This buttermilk Dutch baby is a dream. I first started making Dutch baby pancakes when we lived in Royal Oak, Michigan. I can’t remember where I first heard about them (it was probably Pinterest) but I was immediately intrigued when I saw the beautiful fluffy and dramatic way they puff up when cooking. They’re a super easy weekend treat made with 5 ingredients you can whip up in the blender and have on the table with 5-10 minutes of hands-on prep time.
Since they’re so easy and versatile, I’ve since added Dutch babies to my regular rotation of dishes I make for brunch. Now that I live in the Netherlands I also especially love telling people I’m making a Dutch baby.
They’re basically foolproof, super tasty, impressive looking, and you really only need a few basic ingredients like flour, milk, butter and eggs.
I make these about as often for guests and I do just for us. While I love American style pancakes and European crepes, Dutch babies are just sooo much easier. It’s really hard to compete with getting all of the flavour of pancakes in basically 5 minutes of hands-on prep time. You just blend it all up. It’s one of the easiest recipes I know for making something your guests will be impressed by with very little effort.
There are only a few small things you should be wary of when making a buttermilk Dutch baby pancake.
Cooking notes
Melting butter in the skillet: This step is deceptively simple. You melt butter in a skillet – how hard could it be? Well it’s not that it’s hard but you do have to be aware of your butter. The simplest explanation is that the pan should be as hot as it can be but not so hot that the butter starts to burn and turn brown.
A good tip is to really look at the butter and be ready to add the batter to the skillet as soon as the foam disappears. The foam that appears on butter while it’s heating up is the water in it evaporating. Once all the water is evaporated the butter can start burning if you don’t pour the batter in quickly.
Deflation: Just like souffles and other fancy desserts that seem to defy gravity, Dutch babies will deflate a little after they’ve come out of the oven. To avoid major deflation make sure you give it enough time in the oven – at least 20 minutes at very high heat.
That’s it! It’s seriously a huge return on investment as far as time and effort for brunch goes. I love making this for guests or for us on lazy weekends. Top it with whatever you have on hand. You can even just eat it simply with a bit of syrup and butter.
That’s all for now. I hope this makes a delicious and impressive appearance on your brunch table soon.
Until next time,
Cristina
If you’re looking for breakfast inspiration you may also like:
PrintFluffy Buttermilk Dutch Baby Pancake with Cherry Preserves, Maple Cinnamon Cream Cheese & Toasted Almond
A super easy weekend treat made with 5 ingredients you can whip up in the blender and have on the table with less than 10 minutes of hands-on prep time. Top with anything from peanut butter and bananas to jam, syrup, butter, or cream cheese.
- Prep Time: 10
- Cook Time: 20
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 2-4 Servings 1x
- Category: Breakfast & Brunch
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
For the Pancake
- 4 tbsp melted butter, separated
- 4 large eggs
- 2/3 cup buttermilk
- 2/3 cup AP flour
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
For the toppings
- 1/2 cup cherry preserves, heated up
1/2 cup almond slivers, slightly toasted in a skillet if you have time
Maple Cinnamon Cream Cheese
- 1/2 cup cream cheese
- 1/4 cup maple syrup
- 1 tsp butter melted
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 225 C / 450 F.
- Add all of the ingredients to a blender and blend until smooth. If you don’t have a blender you can blend by hand with a whisk – first mix the flour with the salt and whisk the eggs together with the buttermilk, melted butter and vanilla. Combine and mix well.
- After your ingredients have been mixed, melt the butter over medium-high heat (7/10) in a 25 cm / 10 inch skillet, ideally cast iron.
- The butter will melt then sizzle and foam. Once the foam has disappeared it’s time to add the batter and quickly put the skillet in the oven.
- The Dutch baby needs to cook for 20-22 minutes undisturbed. Opening the oven during this time can cause it to deflate so it’s strongly recommended you don’t do that.
- While your Dutch baby is in the oven you can prepare your toppings.
Notes
Like any pancake the toppings are really flexible. Some of my favourites are 1) powdered sugar, lemon and salted butter and 2) peanut butter, Speculoos cookie butter, sliced bananas and toasted walnuts.
Keywords: dutch baby, buttermilk dutch baby, maple dutch baby, cherry dutch baby, cinnamon dutch baby
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