Where to put a recipe like this? The Swedes eat these pancakes as dessert, but my guess is that 90 percent of Americans who make them will consume them before noon, as breakfast or a brunch dish. Though I’m in that 90 percent, these are undeniably sweet enough for postmeal status. There is a special pan for these, with small depressions, so you can make your pancakes the appropriate size. But using a tablespoon works almost as well. Serve them with confectioners’ sugar, applesauce, lingonberry preserves or any other jam, ice cream, sour cream, yogurt, or whipped cream. Or try an assortment.

　　

Ingredients

makes 4 servings

　　3 eggs

　　2 tablespoons granulated sugar

　　Pinch of salt

　　1 cup milk

　　3/4 cup flour

　　2 tablespoons melted butter, optional, plus some for cooking

　　Confectioners’ sugar for dusting

　　

Step 1

Separate the eggs and beat the yolks in a medium bowl with the granulated sugar and salt. Add the milk and flour alternately, stirring gently after each addition, to form a thin, smooth batter; do not overbeat. Stir in the melted butter if you’re using it. The batter can be refrigerated at this point for up to a day.

　　

Step 2

When you’re ready to cook, beat the egg whites until they hold stiff peaks; gently stir them into the batter. Don’t worry about fully incorporating them.

　　

Step 3

Preheat a cast-iron or nonstick skillet or griddle over medium-high heat; when a drop of water skips across it before evaporating, it’s ready. Melt a little butter in the pan and, using a tablespoon, scoop up a bit of the batter and put it in the pan. Cook as many pancakes at once as will fit comfortably, turning them after a couple of minutes, when they are brown. Total cooking time is less than 5 minutes per pancake.

　　

Step 4

Serve immediately, ideally straight from the pan, sprinkled with confectioners’ sugar.

　　The Best Recipes in the World by Mark Bittman. © 2005 by Mark Bittman. Published by Broadway Books. All Rights Reserved.MARK BITTMAN is the author of the blockbuster The Best Recipes in the World (Broadway, 2005) and the classic bestseller How to Cook Everything, which has sold more than one million copies. He is also the coauthor, with Jean-Georges Vongerichten, of Simple to Spectacular and Jean-Georges: Cooking at Home with a Four-Star Chef. Mr. Bittman is a prolific writer, makes frequent appearances on radio and television, and is the host of The Best Recipes in the World, a 13-part series on public television. He lives in New York and Connecticut.