Apple Cheddar Ebelskiver are little pockets of pancake goodness filled with sweet apples and tangy Cheddar. They’re fun for a brunch, snack, or just because you want to make something a little different.

A few years ago, I received the pan to make these delicious gems. I haven’t made as many recipes for these delicious pancake puffs as I’ve wanted. I really should remedy that. Because they are super fun to make. Then again, I think macaron are fun to make, too!

What are ebelskiver?

First, they have a few spellings to their name. There’s aebleskiver, ebleskiver, ebelskiver, and ӕbleskiver. And there’s a few ways to pronounce it. I call them eh-bel-ski-ver. Some say sky-ver, some say eh-bel-sku-whr pronouncing the v as a w. I just call them delicious pancake puffs!

Ebelskiver are light and fluffy. You separate the eggs and whip the yolks with the brown sugar. The whites are whipped to stiff peaks and folded into the batter making it airy and delicious.

They’re cooked in a special half spherical pan. The pan makes the outside crispy and delicious and the inside stays tender and moist. Sort of like a Yorkshire pudding or popover.

The batter is simple. There’s flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. The egg yolks are beaten with brown sugar, like I said. Then everything is mixed with buttermilk and a little butter. And finally, the whipped egg whites are folded into the batter to make it airy and light.

You don’t have to stuff them. They’re delicious on their own. But for this recipe, I’ve diced up some apples and cheese to put inside the ebelskivers. The apples don’t need to be cooked. They steam during the cooking process. They’re tender with a little bite to them, but not a crunch. If that makes sense.

The pan is specific to this recipe. There’s really no other way to make them if you don’t have a pan or one of those cake pop bakers. But it’s not really a one trick pony pan. There’s a few other recipes you can make with the pan. I’ll talk about that a little later.

Where do ebelskiver come from?

Denmark. However, with all things in that area, other countries have their own version. For me, it’s the Norwegian munker. It’s basically the same thing, just made in Norway. I’m sure there’s a Swedish version, too.

One of the theories is rather funny. So, imagine a shield or a helmet after a battle with axes, clubs, and the like. They are pocked and dented. After such a battle, the Vikings returned to camp hungry. Since they lacked proper cookware, they had to cook their pancakes in their helmets and shields. Thus resulting in the round ebelskiver we know today.

The second theory is a bit more believable, but still a bit of a stretch. Ebelskiver translates to apple slices. In the Middle Ages, they cooked up the last apples of the season in glogg, wrapped them in dough, and then fried them.

Previously, they were made for special occasions because the first pans were not ideal for cooking the delicate batter. When cast iron came onto the scene, the pans become very popular. The cast iron pans made it easy for people to make these delicious pancake bites at home year-round. And not with just fruit in season, but jams, jellies, and other delicious fillings, too.

What do Apple Cheddar Ebelskiver taste like?

The batter is not super sweet. If you know me at all, you know I’m not someone that loves anything with a ton of sugar in it. So, the batter just has 2 tablespoons of brown sugar in there. To elevate the sweetness is a bit of vanilla extract. And, of course, the diced apples.

It isn’t necessary to cook the apples before you put them in the ebelskiver, but you’re welcomed to do so. I cut my apples into a tiny dice. The small size allowed the apples to steam while the batter around it cooked. This gives the apples a tender texture but not completely soft.

And that’s probably due to my choice of apples. I picked a Gala apple. It’s a sweet apple that has somewhat firm flesh. It’s my favorite apple to bake with next to a golden delicious. But the Gala spoke to me for this recipe. The right amount of sweet and texture.

Finally, there’s the cheese. I started with shredded Cheddar cheese. Don’t do this. It’s not easy to control the placement of shredded cheese in the pan. After the first batch, I switched to a same size dice as the apples. And that was the perfect change I needed for perfectly delicious apple cheddar ebelskiver.

The Cheddar cheese has a salty and savory flavor that pairs with the sweet apples and cinnamon vanilla flavored batter. It’s a great combination of sweet and savory. And I was always on the fence with the apples and cheddar thing. Dad used to do it all the time with his pie, but I never got on board. I might still not be, but I am on board with these apple cheddar ebelskiver!