Traditional German Hungarian Palachinke Recipe
This traditional Palachinke recipe has been passed down through the generations of my husband’s family of German and Hungarian descent. They are quick and easy to make and a definitely a family favorite with my kids!
We’re one of those families that has no hesitation about serving breakfast for dinner. Often times this happens when we’re short on time and need a quick, easy meal to prepare. One of our family’s favorite breakfast recipes to eat for dinner is Palachinke (we pronounce it pala-chin-kin).
My husband learned this recipe from his grandmother who was of German and Hungarian descent. I often refer to Palachinke as “German crepes” since they remind me of the more common breakfast food known as crepes. Some people also refer to them as Hungarian pancakes.
How to serve Palachinke
Like crepes, Palachinke are made with just a few common ingredients and can be filled with a variety of sweet or savory fillings. When we make Palachinke, we sit out a wide variety of fillings on the table and let each person mix and match fillings. We end up with some delicious flavor combinations like:
- cream cheese and cinnamon sugar
- butter and homemade strawberry jam (here’s our recipe)
- Nutella and cream cheese
- almond butter and maple syrup
- cream cheese and maple syrup
Our family’s German Hungarian Palachinke Recipe
Palachinke batter ingredients:
1 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp unrefined sugar
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 cup milk
1 egg
Palachinke Cooking Directions:
1. Place the dry ingredients in a bowl. In a separate bowl, beat the egg by hand in the milk. Pour into the dry ingredients and mix well until there are no lumps left in the batter.
2. Heat a large cast iron skillet on medium heat and melt 1/2 TBS butter in the pan. Using a medium size ladle, slowly pour the batter into the pan with one hand while you rotate the pan with your other hand to help spread the batter out in the pan. Bubbles will start appearing in the batter as it cooks. Once the underside is light brown, flip it over and cook the other side until light brown.
3. Once cooked, remove the Palachinke from the pan and fill with your choice of ingredients. We like to fill them right away while they are warm so fillings like cream cheese and butters get nice and soft. Then serve and enjoy!
Here is a list of the types of fillings you can use but don’t let this limit your creativity in filling your Palachinke!
- cream cheese
- jam
- cinnamon sugar
- butter
- Nutella
- Maple Valley maple syrup
- peanut butter
- Woodstock Raw Almond Butter
- ricotta cheese
- cottage cheese
You may also enjoy some of our other traditional German and Hungarian recipes:
-Our family recipe for Kohlrabi Soup taught to me by my husband’s aunt of German/Hungarian descent
-How to make homemade fermented sauerkraut
This is the last week for the #hotforbreakfast project we participated in with some fellow bloggers. Be sure to check out my #hotforbreakfast partners and their amazing recipes: Jess at 104 Homestead – Jami at An Oregon Cottage – Susannah at Feast & West – Kathie at Homepun Seasonal Living – Tessa at Homestead Lady – Chris at Joybilee Farm – Sheila at Life, Love, and Good Food – Lynda at Me & My Pink Mixer – Annie at Montana Homesteader – Angi at Schneiderpeeps
updated March 2023
Everything is very open with a clear explanation of
the issues. It was truly informative. Your website is very helpful.
Many thanks for sharing!
I’ve always made crepes into a difficult process in my head. gees. So simple when I see it in writing. I’m going to try them for breakfast this morning. Maybe “Palachinke” is what’s going to get me over my mental black. Thanks for sharing the recipe!
I found it easier to mix and apply easily in the pan if I used 1 1/2 cup of milk instead of 1 cup. It was too thick in what I remember to be a palachinke recipe.
Thanks for sharing that insight. My husband always makes this Palachinke recipe and he knows the batter is “just right” by the look of how thin the batter is. It should be thinner than a traditional American pancake batter.