Pancakes are good right? We can all agree on that. A reliable weekend morning starter, great mood picker up. Crepes are good too. I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone who doesn’t like crepes. So, a hybrid pancake and crepe must be delicious. Meet the Dutch Baby.
Have you ever tried a Dutch Baby? It’s like a light as air huge puffy pancake that kind of looks like a crepe exploded. Made without any leavening agent, but rises sky high. It’s unbelievably easy to make but spectacular to look at. It falls quickly so eat it right when it comes out of the oven!
They are light, buttery, delicious and different. Just toss all the ingredients (except the butter which you’ll melt directly in your pan) into a blender if you have one. If you don’t, just whisk them vigorously. Blend, pour, bake. Eat, enjoy! Voila. They look much more intimidating than they actually are. The New York Times made the recipe super easy!
The Ingredients:
The interesting thing is that there’s no leavening agent in a dutch baby (baking powder, baking soda). That’s part of what makes them different than pancakes. The base is similar, eggs, flour, milk, sugar and melted butter. The pinch of freshly grated nutmeg really gives these a great flavor but feel free to leave it out, or substitute some other spice. Can we stop to picture how amazing a saffron dutch baby would be?
Baking the baby:
Imagine a world where you could get the glory of pancakes without standing at the stove for foreveeeer. You can! Just pour the dutch baby batter into a cast iron skillet that’s been coated in melted butter, go do something for 25 minutes, then come back and enjoy.
Dutch Baby topping ideas:
These just scream berries to me, but they’d be excellent with just a little lemon juice and sugar, some jam, or maple syrup. The baby is your playground so go wild!
Dutch Baby
Ingredients
- 3 eggs
- 1/2 cup flour
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
- pinch nutmeg optional
- 4 tbsp butter
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 220 C (425F).
- Combine the eggs, sugar, milk, flour, vanilla, and nutmeg and blend until smooth. You can also just whisk thoroughly by hand.
- In a heavy 10 inch skillet or baking pan, put the butter. Place it in the oven until the butter melts. watching carefully so it doesn’t burn. One butter is melted, remove pan from oven and pour in all the batter.
- Return the pan to the oven, and bake for 20 minutes until puffed and golden. Reduce oven temperature to 150 C (300 F) and bake for 5 minutes longer.
- Remove from oven and serve immediately by cutting into wedges and top with toppings of your choice. Berries and maple syrup are always a good idea! You can also try jam, butter and sugar, honey.
Loved these! So much easier than I expected.
As someone who loves making Dutch Babies, this recipe just does not work. You will not get those wonderful puffy crispy edges they have in the picture (I think that’s a stock photo of a Dutch Baby, there’s no way that came out from this recipe). The whole thing came out as just a flat cake with an almond flour texture.
Hi Ron! So sorry to hear that, I can assure you this is absolutely my own photograph of the same recipe that I posted. I’m not sure why it didn’t work out for you! I just made it again this weekend with a caramel apple topping I’m about to post and it worked out just fine as well. Are you sure our pan and oven were very hot when you poured the batter in?
As a huge pancake fan, I cannot tell you how this is making my mouth water 🙂 Absolutely amazing!!!! I am trying this asap.
Thanks Michelle for your comment! Hope you love this 🙂
This is such a gorgeous Dutch Baby! Thanks for the recipe.
Thanks Katherine!
I LOVE dutch babies! I’ve never tried making one at home though – I’m definitely going to try this. Your photos are gorgeous too!
It’s the easiest thing ever! Thanks Danielle!
Mmm, you’re making me hungry. I have some fresh whole nutmeg in my cupboard which I bought when I visited Grenada (the Spice Island!) earlier this year. Maybe I’ll just have to give your recipe a go!
Oh wow that must be some glorious nutmeg! I hope you do and love it!
Absolutely phenomenal! Will definitely make again. My husband it too!
So glad to hear it Kim:))