When it comes to our kids, time seems to be our greatest commodity – and the lack of it our greatest challenge.
For me, I feel like I am constantly running around the kitchen, trying to get something made, on the table, cleaned up … and my 3-year-old is right there. “Play with me mommy!” “Can you play with me NOW?” “Look at this mommy!” “I want to see!”
It’s so easy to put her off in the interest of just getting stuff done in a speedy manner. But in my heart, it just doesn’t always sit quite right.
Which is why I am loving the new Cooking with Kids campaign from Ikea. Today, I’ve teamed up with them to bring you some fun tips and tricks for getting the little ones more involved in the kitchen.
The campaign is basically a manifesto from children to parents … it’s cheeky and fun, but it also definitely hits home.
How awesome would it be if we could combine quality time with getting dinner (or breakfast) on the table? And not just delegating the boring bits of work like clearing the plates, handing out napkins (our daughter’s current job), or cleaning the lettuce.
Maybe it will take a little more planning and a lot more relaxing. But you know what? It’s really a win-win.
This “5 Tips for Cooking with Parents” video is excellent food for thought.
Ikea also created a video that shows what happens when kids are left to design their own kitchen – and what they end up with is pretty awesome.
You’ll also find several great parent-friendly recipes on Ikea’s website as part of the campaign. Loving these!
My favorite of all is the Real Swedish Pancakes recipe. Swedish Pancakes are sort of like a hybrid between your typical fluffy pancakes and crepes. They’re light, tender, and buttery – an decadent yet super-simple pancake that is absolutely delicious rolled up with jam and sprinkled with a little powdered sugar.
Or a lot.
Best of all, they’re fun for kids AND parents to make – and easy too.
The tip I most took to heart was to just let go – a mess is really no big deal, right? So when my daughter helped me make this recipe, I fought off my usual urge to control every step of the process. When I decided to just step back and let her little three-year-old hands crack open the eggs, that’s when she really started having fun.
Especially when one of the eggs exploded.
But you know what? It cleaned up quickly.
And then … there were these.
(Hugs and kisses not pictured.)
Swedish Pancakes
Ingredients
- 2 1/4 cups 250 g all-purpose flour
- 2 1/2 cups 600 ml whole or 2% milk (can sub unsweetened almond milk*)
- 3 large eggs
- 1/2 teaspoon fine-grain sea salt
- 2 tablespoons butter (for cooking (can sub vegan buttery spread))
Optional toppings:
- Butter (or vegan buttery spread)
- Jam or other preserves
- Nut butter
- Fresh fruit
- Chocolate chips
- Powdered sugar
Instructions
- Place the flour in a medium bowl. Slowly pour in the milk, whisking until relatively smooth. Add the eggs and salt; mix until smooth.
- Let the batter rest for 10 minutes.
- Set a large frying pan over medium heat. When hot, melt a teaspoon of butter in the pan and spread it with a spatula.
- Pour 1/3 cup to 1/2 cup of batter in a circle in the middle of the hot buttered pan, then quickly pick up the pan, tilting and rotating to spread the batter into as thin a circle as possible. I use 1/2 cup of batter in my 12-inch nonstick skillet.
- Cook for 1-2 minutes, until the edges and top look dry (some say that when the surface looks like a slice of cheese that's been out too long, that's when it's ready to flip!)
- Flip the pancake over and cook just until set and pale to lightly golden brown on the other side, about 30 more seconds.
- Transfer to a plate and repeat with the rest of the batter.
- Serve with butter (or vegan buttery spread), jam, nut butter, and/or fresh fruit. For a special treat for our daughter, we sprinkle a thin layer of mini chocolate chips over the pancake, let them melt, spread them with a butter knife, and roll up the pancake to serve. Finish each serving with a dusting of powdered sugar, if desired.
More pancake recipes:
- Fluffy Banana Pancakes – Light and airy, yet hearty. One of the most popular recipes on Kitchen Treaty!
- Fluffy Pumpkin Pancakes – These cook up tall, fluffy, and fall-icious!
- Banana-Oat Blender Pancakes – Gluten-free, vegan, and SO EASY.
- Whole Wheat Vanilla Yogurt Pancakes – Something a little different – and super hearty to boot.
- Chocolate Chip Chia Pancakes – Healthy pancakes with a bit of irresistible decadence. I make these ALL. THE. TIME.
- Browse all pancake recipes on Kitchen Treaty
Sponsored Post
This post was sponsored by Ikea. Thank you for supporting the companies who support Kitchen Treaty!
I’m so glad you’re here! I’m a vegetarian home cook, certified plant-based pro, and mom. I’m married to an enthusiastic carnivore, and my mission is to achieve peace in the kitchen – one tasty recipe at a time. These days, with a name like mine, I also try not to ask to speak to the manager.
I was SO excited to finally find the IKEA Swedish pancakes recipe. I have been looking for this recipe for a really long time -mostly referring to the amount of hours I have spent per day and number of days I have spent looking and looking. I noticed that yours says it’s from Ikea however I saved the ingredients listed on the bag and it’s not what you have listed. But I tried it anyway and just to be safe I followed the ingredients and instructions 100% because these pancakes from IKEA are the VERY best. When I made the recipe that you had listed I could barely taste the pancakes because the salt just about made me sick. I normally like lots of salt on things but this was the absolute overkill so nasty. It made me so sad because I made a special trip to the store to get all these ingredients and it was a huge waste. A waste of money and time – which I have very limited of both. I decided it’s not worth trying to remake these because I’m thinking this is not an IKEA recipe since the ingredients are totally different in the recipe compared to on the package.
I wish IKEA would let me know what the recipe is because their store is far from my house. For now, I will keep making the trip to the store to buy the premade pancakes and just stock up every time I’m there.
My recommendation if anyone is making these, either omit the salt all together or add one sixteenth of what it calls for – I’m being 100% serious on this. The salt makes me nauseous just thinking about it. I’ve never disliked oversalted foods before until now.
Hope this helps anyone who decides to try this recipe.
Mandi
The amount of salt called for in this recipe is definitely not abnormal, so I’m not sure what happened. I’ve made this recipe (yes, it’s directly from IKEA) countless times with success – the only change I make from the recipe IKEA provided is that I use non-dairy milk. I’m not aware of how this recipe compares to what they serve in their stores nor did I know of any sort of packaged mix that exists. I’m too obsessed with their KEX biscuits and always forget to look at the rest of their food when I’m there. 😉 Anyway, I know how disappointing it can be when a recipe doesn’t turn out, but again I just can’t tell you what happened – this is a tried and true recipe.
Wonderful recipe! Will do it again for sure!!