If you're craving gingerbread, but you're in a hurry, this ontbeijtkoek is just what you're looking for. It's a Dutch spice cake that tastes similar to gingerbread, but even better! You might have a hard time eating only one piece.
If you love desserts for coffee time, you'll want to check out these recipes for Finnish pulla bread and Cornish saffron buns.
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Ingredients
Curious what you need to make ontbijtkoek? Let's talk about the key ingredients.
- Rye Flour: This flavorful grain has a distinctive taste, which is the most important element of this cake.
- Honey: This adds moisture and sweetness.
- Spices: A mixture of cinnamon, cardamom, coriander, ginger, and cloves gives the cake a lot of flavor and aroma.
How to Make
Gather the ingredients for ontbijtkoek. You'll need rye flour, all-purpose flour, baking powder, molasses, honey, and brown sugar. You'll also need several spices: cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, cloves, coriander, and salt.
- Whisk together the flours, baking powder, and spices.
- Pour in the milk, honey, molasses, and brown sugar.
3. Whisk until combined.
4. Pour the mixture into a buttered 9x5-inch loaf pan.
5. Bake the ontbijtkoek at 300 F for 55 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let it cool for 1 hour.
6. Slice the ontbijtkoek and serve with lots of butter and hot coffee.
Recipe FAQs
It's a moist Dutch bread (loaf cake) richly flavored with sweet spices, molasses, and honey, and the name literally means "breakfast cake." The key ingredient is rye flour, which gives this dessert a darker brown hue, a unique texture, and beautiful flavor. Ontbijtkoek is used in a fun children's game called koekhappen, where the children try to eat a thick slice of cake hanging on a string without using their hands.
This Dutch name is pronounced awnt-BEHT-kook.
The traditional spices in ontbijtkoek are cinnamon, ginger, and cloves. Feel free to change this up by adding some ground nutmeg, cardamom, coriander, allspice, or star anise. Any warm, sweet spice will work in this recipe. Add white pepper to make peperkoek, or Dutch gingerbread.
Serve
Ontbijtkoek is traditionally served at breakfast in Dutch homes where it is spread generously with butter and enjoyed in place of regular bread. However, it can be enjoyed at any time throughout the day--especially with a cup of coffee.
A unique way to serve ontbijtkoek is in the children's game koekhappen. This old Dutch game is popular at children's birthday parties and at Koningsdag, the annual celebration of King Willem-Alexander's birthday (April 27).
In the game, children try to eat slices of ontbijtkoek hung from a string overhead without using their hands. Sometimes, they are even blindfolded to make it more challenging.
Store
Leftover Ontbjitkoek: It will keep at room temperature for up to 1 week as well, as long as it is well wrapped in plastic wrap. This also gives it a sticky exterior, which is quite desirable in Dutch households.
Freezing: Ontbijtkoek freezes exceptionally well. Just seal it inside of a zip-top freezer bag and freeze for up to 1 month. Defrost slices in the toaster, microwave, or at room temperature.
Variations
There are lots of delicious variations of this Dutch cake. If you try one of these, please let me know in the comments!
- Peperkoek (Pepper Cake): Add ¼-1/2 teaspoon of white pepper to the batter.
- Oudewijvenkoek (Old Wives' Cake): Add 2 teaspoons of aniseed.
- Honingkoek (Honey Cake): Omit the molasses.
- Gemberkoek (Ginger Cake): Add ¼-1/2 cup of chopped candied ginger.
- Kandijkoek (Candy Cake): Top the baked loaf with candy pearls.
Expert Tips
- Use a 9x5-inch loaf pan. If your pan is bigger, reduce the baking time; if it's smaller, increase it.
- Put the ontbijtkoek in the oven as soon as it is made to reduce the chances of sinking.
- Don't open the oven door while the ontbijtkoek is baking, or it may sink.
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Recipe
Ontbijtkoek (Dutch Breakfast Cake)
Ingredients
- 1 cup rye flour
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground cardamom
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- ½ teaspoon ground coriander
- ½ teaspoon ground cloves
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup dark brown sugar
- ¼ cup molasses
- ½ cup honey
- 1 cup whole milk
Equipment
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 300°F and butter a 9x5-inch loaf pan.
- Whisk together the flours, baking powder, spices, and salt until combined.
- Add the sugar, molasses, honey, and milk and whisk the batter until it's well blended.
- Immediately pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan and bake at 300°F for 55 minutes. The ontbijtkoek is done when a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
- Let it cool for 10 minutes in the pan, then run a knife around the edge and flip it onto a wire cooling rack. Turn the ontbijtkoek right side up and let it cool for another 50 minutes.
- Slice and serve with butter and a cup of hot coffee.
Notes
- Use a 9x5-inch loaf pan. If your pan is bigger, reduce the baking time; if it's smaller, increase it.
- Put the batter in the oven as soon as it is made to reduce the chances of sinking.
- Don't open the oven door while the ontbijtkoek is baking, or it may sink.
Nutrition
Serving sizes and nutritional information are only an estimate and may vary from your results.
This post was originally published on July 31, 2020, and was updated with resized images and refreshed content on August 5, 2022.
Beth
This spicy cake is soft and chewy, perfect for Christmas time or snacking.
Emma
Glad you enjoyed the ontbijtkoek!
Alex
The cake is rich in spices and full of flavor. The outside is soft, as is the inside. This cake is delicious!
Emma
We're glad you enjoyed it, Alex!
Hannah
Perfect recipe, very authentic. Reminds me of my childhood. Thankyou for sharing 🙂
Emma
That's lovely to hear, Hannah! I'm glad that this recipe could bring back some childhood memories.
Big Pete
Great recipe but my batter is way thicker than shown in the picture. Surely that isn’t based on the same ratio of dry to wet ingredients as the recipe?
Emma
Did you measure the ingredients in cups or with a kitchen scale? Also, the brand of flour and the humidity will determine how much water is absorbed, which will affect the thickness of the batter.
Alex
The spices in the cake mull together perfectly. This is soft, chewy, and fluffy. Divine!!
Emma
Thank you, Alex!
Beth
This cake tastes like gingerbread, and is spicy, fragrant, and irresistibly soft. I like it even better than gingerbread cookies! The addition of rye is awesome. Yum!
Emma
Wow, Beth! I'm thrilled to hear that you enjoyed this cake so much!