Dutch Babies

Dutch Babies are a family favorite... I pretty much grew up with these. My mother's recipe says:

Victor Manca of Manca's Restaurant in Seattle created this menu specialty, a version of a big German-style pancake. His recipe was for little oven pancakes so his family called them Dutch Babies. Now many people know all types of oven pancakes as Dutch Babies, even when they are made bigger.

The idea is to put the batter into a pre-warmed pan coated with melted butter. It then puffs up into a soft and fluffy pancake that can be topped with all kinds of goodies.

Dutch Babies for breakfast!

The recipe is pretty simple, but it's entirely based on your pan size. I'm not entirely sure what size pan my mom uses, but I found a shallow 2 1/2 quart casserole to use. It turned out ok, but not as puffy as I am used to with my mom's version. Anyway, here's the ingredient grid:

Pan Size	Butter	Eggs	Milk/Flour
3 cups	1 Tablespoon	1	1/4 cup
4 cups	1 1/2 Tablespoon	2	1/2 cup
2-3 quarts	1/4 cup	3	3/4 cup
3-4 quarts	1/3 cup	4	1 cup
4-4 1/2 quarts	1/2 cup	5	1 1/4 cup
4 1/2-5 quarts	1/2 cup	6	1 1/2 cup

To find out how big your pan is, you can just fill it with water and measure the volume. I poured a 2 quart container into mine to figure it at about 2 1/2 quarts and ran with it. Next time I might find a smaller pan. I'd like to try the single egg version, a true "Dutch Baby".

Once you've got your pan size figured out, get your ingredients together. Note the milk and flour have the same value. So a 2-3 quart version has 3/4 cup milk AND 3/4 cup flour.

Put the butter in the pan and set the pan in a 425F oven. Mix the batter while the butter melts.

Put eggs in a blender container and whirl at high speed for 1 minute. With the blender still going, gradually pour in milk, then slowly add the flour. Continue blending for at least another 30 seconds. If you are using a rotary beater, beat the eggs on a high speed until they are light and fluffy and lemon colored, then beat in the milk and flour.

Take the pan out of the oven and pour the batter into the melted butter. Return immediately to the oven and bake until puffy and well-browned, 15-25 minutes depending on pan size. Serve immediately with toppings, such as powdered sugar and lemon, syrups, fresh fruit, hot fruit, pie filling, yogurt or sour cream.

Butter in the pan... put it in the oven and let the butter melt while making the batter.

Whip it! Whip it good! Whip the eggs up into a light and fluffy... um... fluffiness.
(photo by hubby-Eric)

Add the milk and whip it, whip it good!
(photo by hubby-Eric)

Add the flour, gradually like the milk...
(photo by hubby-Eric)

Batter time! I think I didn't whip it good enough, actually...
(photo by hubby-Eric)

Pour the batter into the melted butter (best to take the pan out of the over first)
(photo by hubby-Eric)

It puffs up as it cooks! The edges are the best bit, as they curl up and get kind of chewy/fluffy.

And there you have it, a finished Dutch Baby! With the traditional toppings of lemon juice and powdered sugar. And it was good...

Did you like this? How does the layout compare to my Fudge Brownie Recipe?

Do you prefer the whole recipe at the top, then the photos...or the recipe interspersed with the photos?

Have you also tried Lynnae's Orange Biscuits? Let me know if you try a recipe and it turns out ok. If you try it and it's totally horrible, I'm not sure I want to hear about it.