Dutch Baby Pancake

This past weekend I was happy to make Dutch Baby pancakes for visiting family and they were the best ones I've made yet!

This is the recipe I use for one 10" cast iron skillet.  (technically a double recipe).  It is enough for two adults or one adult and two kids.

4 eggs, room temperature
1 cup of milk, warm/room temperature
1 C sifted flour (use at least half white flour, but the other half could be whole wheat pastry, almond meal or some combination.  You can use a hard wheat flour, but I think it impacts the rise of the pancake.  It still tastes good.)
a pinch or two of ground nutmeg
2 tsp vanilla
a pinch of salt (maybe 1/4 tsp)
at least 4 T butter

Preheat the oven to 475 and place cast iron skillet inside.

Beat eggs.  Add milk and everything else except the flour and butter.  I use an immersion blender to mix everything.  Add in the flour and whiz it up again with the immersion blender.

Remove the skillet from the oven and reduce the heat to 425.  Melt at least 2 tablespoons of butter in the skillet, coating all sides. 

Pour batter into the skillet and return to the oven.

Bake until puffed and lightly browned, about 12-15 minutes.

Remove pancake from oven, top with more butter and serve with your favorite fixin's: syrup, jam, etc.

Variation: Apple Dutch Baby
Thinly slice some apples.  Saute them in some butter until they are soft.  Pour the batter on top and then bake as usual.

Spelt Pancakes

This recipe was a regular pancake recipe and I just replaced ingredients.

These were so delicious, and not for healthy pancakes. They were delicious for pancakes. Colin said they tasted a little tangy - like they were buttermilk pancakes but without any buttermilk. I don't know what he's talking about, but we both really liked them.

Normally I would use apple sauce instead of oil, but Ben got me all hyped up on monounsaturated fat, so I used oil. If I had apple sauce handy, I would do half and half.

I read somewhere that spelt is one of the healthiest grains there is. I love making pancakes every weekend because it's an easy way to get a dose of some good grains. I usually do whole wheat pastry flour, but decided to go for a nutrition upgrade!


* 1 1/2 whole wheat spelt flour
* 3 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 1 tablespoon sucanat (white sugar is fine)
* 1 1/4 cups milk
* 1 egg
* 3 tablespoons canola oil

I used powdered non-fat milk, mixed right in with the dry ingredients, and then added the right amount of water to the whole mix.

Grandma Anne's Pancakes

Uncle Barry gave us this recipe. He said that he and Dad loved these as kids.

1 cup flour
1/4 tsp. baking powder
3/8 tsp. salt
1 egg
5/8 cup milk
3/4 cup cottage cheese

Whisk dry ingredients together. In a separate bowl, mix together egg, milk and cottage cheese. Add all at once to dry ingredients and mix until combined but still lumpy.

Cook on medium heat. Flip when bubbly.

Whole Wheat Blueberry Pancakes

We eat this about once per week!

1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup white all-purpose flour
2 tbsp. sugar
4 tsp. baking powder
2 - 3 tbsp. ground flaxseed (optional)
dash salt
1 3/4 cups milk
2 eggs
1/4 cup canola oil
1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries

If using frozen berries, let them start defrosting about half an hour before you start this recipe.

Mix all dry ingredients together with a wire whisk. In a separate bowl, whisk together milk, eggs, and canola oil. Pour liquid ingredients into dry ingredients all at once and whisk until just combined. Warning: do not overmix! Batter should be lumpy. Gently fold in berries with a spatula.

Makes about 16 pancakes, enough for our family of four. When it was just me and Ben, we would cut this recipe in half.

You can also add in 1/2 cup pureed pumpkin or 1/2 cup pureed sweet potato. We think sweet potato is better than pumpkin.