Easy Dutch Egg Cakes Recipe (Eierkoeken)

Time for another Dutch recipe: egg cakes or Dutch Sponge Cookies! We call them ‘eierkoeken‘ in The Netherlands and they are sort of a light and airy sponge cake, very fluffy. You could even call it an egg sponge cake. They are known as a snack. Just plain, or with whipped cream and fresh berries.

What are Dutch Egg Cakes?

Baking egg cakes is actually a bit like making a very airy sponge cake for a delicious cake. In fact, just like a sponge cake, the base for an egg cake batter is eggs, sugar, and flour. And perhaps more importantly (and to the surprise of many), you don’t use butter to bake these small cakes.

Some people separate the egg whites and egg yolks, but i don’t do that. I just put the whole eggs in a large bowl and mis them several minutes on high speed until they are light and fluffy. I always have the best results this way.

Eierkoeken fun fact

Eierkoeken were made famous by the Dutch Sonja Bakker, she is a well known dietician and advices to eat egg cakes as a healthy snack when following her program. I wouldn’t say eierkoeken are very healthy, but they are a good snack indeed.

You can even make a nice treat out of them by piping a nice swirl of whipped cream on an egg cake and add some fresh fruit. Not a healthy snack, but many people think it’s a nice alternative to a slice of cake or pie. And I do agree with that.

Recipe Ingredients

I’m always amazed how recipes can have the same ingredients but are still so different! This eierkoeken recipe is a great example of that! Make sure to double-check the exact ingredients in the recipe card below.

• sugar – I use regular granulated sugar for this recipe to get the right texture
• all-purpose flour – this is the base of the recipe and provides the stability in the airy sponge cake
• baking powder – for a bit of lift
• lemon – this gives the cookies just a very slight lemony flavor and helps with the rising too

How To Make Dutch Sponge Cookies (Eierkoeken)

Making these sponge cookies is pretty straightforward. The magic is in the mixing. Start by mixing the eggs with the sugar in a large bowl and let it get really light and fluffy. This takes a bit of time, so don’t be too impatient. The end result depends on it.

Once you have the right amount of fluff, add the lemon zest, flour, baking powder, and salt. Using a spatula, gently fold this into the batter. You want to keep as much air as possible in the batter.

Baking eierkoeken

Using two tablespoons, scoop mounds of the batter onto a baking tray. Make sure to use a generous amount for each of the cookies and leave enough space in between. They will spread and rise, so you need space so they don’t touch each other.

In a conventional oven at 350˚F/180˚C, bake the cookies for about 10 minutes or until they are lightly pale. The edges will start to turn slightly golden brown, but the inside will still be pretty pale. That’s what you want. If you bake them for too long, they will become dry and crumbly.

Storing Egg Cakes

A homemade egg cake is best stored on room temperature. Don’t store them in de fridge, as they will dry out faster in here. I always store the egg cakes in an airtight container or a plastic bag. Packed airtight and stored out of the refrigerator, the egg cakes will keep for up to 4 days.

Freezing egg cakes

If you’ve made a lot of egg cakes, it’s a good idea to freeze them. That way, you can take an egg cake out of the freezer every day to enjoy as a snack later in the day.

Freezing an egg cake works the same way, wrap it tightly airtight. Personally, I like to put a piece of baking paper between each cake so they don’t stick together and I can easily take a single cake out of the freezer and let it thaw.

How To Make Different Flavors of Egg Cakes

Over the years, I have made many different flavors eierkoeken. With apple and cinnamon, blueberries and even chocolate egg cakes. I will share some more egge cake recipes in the future, but here are some ideas in the mean time:

• Sprinkle some raisins on the batter on your cookies sheet for raisin eierkoeken.
• Replace 10% of the flour with cocoa powder for chocolate eierkoeken.
• Add some cinnamon to the batter (you could leave out the lemon zest)
• For chocolate chip egg cakes, sprinkle some chocolate chips on the batter before you put them in the oven.
• Leave out the lemon zest and replace 10% of the sugar with vanilla sugar for vanilla egg cakes.

Looking from more authentic recipes form The Netherlands? Make sure to check my collection of Dutch recipes!

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4.83 from 17 votes

Dutch Egg Cake Recipe (Dutch Sponge Cookies)

Why buy egg cakes when you can easily make them yourself? With this easy recipe you can bake the best eierkoeken yourself!

Preparation10 minutes mins

Cooking10 minutes mins

Total20 minutes mins

Servings: 12 servings

Ingredients 

US Customary | Metric

• 2 Eggs
• 100 grams sugar
• zest of half a lemon
• 100 grams all purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• Pinch of salt

Instructions

• Beat the eggs and sugar until fluffy, this will take a few minutes.
• In a large bowl, add the dry ingredients together: lemon zest, flour, baking powder and salt. Gently fold into the egg mixture.
• Use two tablespoons to scoop the batter onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper (a silicone mat works fine as well). Always use a good full tablespoon per egg cake. Make sure they have plenty of space on your baking tray; they will expand quite a bit and rise slightly.
• Bake the egg cakes at 180°C/350℉ (convention oven) for about 10 minutes.
• The egg cakes can still look pale as long as the edges start to turn golden brown, that’s fine. If you bake them too long, they will become drier and more brittle.

How to store

Store in an airtight container at room temperature for 3-4 days.