Learn Dutch: Ik bak de pannenkoeken in de pan. - I bake the pancakes in the pan.

In Dutch, the verb bakken covers both baking in an oven (like a cake) and frying in a pan with butter or oil (like pancakes, eggs, or steak). So here, it simply means you are frying them in the pan.

Could I say 'Ik bak pannenkoeken' without the first de?

Yes! Leaving out de means 'I am frying pancakes' in general. By including de, you are talking about specific pancakes, most likely the ones you are actively making from the batter right in front of you.

Why is there an -en- in the middle of pannenkoeken?

When joining two words together to make a compound noun, Dutch often adds an -en- in the middle if the first word (pan) has a plural form ending in -en (pannen). You are essentially making pans-cakes!

This lesson is about the quantitative er. Why don't we use it here?

Quantitative er is only used when you state a quantity of a noun you have already introduced, without repeating the noun itself (like saying 'Ik bak er drie' to mean 'I am frying three of them'). Because this sentence states exactly what is being fried (de pannenkoeken) and doesn't mention a number, we don't need er.