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How Do You Make German Pancake?
German Pancake is an oven-baked pancake, usually made on a cast-iron skillet on stovetop and then finish off in the oven.
Contrary to its name, German Pancake is actually an American recipe, and its origin is in the United States and not Germany.
Is German Pancake the Same As Dutch Baby?
German pancake is basically the same as Dutch Baby or Dutch Baby Pancake.
The reason why it’s called Dutch baby is because German is Deutsch and the sound is similar to Dutch and it was probably misspelled as Dutch.
Either way, German pancake originated from Seattle, Washington in the first half of 1900, according to Wikipedia.
When I was in Netherlands recently, I certainly didn’t see any restaurants selling Dutch Baby!
Fluffy German Pancake in the Skillet and Oven
Homemade German pancake is a two-step process. You start off on the stove top, using a skillet such as a cast-iron skillet.
After that, you bake the pancake in the oven at high heat. The end result is fluffy, airy and puffy German pancake.
Ingredients of German Pancake
It’s amazing what a few ingredients could make magic with intense heat and baking in the oven. The ingredients of the batter are very simple:
- Eggs
- All-purpose flour
- Milk
Additional ingredients can be added to the basic batter, for example: salt, sugar, melted butter and vanilla extract. But at the very core, German pancake calls for only 3 key ingredients above.
It’s quite magical what the batter can do in the oven. You have to make it and see it with your own eyes to believe it!
How Do You Serve German Pancake?
German pancakes are mostly served sweet. There are many ways to serve them; you can serve them with melted butter, powdered sugar, buttermilk syrup or maple syrup.
Toppings such as berries are great addition to the fluffy German pancakes, for examples: strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, or a combination of different berries.
Lower in Carb and Calories
I had previously shared a Dutch Baby recipe, but this German pancake recipe is easier with less ingredients.
Both yields amazing and delicious results. This German pancake recipe is definitely lower in carb and butter, making it healthier and lower in calories.
How Many Calories per Serving?
This recipe is only 229 calories per serving.
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Easy German Pancake Recipe
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 3 large eggs
- 3/4 cup whole milk
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter (melted)
- 1 tablespoon powdered sugar for dusting
- 1 cup strawberries (sliced into halves)
- maple syrup or buttermilk syrup
- 2 tablespoons melted butter (for serving, optional)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 450°F (232°C).
- In a blender, combine the flour, eggs, milk, and salt. Blend until smooth with no lumps, 20 seconds.
- In a 10-inch (25cm) cast-iron skillet, heat 2 tablespoons melted butter over high heat until foamy. Add the batter and immediately put the skillet in the oven. Bake until the pancake is golden brown in color and puffed up, about 18 minutes.
- Remove from the oven, add the strawberries in the center of the German pancake and dust with powdered sugar. Serve with maple syrup or buttermilk syrup, and melted butter (if using).
Nutrition
Notice: Nutrition is auto-calculated, using Spoonacular, for your convenience. Where relevant, we recommend using your own nutrition calculations.
Absolutely loved this recipe! Easier than pancakes or waffles – even from a mix! The hardest part was digging out the blender! Hubby’s only negative comment was why there wasn’t more ?. Will definitely be making this again – thanks for the great recipe!
My mom made this for me as a kid. This year I decided to try making the Dutch Baby for my mom for Mother’s Day using this recipe. Such a fun and nostalgic experience. Thank you for sharing. It was just as good as I remember.
Awesome!
My Mom made Yorkshire Pudding. Same recipe (no sugar.butter,syrup or fruit). She prepared link sausages in the cast iron skillet, left the drippings and sausages and poured the batter on top. It was great! One of my favorites
Does it have to be made in a cast iron pan? I don’t have one. What else could I use?
Yes cast iron works the best. You can use a glass baking dish.
I use a nonstick frying pan with the handle removed – use it only for German Pancakes. I also sprinkle cinnamon in center then fold in half, serve with maple
syrup.
Can I substitute almond milk for the whole milk?
I don’t know without trying.
I tried the almond milk, it was perfect!
Awesome, good to know, thanks for letting us know!
Really Very Tasty Breakfast Recipe I am very happy to be here and get this awesome RECIPE ?
My family is German-Dutch, my Mom use to make this, but she would put oil in the bottom of a 9×13 in. cake pan, heat it in the oven then pour the batter in and bake. It can be served for breakfast or dinner. For dinner she would pour gravy on it.
Hi Jo, sounds very yummy, thanks for commenting on this German pancake.
I have never ever seen a recipe like this, you explain everything in detail with proper and correct ingredients. You have a good command of the cake and thank you for sharing this information.
Thanks for your sweet comment!
I’ve been making our “Dutch Baby” recipe fairly frequently (for breakfast or dinner), as it’s so easy, and SO delicious with different ingredients! I’ve used canned peaches or fresh blueberries, and the recipe suggested that it can be “savory” instead, with grated cheese and herbs. The “sweet” version also uses grated lemon zest which I really like, but this would be omitted for a savory version.
Actually, what’s described in the recipe as a German Pancake is more commonly known as Dutch Baby Pancake Either way, it’s easy to make and very versatile…
German pancake and dutch baby are basically the same thing. The reason why it’s called Dutch baby was because German is Deutsch, and it was mis-spelled, mispronounced until it had become Dutch. Dutch baby is not available in Neverthelands by the way!
The Dutch version is called a “Pannenkoek”. As per Wikipedia, Pannenkoek or Dutch pancakes is a style of pancake with origins in the Netherlands. I’m from direct Dutch background. There are Pannenkoek restaurants spread all over Canada that serve a lot of varieties of this! Soooo yummy!
Thanks.
Claes, if you would have read through you would have noticed the author made that German Pancake > Dutch Baby connection in great detail. Read through an article before you try to “school someone” next time ;)
Bravo Russell. Thanks for your comment!