Dutch Baby Pancake Recipe

This is an old-school Newcomb Farm favorite recipe. It reminds me of both spring strawberries and winter breaks when all the kids are home. Whenever anyone visits, it’s the first breakfast we throw into the oven. It gained popularity when we first started looking for ways to use up all of our chicken eggs. When doubled, it’s one of my favorite recipes to bring in a 9×13 pan to brunches and showers.

Ingredients

• 1/2 stick of butter
• 1/2 cup milk
• 2 large room temperature eggs
• 1/2 t salt
• 1/2t – 1 t cinammon
• 1 T vanilla
• 1/2 c flour
• Toppings: Fresh fruit and powdered sugar (optional)

Steps

1. Preheat oven to 425.
2. Place butter in a 9-inch skillet for a single recipe or a 9×13 pan for a double recipe. Place in oven and let melt while the oven heats up and you prepare the rest.
3. Put all of the remaining ingredients except for toppings in a blender or food processor. Turn on high for 15-30 seconds or until just mixed. This is key. To get the big puff at the end you can’t overmix it.
4. Once butter is melted, swirl it around to coat the bottom of the pan. Then pour mix right on top of butter.
5. Heat for 15 minutes at 425 degrees and then reduce for 10-15 minutes more at 350 degrees (see note below). Some people find it ready after the first 15 minutes but the cake will droop if you pull it out then.
6. Pull it out and sprinkle toppings on top. The hot butter will sort of cook the berries.

Notes

The big puff in this bread dish will only come if you heat it at very high heat initially and if you don’t overmix. You can mix this in a bowl, but I got really inconsistent “puffs” when I did that. By mixing it in a mixer, I get the big poof in the middle that we all really like.

I have some interesting eaters in my home. Half of us like this a little less cooked so that the center is almost custardy. The other half want every ounce of the bread to be fully cooked which leaves the periphery a little brown (like it is in this picture). My guess is that most people would like it somewhere in the middle. The recipe is for the middle version. If you stop cooking after 20 minutes, it will be a little more custardy.

Substitutions

You can use fresh fruit or you can defrost frozen fruit in the oven with a little cinammon while you cook the pancake.

If you double the recipe you do not need to double the butter.