This Dutch Baby recipe is the easiest way to cook pancakes ever! With simple ingredients and less than 5 minutes prep, this ingenious pancakes are baked rather than fried so they're great for a weekend breakfast or brunch or for Father's Day coming up. These puff up beautifully and are a great canvas for topping with sweet or savoury toppings. I'll share my neverfail Dutch Baby recipe with you!
About This Dutch Baby Pancake Recipe
A Dutch Baby is something like a pancake, crepe and a popover all in one. It has been a while since I made Dutch Baby pancake but I almost forgot how easy they are. You basically whizz up a pancake mix with eggs, flour, milk and sugar in a food processor or Thermomix and then the oven does all of the work.
Dutch Babies are a cousin of the Popover or Yorkshire pudding. They're baked in the oven where they rise and puff up. I promise that if you follow this recipe then your Dutch Baby will always rise. Mr NQN is crazy for Dutch babys and he loves them both sweet and savoury (but he really loves a sweet one). His favourite is banana and Nutella or strawberries and Nutella.
Why is it called a Dutch baby? Funny story actually! The legend goes that it actually comes from German pancakes. At a Seattle restaurant Manca's Cafe in the early 1900s, the owners' daughter mispronounced the German word "Deutsch" as Dutch!
Milk - I use full cream milk but you can also use nut milks, oat milk or skim milk.
Plain all purpose flour - I would stick to white flour and not wholemeal or alternate flours.
Eggs - go for large eggs straight from the fridge.
Caster or superfine sugar - Omit if making a savoury Dutch baby and replace with a pinch of salt.
Vanilla - vanilla bean paste, extract or essence works. Some people also use 1/2 teaspoon of ground nutmeg. Also omit if making a savoury Dutch baby
Butter - to grease the pan so that the Dutch baby doesn't stick!
Tips For Making Dutch Baby Pancake Recipe
1 - The eggs are the main raising agent for the Dutch baby so make sure to use large eggs.
2 - You can whisk the mixture by hand in a bowl but I usually just place everything in the Thermomix and whizz it up and it's done in 10 seconds!
3 - Resting the pancake batter does two things. First it allows the flour to hydrate properly which gives the pancakes a lift. Secondly, it lets the glutens relax so that the pancake isn't tough. I've tried some Dutch baby recipes and they were almost leathery-yikes!
4 - I like to make my pancake batter the night before and then just slide the cast iron pan in the oven and let the oven cook it. You can rest it for as little as 15 minutes.
5 - Keep the batter in the fridge because the cold batter hitting the very hot cast iron pan causes the pancake to rise. I've always had success with Dutch baby rising using this recipe.
6 - Do you have to use cast iron? No, you can also use a ceramic dish too as long as it is pre-heated in the same way. I use this 20cm/8inch Lodge Cast Iron pan which works really well.
7 - Open the oven door for as short as possible a time. The key is to have a very hot oven and a cold batter so make sure that your pan is well pre-heated and then add the butter and then the batter to the pan and then close the oven door straight away.
8 - To heat the Nutella so that you can drizzle it, place it in a bowl in the microwave on 50% power in 30 second bursts until it is more liquid in texture.
If you are looking for other Pancake recipes try these fluffy Golden Diner pancakes. They are so unusual and creative!
Dutch Baby Pancake Recipe
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Preparation time: 5 minutes plus 15 minutes or overnight resting time
Cooking time: 22 minutes
Makes: 1 large Dutch baby pancake to serve 2 people
Ingredients Needed
185ml/6.5ozs milk
90g/3ozs plain all purpose flour
3 large eggs
30g/1oz caster or superfine sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
30g/1oz butter
For topping
200g/7ozs fresh strawberries, hulled and sliced
1/2 cup Nutella
Step-By-Step Instructions
Step 1 - Place the milk, flour, eggs, sugar and vanilla in a blender or Thermomix and pulse to combine well (Thermomix directions: 10 seconds, speed #4). Allow to rest for 15 minutes in the fridge or overnight in the fridge.
Step 2 - Place the cast iron pan in the oven and allow to preheat to 220C/440F conventional or 200C/400F fan forced for at least 10 minutes. Open the oven door and add the butter and close the door for 30 seconds. Make sure that the butter is distributed over the base of the pan.
Step 3 - Then get the batter from the fridge and pour the batter into the pan and close the door straight away. Bake for 22 minutes (do not open door while it is baking).
Step 4 - Carefully take the pan out of the oven where the Dutch baby will deflate slightly in the centre but the ring on the outside will still sit firm. Scatter with strawberry slices and drizzle Nutella on top and serve.
Personal Note
I'll be making this Dutch baby for Mr NQN for Father's Day because he's an excellent father to Teddy and Milo and he deserves something delicious on the day. He doesn't make a big deal of Father's day or birthdays because they were never a big thing in his family. But long time readers will know that I've been determined to make birthdays a big thing at least. I think he has really gotten the hang of celebrating a birthday even asking if we can coordinate timings with holidays for his birthday. Seriously, these are big steps for him because he would have happily let the day go on by without any acknowledgement in the past.
This year we were in Saigon for his birthday. We had just disembarked a river cruise and we were at a gorgeous Vietnamese restaurant. I was very sick but didn't want to cancel his birthday dinner. Mr NQN had also been looking after me well being my voice when I lost it and having to communicate with everyone which is a task an introvert like him loathes.
We had ordered this crab dish and although the food was delicious, I couldn't eat much because I wasn't feeling well. "I'd like to go soon," I said to him. "Okay," he said picking up the crab and ate it bit by bit, slowly. It took him 37 minutes to eat the crab (I counted) and by then I had already told him twice that I wanted to go soon. I didn't want to get cranky about it because it was his birthday and he was clearly enjoying the crab but he finally got the message when I reached my hand across the tale and grabbed his arm. "I NEED TO GO. You have 10 minutes," I whispered looking him straight in the eye.
He finished up the crab but then I didn't realise that when I mentioned that it was his birthday when making the reservation, that the restaurant would also bring out a card and a cake for him! It was actually very sweet and he beamed with happiness. We were about to get up when they rushed over. "Do you mind filling in our comment form?" they said and of course we couldn't say no. Mr NQN tried to give it to me to fill in but I shook my head and pushed it back. He filled in the comment form and handed it back and we got up to leave.
As we were exiting to meet our driver our waitress came running out. "Sir sir!! Was everything ok?" they asked, worried. He had accidentally ticked all 1's instead of all 5's giving them the impression that we hated everything! He realised what he had done and explained that he meant to give them all 5's! I mean he was doing his best and all of this is new territory for him.
So tell me Dear Reader, have you ever tried a Dutch baby? Do you make a big thing of Father's Day or birthdays? And are you the person that fills in comment forms?
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