Hi everybody! My name is Michelle, and I’m the blogger behind the baking blog, Hummingbird High. My blog has been a finalist for Saveur Magazine’s Best Baking & Desserts Food Blog Awards, and my recipes have been featured in Better Homes & Gardens, Food52, The Kitchn, and more.
Dutch baby pancakes are a decadent breakfast dish that comes together effortlessly and in almost no time at all. Pancake batter is baked in a cast iron skillet on high heat for 15 minutes to create a giant, puffy pancake similar to a popover.
I first discovered this recipe years ago on Joy the Baker’s blog, and have made one almost every time I want to cook myself a fancy breakfast. True story.
The best part about this recipe is that the batter itself doesn’t contain any leavening agents like baking powder or soda — instead, the giant puff comes from all the air bubbles in the batter, which you create by mixing all the ingredients on high in a Wolf Gourmet blender for 20 seconds. After mixing, pour the batter into a preheated cast iron skillet, bake for 15 minutes, and BOOM! A beautiful, fun, and incredibly tasty breakfast that everybody loves.
I like to serve my Dutch babies with lemon zest, honeycomb, and mascarpone just to make it a little more fancy and extra special, but you can create and customize it in any way that you choose. Just be sure to eat it immediately, as the pancake is best warm and deflates pretty quickly when pulled out of the oven!
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- zest from one medium lemon
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 3 large eggs
- 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
- 2/3 cup whole milk
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- zest from one medium lemon
- 1/4 cup mascarpone cheese
- honeycomb (in a pinch substitute 3 tablespoons dark honey)
- In a small bowl, combine 2 tablespoons granulated sugar and the fresh zest from 1 medium lemon. Use your fingers to rub the zest into the sugar until the zest is covered and the sugar starts to smell fragrant. Set aside.
- Center a rack in the oven and preheat to 425 (F). Place 4 tablespoons unsalted butter in a 10inch cast iron pan and transfer to the oven as it preheats. This will brown the butter and make your pancake even more delicious, I promise.
- As the pan is heating up, place 3 large eggs in the Wolf Gourmet blender. Blend on medium speed for about 20 seconds, until the eggs are pale, fluffy, and bubbly. Turn off the blender and add 2⁄3 cup all-purpose flour, 2⁄3 cup whole milk, the sugar and lemon zest (from the 1st step), 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract, and 1⁄2 teaspoon kosher salt. Blend on high speed for around 20 seconds, until the ingredients are just combined and no more — overblending will make the pancake tough! The batter should be thin, light, and bubbly.
- At this point, the oven and the pan should be preheated, and the butter should be nicely browned. Remove the pan from the oven and immediately pour the batter in the blender into the pan. The batter will sizzle, but don’t panic! Return to the oven immediately and bake for 15 minutes.
- After 15 minutes, the batter will have transformed into the Dutch baby; it should be tall, puffy, and a slightly golden color from the brown butter. Sprinkle the fresh zest from the second lemon over the pancake and serve immediately with the mascarpone cheese and honeycomb.
