German Pancakes, also known as Dutch baby pancakes make an amazing easy and quick breakfast. They have a delightful custardy texture. They come together in five hot minutes. Just pop it in the oven, wait 25 minutes, and they’re done. They make an excellent breakfast, brunch, dessert, or dinner, especially when served with a homemade fruit preserve, or topped with caramelized apples.
Jump to RecipeWATCH HOW TO MAKE GERMAN PANCAKES
INGREDIENTS FOR GERMAN PANCAKES
The key to getting a German Pancake (aka Dutch baby pancake) to puff up is to have room temperature ingredients.
- 3 whole eggs, room temperature
- Milk lukewarm temperature.
- Vanilla, If you are going to use these Dutch baby pancakes with a sweet topping, you can add in the vanilla. Vanilla will give a wonderful aromatic flavor to the pancakes.
If you prefer to serve these pancakes in savory application, you can skip the vanilla all together. - Salt, used as a flavor enhancer only. You will need just a pinch.
- Butter, used for coating the pan. After all, you do not want your Dutch baby to stick to the pan. That would be too sad, and very frustrating.
- Powdered sugar, This is totally optional. I like to dust our German pancakes with some powdered sugar right after they come out of the oven. It gives the pancakes sort of a rosy , fruity-ish flavor.
INGREDIENTS RELATING TO DIET AND FLAVOR
- Flour. If you are on a gluten free diet, you can use Chantal’s Gluten Free All-purpose Flour Blend to turn these dutch baby pancakes into a gluten free recipe. This gluten free flour blend is so aromatic and lends a wonderful texture to any gluten free baked good. Plus, it has a magnificent flavor.
You can have this flour mixture premixed and ready to use for whenever you need it. However, if you do not want to mix your own all-purpose gluten free flour blend (which I highly encourage you to. It is cheaper and way more delicious!), you can use a store-bought ready mix in its place. - Sugar, we will be using only a small amount of sugar to balance out the flavors.
The point of these German pancakes is to top them with any kind of topping that you like, whether sweet or savory. If you add too much sugar directly to the pancakes you will be missing out on so much flavor that could be added in from things like preserves, syrups, honey, or anything savory.
UTENSILS
- Whisk, or a blender, most people would tell you to use a blender when making German pancakes. That is true if you are using wheat flour, however if you are using gluten free flour, this step is totally optional. A whisk is all you need.
I found that the whisk does a fantastic job for incorporating gluten free flour into the pancakes. The batter always comes out smooth and creamy, but if you are using wheat flour always use a blender to prevent clumps.
In case you are using wheat flour, you’ll need to allow the mixture to rest for about 10 minutes. This will allow the gluten protein to relax, and you won’t end up with a stretchy pancake. - Medium bowl, if you are not using a blender, you will need a medium bowl to prepare your batter in.
- Rubber Spatula, you’ll need this to scrape in any leftover batter into the pan. We don’t want any precious pancake batter left behind now. do we?
- Measuring Spoons
- Measuring cups
- 10 inch heavy duty oven safe skillet, The perfect skillet for this job would be a cast iron skillet. I usually double batch my German pancakes, so I would need two pans to go into the oven. I like to make my Dutch baby pancakes in my Victoria Cast Iron 10-inch Skillet, and All-Clad D3 Stainless Steel 12-inch pan.
- Oven mitts, because it’s going to be HOT.
- Small Fine sieve, you will need this to dust some powdered sugar over the pancake.
HOW TO MAKE GERMAN PANCAKES
This couldn’t get any easier. Seriously! Just add in all the ingredients, except for the butter, into a bowl or a blender ,if you are using one, and mix it vigorously until it is super smooth and creamy. You do not want any clumps in there.
Now all that’s left is to add it into a skillet, but hold on a minute!
PREHEATING THE SKILLET
Preheating your skillet is one of the most important steps in the making of a Dutch baby pancake. Not preheating your skillet will give you more of custard rather than a pancake. The reason for that is a cold skillet will slow cook your pancakes.
You need the Dutch baby to create a crust on the bottom as soon as it touches the pan.
You can preheat the skillet on medium heat. Do not overheat it. Otherwise, the butter would burn as soon as it touches the pan. An overheated skillet will begin to smoke even if it had no fat on it.
