Dutch Baby, also known as a German Pancake, is probably the most used recipe on our homestead. I make a Dutch Baby at least once per week. Why? Well first off it tastes delicious and my kids absolutely love it- and often ask for seconds! We switch up the different types of toppings each week so it always tastes a little different. Secondly it uses a bunch of eggs so it is high in protein and fills our bellies longer than a plain old pancake high in carbs. Dutch Baby is also a super easy recipe to make so I can whip up a batch quickly in the morning to fill our bellies before we start into the day’s adventures.
As I was making our Dutch Baby recipe a few days ago, I realized I never shared this recipe with you all. I couldn’t believe it when I realized this! My brother first taught me how to make a Dutch Baby when he and his family came to visit us on our homestead four or five years ago. He had the simple recipe memorized and our family loved it so much I wrote it down in my recipe book. Since then, I think I’ve probably made more than 100 Dutch Baby/German Pancakes to fill our family’s bellies. That’s a lot of good eating!
The other great thing about this recipe is that it is a great way to use farm fresh eggs. Since this recipe uses six eggs, I especially loved it when our chickens were laying like crazy and we couldn’t eat or sell enough eggs to stay on top of their production!
What is a Dutch Baby or German Pancake
Simply put, a Dutch Baby or German Pancake is a simple recipe made of eggs, milk, and flour baked in a cast iron skillet in the oven. The egg mixture puffs up as it bakes and looks like a big puffed up pancake. Once removed from the oven, it is topped with a variety of fruits, compote, or syrup.
I mentioned earlier that Dutch Baby is also called a German Pancake. My husband’s parents both immigrated to the United States from Germany and my husband’s first language is German. He spent most summers of his childhood in Germany visiting his family so he has a wealth of insight into traditional German foods. Here’s the crazy thing: He doesn’t remember anyone in his family ever making a German Pancake or anything similar! The closest thing he remembers is the family recipe for Palachinke.
We did some internet searching and found varying reports on the history of a Dutch Baby or German Pancake but nothing conclusive. One website said the “dutch” part came from someone mispronouncing “deutsch” which is the German word for the German language. Next time we visit Germany, we plan to ask my husband’s family and see if anyone can enlighten us on the true origin of one of our family’s favorite foods: the Dutch Baby/German Pancake!
How to make a Dutch Baby or German Pancake
This recipe is baked in a 12″ cast iron skillet. This is the one we’ve been using for years and it works great!
Dutch Baby/German Pancake Recipe Ingredients:
6 eggs
1 cup of milk
1 cup of flour (I always use this kind of GMO free flour grown in Montana)
2 TBS butter
dash of salt
Recipe Directions:
- Step 1: Preheat the oven to 420 degrees. Place the butter in the cast iron skillet. Once the oven reaches the temperature, place the skillet in the oven to heat for 3-5 minutes.
- Step 2: Crack the eggs in a large mixing bowl and beat with a whisk.
- Step 3: Pour the flour, milk and salt into the bowl with the eggs. Whisk until all the lumps are gone.
- Step 4: Carefully remove the hot skillet from the oven. Tilt the pan around to coat the inside well with the melted butter. The butter should be sizzling in the hot pan. If not, the pan isn’t hot enough and the Dutch Baby will likely stick to the pan and be a mess to clean up!
- Step 5: Pour the batter into the hot buttered skillet. Place the skillet in the oven and bake for about 15 minutes or until golden brown. The batter will puff up as it bakes.
- Step 6: Once it is done baking, carefully remove the hot skillet from the oven. The puffed up Dutch Baby/German Pancake will start to settle a little as it cools. Top with one of the topping options below and enjoy!
Dutch Baby or German Pancake Topping Ideas
When my brother first taught me how to make a Dutch Baby/German Pancake, he made a fruit compote as a topping. Over the years we have come up with a variety of other delicious topping ideas you can try:
- Fresh Fruit with Powdered Sugar: We try to use seasonal fruit or fruit we preserved as a topping. Chop the fruit, sprinkle over top the Dutch Baby/German Pancake then sift powdered sugar over top.
- Fruit Compote: I mix this is up on the stove top while the dutch baby is baking. I use fresh fruit or frozen fruit we preserved such as strawberries, blueberries, huckleberries, apples, peaches, raspberries, and pears. Small fruit like huckleberries and blueberries I leave whole but chop larger fruit into bite size pieces. Place 1 cup fruit in a saucepan on the stove with 1 cup water and 1/4 cup sugar or honey. Stir and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 10-15 minutes. Remove from heat and ladle over top a slice of fresh baked dutch baby.
- Homemade fruit syrup: We love to use our cherry syrup , elderberry syrup without the spices mixed in, and dandelion syrup
- Maple Syrup: Maple syrup drizzled over top was especially delicious this spring when we tapped Maple and Box Elder trees on our homestead to make our own syrup!
- Jelly: This idea was born out of a suggestion from Big Sister who wanted to taste test the fresh batch of homemade elderberry jelly I made. We all loved homemade jelly on our Dutch Baby/German Pancake that we’ve done this numerous times! Homemade strawberry jam, and Oregon grape jelly, Chokecherry jelly, and Dandelion jelly are also quite delicious on top.
- Fruit and Chocolate Syrup: This is similar to the first topping option but instead of sprinkling with chopped fruit and powdered sugar, drizzle chocolate syrup over top the fresh fruit.
Dutch Baby/German Pancake
Ingredients
- 6 eggs
- 1 cup flour
- 2 TBS butter
- dash salt
- 1 cup milk
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 420 degrees. Place the butter in the cast iron skillet. Once the oven reaches the temperature, place the skillet in the oven to heat for 3-5 minutes.
- Crack the eggs in a large mixing bowl and beat with a whisk.
- Pour the flour, milk and salt into the bowl with the eggs. Whisk until all the lumps are gone.
- Carefully remove the hot skillet from the oven. Tilt the pan around to coat the inside well with the melted butter. The butter should be sizzling in the hot pan. If not, the pan isn’t hot enough and the Dutch Baby will likely stick to the pan and be a mess to clean up!
- Pour the batter into the hot buttered skillet. Place the skillet in the oven and bake for about 15 minutes or until golden brown. The batter will puff up as it bakes.
- Once it is done baking, carefully remove the hot skillet from the oven. The puffed up Dutch Baby/German Pancake will start to settle a little as it cools. Top with one of the topping options mentioned in our post and enjoy!
Thank you so much for sharing this!
You’re welcome, hopefully you enjoy it as much as we do 🙂
Will give this a try on Christmas morning. One note: on the recipe card you forgot to include milk in the ingredient list
Thank you so much for pointing that out, I just went in and fixed the printable recipe 🙂
Our favorite way to use surplus eggs as well! With 13 kiddos we can go through 2 or 3 dozen in a morning! Our favorite topping is still hot/liquidy maple syrup, with a dusting of powdered sugar.
That’s great it is also a family favorite for you too! I’ve not paired maple syrup and powdered sugar before, we’ll have to try that combo
Looks delicious! One little comment, Dutch is not german. Deutsch is germany. Dutch is the netherlands.
I am not sure if this is helpful, but maybe Dutch or German is just a reference to the ingredients? In Germany we really don’t bake pancakes like that (as long as you don’t know about this much easier way 😁). Just like Dutch pannekoeken they are made in a pan and look like a thicker and smaller version of a French crêpe or Hungarian palatsinta.
A quick variation is to bake it on a baking tray. It is thinner than a Dutch baby and you can top right before baking with e.g. sliced pears and blackberries or whatever else is in season.