Let the puns roll — today, we’re making Dutch babies, also known as German pancakes. I always opt to call them Dutch babies, partially because that is the name I have always known them by, but mostly because people are naturally a little confused when you and your friend announce that you are going to “go make Dutch babies for breakfast.” Don’t worry about — it’s definitely Biola appropriate.
What are Dutch babies?
Never heard of a Dutch baby? Basically, they are a different spin on pancakes. They are huge, soft and fluffy, and when you are fortunate enough to sink your teeth into one, it might be the most tender, buttery mouthful you have ever experienced from a breakfast item. Not only do they taste amazing, but they look amazing as well. They rise in the pan, producing a billowed, golden brown landscape to feast your eyes upon, before you literally feast. The trick is in the preparation — the babies are baked in the oven.
A family tradition
This recipe is near and dear to my heart because it goes way back in my family. No, my roots aren’t in Holland, but somehow Dutch babies have woven themselves in with my family’s Christmas traditions. See, someone introduced the recipe to my mother, a most excellent cook and artist, years and years ago, and she found them so delicious that it became her goal to share them with our family. She hunted down the recipe and planned it for our Christmas morning family breakfast, a treasured tradition at my house.
Christmas morning of 1995 came around, and after my brother and I ripped open our stockings at 6 a.m. –– he could never wait any later to wake up the whole family –– my mom excitedly made her way into the kitchen to prepare our Christmas breakfast masterpiece. We waited, excited and anxious to have a delicious breakfast and get onto opening the presents under the tree.
About 20 minutes later, my mom’s face fell as she pulled a flat, hard pancake out of the oven. It was not the billowed, fluffy landscape she had experienced before, only a boring mass of flour and eggs. We dug in anyway, and she tried again, only to pull out another flat Dutch baby. To make her disappointment worse, we insensitively started calling our Dutch babies “hockey pucks.” It was honest.
My mom was persistent. She tried again the next year, and the next, and hockey pucks became our Christmas morning tradition, until we gave up and moved back to our old tradition of bagels and smoked salmon.
Successful Dutch babies
A few weeks ago, my housemate dug into her big book of breakfast recipes and stumbled upon “German pancakes,” which I immediately recognized as Dutch babies. She followed the simple recipe to the tee, and the babies came out to what I imagine my mother was aiming at the whole time: a huge, fluffy, billowed, golden brown pancake — a delight to the senses. She kindly allowed me to have a slice, which immediately fueled my passion to master the Dutch baby recipe.
I tried it on my own a few days later and it worked perfectly. I don’t know why or how it worked for me but not for my mother, who is a far superior cook to myself. My conclusion is that it is my duty and service to my family and the world to redeem this recipe.
You need:
3 eggs
½ cup flour
½ cup milk
½ tsp. salt
2 tbsp. butter
Direction:
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
- In a medium bowl, whisk your three eggs.
- Slowly sift and whisk in your ½ cup flour.
- Whisk in your milk and salt. This process should take less than five minutes.
- Now, throw a cast-iron skillet, or oven-safe skillet, on the stove and heat up all your butter.
- Once the oven is hot, pour your batter into the skillet and pop the skillet in the oven, with the timer set to 18 minutes.
- Once the timer goes off, pull out your new baby, and use a butter knife or something to un-stick it from the skillet.
Slice it up and enjoy with your favorite pancake toppings!
