Often referred to as a “Dutch Baby”, this puffy German oven pancake topped with fresh strawberries and whipped cream is a spectacular spring breakfast that is SO easy and fun to make! It’s amazing how much it puffs up in the oven and the taste is nothing short of stellar.
I’ve included several essential tips for success in this post, so PLEASE read them before you begin.
Seriously, you’re going to want to make this one over and over. The edge is beautifully crunchy, and the middle is light and eggy. Some people say it’s like a cross between a crepe, a popover and a pancake. But I’m not sure that’s an apt description. It’s not thin like a crepe. And it’s not really very akin to the stovetop version of pancakes. The texture is very different. The texture IS a bit like a popover or Yorkshire pudding. But this super puffy oven pancake has a magical, mystical, and playful quality that doesn’t match any of those things. That just means you can’t help but fall in love with it.
My youngest and I were totally giddy watching it puff up in the oven. This was nothing like our previous feeble attempts. Finally we got it RIGHT and we were SO excited. We couldn’t wait to taste it. But we were very proud of our creation, so we also wanted pictures. So we quickly shuffled it over to my photo spot and took a few shots. My youngest said we should make it again, with more filling for the photos. I’ll admit, we didn’t make enough filling. So I was quickly chopping strawberries after the photos. I’ve adjusted for that in the recipe. If you’re a strawberry lover like us, you’re going to want a boatload of strawberries!
Tips for the Puffiest Oven Pancake
This puffy pancake is super easy to get right, if you follow the instructions carefully. But if you don’t pay attention to a few things, your pancake will be sad and flat and not puffy at all. That’s not what you want. Luckily, I have some tips for you so please read this before making your puffy panakuchen.
- Temperature matters! You want your ingredients to be at room temperature. If your eggs and milk are cold, it won’t work as well.
- The pan MUST be screeching hot when you pour in the batter. That’s why we think cast iron works so well here, but you can also use a metal cake pan. Be careful to protect your hands with oven mitts when moving the hot pan!
- Size matters too! Use a 10-inch pan. If the pan is too big or too small, the oven pancake won’t have the right space it needs to spread out and puff up.
- To make it easy and fast, use a blender with small cup (like a smoothie cup) or a hand mixer with a whisk option. You want the eggs to be beaten until they are very light and fluffy.
- The batter will be thin and that is how it’s supposed to be. We thought it needed more flour on the first attempt and that was partly why we failed the first time.
- Once the butter is melted, remove the pan from the oven and quickly swirl (or use a silicon brush) to coat the bottom.
- Next, pour the batter in a small stream DIRECTLY in the middle of the pan. By pouring directly in the middle, the batter pushes the melty butter to the edges which helps the pancake puff up nicely, like this:
One More Tip, to Add Festivity: Panakuchen!
Now this part is not necessary for success, but it adds to the fun and delight when people get to participate in the puffiness. Shout “Panakuchen!” (which is kinda close to German for “pancake”) when you pull your pretty puff out of the oven to gather people’s attention. The puffiness in the middle will not last long. Your pancake will fall, especially as you add your delicious fruit topping in the middle. Don’t worry, that’s normal. The lovely tall edges will sink a bit, but for the most part will maintain their beautiful height and crunch.
Can you make these puffy oven pancakes gluten free?
Yes, you can! I figured that gluten free flour would work pretty much the same, but I was glad to find some gluten free bloggers that confirmed my suspicion. Although Gluten Free on a Shoestring says you need a gum free gluten free flour. I can’t confirm or deny whether that’s really necessary because to be honest I have not tried it yet, but it appears you can simply substitute your favorite gluten free flour mix for the all purpose flour and you’re good to go!
Do these Puffy Pancakes Really Come from Germany? Or are they Dutch?
Technically, it seems the answer is they are neither authentically German OR Dutch. In Germany, they do not prepare their pancakes like this. The Dutch make their pancakes really nothing like this puffy oven pancake either. There are many stories circulating about the internet, but from what I can glean, the Panakuchen (a.k.a Dutch Baby or Bismark) actually originated in America. They are apparently called Dutch Babies because of a chef who did not know how to pronouce Deutsch (which means German). But the term Deutsch was referring to the Pennsylvania “Dutch”, or German immigrants who settled in Pennsylvania. Leave it to us Americans to get it all confused and confuddled!
