasty, but needed a little something more than just the ham. The last batch I didn't put ham in, and sprinkled them with regular sugar (I didn't want to hassle with powdered sugar which is more traditional!) when they were done.

I think the next ones I make will have all regular flour in them. I am also going to try aebleskivers, which are Danish mini puffs (poffertjes are Dutch). The aebleskivers also use buttermilk and baking powder and baking soda instead of yeast. I will let you know how they turn out :)