Do you like pancakes? Do you like crepes? How about popovers? Soufflés? If you said yes, then you’re in luck because you can make them all at the same time in the form of the delicious and dainty Dutch baby pancake (also sometimes called German pancakes).
There are a lot of variations out there for Dutch baby pancakes, mostly involving fruit. Our peach ones are no exception, perfect for summertime. But you can bake in apples in the fall, throw fresh berries on top in the spring, use citrus fruits in the winter, and even make them plain with just a sprinkle of cinnamon. Some people add whipped cream, but we like to keep as much flavor and texture coming from our delicious Dutch babies as possible, so for us, it’s just powdered sugar. And pure Vermont maple syrup if you are a maple syrup fan. Which we are.
INDIVIDUAL PEACH DUTCH BABY PANCAKES FROM THE INN ON MILL CREEK
MAKES 2 SERVINGS USING TWO 6-INCH CAST IRON SKILLETS
INGREDIENTS
2 eggs, room temperature
½ cup milk, room temperature
1 Tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 Tablespoons of butter melted
½ cup flour
½ teaspoon cinnamon
Pinch of salt
1 large peach
Ground ginger for flavoring
Ground cinnamon for flavoring
Powdered sugar for sprinkling
DIRECTIONS
- Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
- In a mixing bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, sugar, vanilla extract, and HALF of the melted butter.
- Whisk in flour, 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon, and salt.
- Whisk, whisk, whisk, then whisk some more. And some more. The batter needs air to puff up while baking. After whisking, let the batter sit for 10 minutes. Want to use a blender? That works, too.
- While batter is sitting, slice up a peach (we prefer to leave the skins on but the choice is yours).
- Pour the other half of the melted butter into two seasoned 6-inch cast-iron skillets and pop them in the oven to preheat for 5 minutes. A hot skillet helps your Dutch baby pancake get its poof on.
- Take the preheated cast-iron skillets out of the oven (don’t forget to put on oven mitts… speaking from experience…) and swirl the melted butter around in each skillet to get it evenly distributed. Add fruit now if you want it baked in (in this case, peaches).
- Give your batter one more good whisk for good measure, then pour half in each skillet. Optional: Sprinkle ginger and cinnamon on top before putting in the oven.
- Put those babies back in the oven and bake at 450 degrees for 15 minutes. Do NOT open the oven until done. Pancakes should be puffed up and golden on the edges when you pull them out.
While baking, Dutch baby pancakes poof up with air like yorkshire puddings, popovers, soufflés and such. Let them exhale and flatten on their own before sprinkling with powdered sugar and putting them on the plate. They will deflate in the middle and stay puffy on the edges and will look fabulous and delicious. The only thing left to do is to enjoy them!
OTHER OPTIONS
- If you haven’t baked fruit in, you can add fresh berries, peaches, etc., after the Dutch baby pancake deflates, then sprinkle powdered sugar on top.
- Make them in a large (9″ or 10″ skillet) by adding 1 more egg, 1/4 cup more of milk, 1/2 teaspoon more of vanilla, 1/2 tablespoon more of sugar, 1 more tablespoon of melted butter, and 1/4 cup more flour where you use those ingredients. And more fruit, of course. The larger skillets are deeper than our “baby” skillets, hence the extra ingredients to get your giant baby pancake.
- Skip the sweet ingredients (sugar, vanilla, baking spices) to make a savory Dutch baby pancake, adding roasted veggies when they come out of the oven.