Wherever they came from, I cannot WAIT to make this fun puffy pancake for my extended family. My (adult) kids and I loved it SO much. Making this puffy pancake with my youngest brought out the inner child in both of us. We were marveling at the puffiness as we watched it rise in the oven.
Adapted just slightly from Farm Girl Cooks. I want to thank her for sharing her tips for success!
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Super Puffy Strawberry German Pancake (Panakuchen)
- Prep Time: 15 min
- Cook Time: 20 min
- Total Time: 35 min
- Yield: About 4 servings 1x
- Category: Breakfast
- Method: Baked
- Cuisine: German
- Diet: Vegetarian
Ingredients
Liquid ingredients:
- 3 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1/2 cup milk, at room temperature
- 1 Tablespoon maple syrup or honey
- 1/2 Tablespoon vanilla extract
Other ingredients:
- 1/2 cup all purpose flour (for gluten free, substitute a gluten free flour blend)
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice
- A pinch of salt
- 1 1/2 Tablespoons grass fed butter
- 1 – 2 lb. fresh strawberries, cleaned and chopped
- Whipped cream and easy strawberry sauce (see notes below) … and chocolate sauce if desired
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425 F. and set a 10-inch cast iron pan in the oven so it gets nice and hot. Make the easy strawberry sauce (see notes) and set aside.
- Blend or beat the liquid ingredients very well until nice and fluffy. Add the dry ingredients and blend or beat a bit more until the batter is nice and smooth. The batter will be thin.
- Put the butter in the pan in the oven, close the oven and watch until butter is fully melted but not browned. Remove the pan from the oven, quickly swirl the pan to coat the bottom with butter, then pour the batter directly into the center of the pan.
- Put the pan back in the oven and bake for about 20 minutes or until the pancake has puffed up and is nicely golden brown on the edges and in the middle.
- While the pancake is baking, clean and cut up the rest of the strawberries and toss with 2 – 4 Tablespoons of the strawberry sauce (or to your liking).
- Remove the puffy pancake from the oven and yell “Panakuchen!” to announce to everyone that they should come look while it’s fully puffed. Cut into wedges with a butter knife and let guests scoop on the strawberries, whipped cream, and extra strawberry sauce, if desired.
Notes
Temperature matters for this recipe! Ingredients should be at room temp and the pan should be preheated and very hot when you add the pancake batter. For safety when serving, you may want to move the puffed pancake to a cutting board or plate because the pan will be VERY hot.
For step 2, it’s best to use a blender with small blender cup or a hand mixer with whisk attachment to get the eggs nice and fluffy. You can do it by hand with a whisk, but it will take more time and effort.
For the easy strawberry sauce: choose about 7 of the “worst” of the strawberries: the ones that aren’t as ripe or pretty. Clean them and roughly chop. Set in a small saucepan with 1/2 cup sugar, 1/4 cup water, 1 teaspoon vanilla and a pinch of salt. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally, then reduce heat to a simmer and let cook for about 15 minutes. Remove from heat.
RECIPE SOURCE: Sumptuous Spoonfuls – https://www.sumptuousspoonfuls.com/ … © Copyright 2022, Sumptuous Spoonfuls. All images & content are copyright protected. Please do not use my images without prior permission. If you want to publish any of my images, please ask first. If you want to republish this recipe as your own, please re-write the recipe in your own words or link back to this post for the recipe.
Looking for more Pancake Recipes?
We tend to use the same pancake recipes over and over at my house, so the top two are our overall favorite, definite go-to recipes. The third one is the one I make when I want a low-carb pancake. And the last two are simply fun.
- IHOP-style Buttermilk Pancakes
- Favorite Chocolate Chip Pancakes
- PB2 Protein Pancakes
- Double Chocolate Banana Pancakes
- Strawberry Chocolate Chip Pancake Tacos