Once the skillet is properly preheated, add in the butter and swirl it around to fully coat the pan.
As soon as you swirl in the butter, pour in the batter into the pan while it is still super hot, scraping off any leftover batter using a rubber spatula, and immediately transfer it into the oven on the middle rack.
BAKING THE GERMAN PANCAKES aka DUTCH BABY PANCAKES
For German pancakes to puff up and have the perfect texture, they first need to be baked at very high temperature. Bake your Dutch baby pancakes at 450 F for the first five minutes.
This initial high temp baking, allows the batter to heat up quickly, creating steam. The steam allows the eggs to puff up, and causes the pancakes to puff up. You can use this same technique for a wheat German pancake as well.
After the initial five minutes baking, decrease the temperature to 400 F to allow the batter to cook fully through without burning. This technique along with a preheated skillet, and room temp ingredients will always give you the most perfect Dutch baby pancakes that you can ever imagine.
HOW TO SERVE DUTCH BABY PANCAKES
Dutch baby pancakes or German pancakes can be served as a sweet or savory breakfast, brunch, lunch, or dinner.
For a sweet option, you can either serve it simply as a pancake topped with some syrup or honey, or you can serve it with some homemade berry preserve topped with some whipped cream, caramelized apple slices along with a dash of cinnamon for an apple pie feel, sliced bananas and strawberries drizzles with some honey, a fig or apricot preserve, or even topped with some chocolate or vanilla ice-cream and some hot fudge! yum!
These German pancakes don’t necessarily have to be a healthy meal, they could make the ultimate dessert.
Some savory ideas to serve these pancakes with would be some breakfast sausages, eggs and avocados. Another idea is with cream cheese, some chives, thyme, and prosciutto or salami. Or some crispy fried kale and tomatoes topped with some goat cheese and sprinkled with some salt and black pepper.
The ideas are endless. I can go on and on – on the different things that you could serve with a German pancake. Ultimately, it all depends on how you prefer to have it. Bon appetite!
RECIPE UPDATES
I originally had this recipe made with one whole egg and 3 egg whites. However, the flavor and the texture you get from the 3 whole eggs is superior to the latter.
The reason I chose egg whites in the beginning of creating this recipe rather than whole eggs was to allow the Dutch baby pancake to puff up to its maximum potential. Egg whites are also a healthier option if you want to avoid the high fat content. So you can still make this variation if that’s what you are looking for.
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MORE GLUTEN FREE RECIPES
The Fluffiest Gluten Free Sourdough Pancakes
Vegan And Nut Free Gluten Free Soft Pretzels
Gluten Free Zalabia (Mediterranean Vegan And Nut Free Donuts)
German Pancakes
Equipment
- Whisk, or a blender
- Medium bowl, if not using a blender
- Rubber spatula
- Measuring Spoons
- Measuring cups
- 10 inch heavy duty oven safe skillet
- Oven Mitts
- fine sieve
Ingredients
- 3 large eggs room temperature
- 1 cup milk lukewarm
- ¾ cup Chantal’s Gluten Free All-purpose Flour Blend or all purpose flour if you can eat wheat
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 1 pinch of salt
- 3 tablespoons butter
- Powdered sugar for dusting.
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 450 F
- Into a medium bowl or a blender, add in the eggs , milk, vanilla extract, sugar, salt, and Chantal's Gluten Free All-purpose Flour. Mix vigorously using a whisk, or on high using a blender until the batter is super smooth.If you are using wheat flour, you'll need to blend it using a blender. After blending the mixture, allow it to rest for 10 minutes before baking.
- Over medium heat, preheat a heavy duty, oven safe (at 450 F) skillet.
- Add the butter into the preheated skillet, and swirl it around to coat the skillet.
- Pour in the batter into the preheated skillet, scraping in any leftover batter.
- Immediately transfer the skillet into the preheated oven on the middle rack. Bake for 5 minutes at 450 F. Reduce heat to 400 F and bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until golden brown and puffed up.
- Carefully remove from oven. Place some powdered sugar into a fine sieve, and use it to dust the Dutch baby pancake. Serve it with honey, maple syrup, or a prepared fruit preserve of your choice and some whipped topping.
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