Mini Dutch Baby Pancakes have to be the spiffiest spring breakfast out there, who wouldn’t leap out of bed for these little German pancakes filled with lemon curd and blueberries?
what you’ll need for a basic Dutch baby recipe
It doesn’t get much more elemental than this…
- milk
- flour
- eggs
- sugar
- butter
- salt
I used a tangy lemon curd for the filling
You can use a jar from the supermarket, or make your own. I made my own super quick and easy microwave lemon curd, which is made in minutes. My honey Meyer lemon curd is another good choice. I chose to add blueberries because the color combo is hard to beat.
Dutch baby faqs
A Dutch baby (aka German pancake, or Hootenanny) is like a cross between a popover and a pancake. It starts with a thin batter that puffs up dramatically in the oven. It can be sweet or savory. They’re often served for breakfast or brunch and are the perfect canvas for toppings of all sorts.
Dutch babies are made with a similar batter, but they’re baked in the oven rather than fried in a skillet on the stove top. They don’t contain a rising agent like baking powder, so they are less ‘cakey’ than pancakes. A Dutch baby has a lovely custard-like center.
You can serve them like you do pancakes, warm, with butter and maple syrup over top. Many recipes include special toppings like berries, whipped cream, etc.
Cast iron is ideal because it can hold high heat well, and for this type of recipe the batter should go directly into a screaming hot pan, then right into the oven. For my mini pancakes I’m using a cast iron muffin or biscuit pan. Do not use a traditional popover pan, because the wells will be too deep. You can use a regular muffin pan if you like.
Tips and troubleshooting for making Dutch babies
- Pre heating both the pan and the oven is important because you want the batter to hit high heat immediately to help it rise. But be sure your pan is clean, so residue doesn’t burn while the pan is heating. And don’t heat your pan longer than recommended in the recipe, because overheating can cause the melted butter to burn on contact.
- Cast iron is ideal for baking Dutch babies because it holds a high heat for cooking the pancakes quickly. Regular muffin tins will work, but you may need to experiment to find the best fit for this recipe.
- I recommend doing a test ‘baby’ to check the results in your pan and your oven.
- Expect the pancakes to come out of the oven looking wild and wooly ~ don’t be alarmed, that’s normal. They’ll immediately start to de-puff and sink a bit in the center, and that’s normal too.
- Just about every batch puffs a little bit differently, but they all taste great!
- After a minute or two of cooling get right to filling your pancakes. You want to serve them while they’re nice and warm.
I’m completely smitten with Dutch babies so keep your eyes peeled for more fun recipes ahead. I did a ‘mini’ experiment with several different toppings already:
- apple and caramel sauce ~ we’re going to play with this one in the fall.
- Nutella and strawberry ~ definitely happening in my kitchen again soon! If you have kids, start here.
- raspberry sauce with fresh berries ~ I used the raspberry sauce from my recent raspberry almond bars and the flavor is so bright and fresh.
more dramatic breakfast ideas
- Ottolenghi’s Red Pepper and Baked Egg Galettes
- Papaya Breakfast Boats
- Beautiful Breakfast Tart (Gluten Free)
- Lemon Yogurt Breakfast Cake (Ciambella)
- Glazed Old Fashioned Buttermilk Doughnut Bundt Cake
Mini Dutch Baby Pancakes
Ingredients
- 1 cup milk, at room temperature
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 4 large eggs, at room temperature
- 6 Tbsp unsalted butter, slightly cooled, divided
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp salt
toppings
- lemon curd, try my easy microwave curd recipe
- fresh blueberries
- powdered sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425F. Set your oven rack to the middle and make sure there's plenty of room above it (don't set another rack on the next rung.) Slide your muffin pan into the cold oven when you turn it on.
- Add the milk. sugar, flour, eggs, 4 tablespoons of the melted and cooled butter, extract and salt into a blender. You can also use a food processor. Blend until smooth, this will take 15-30 seconds. Let the batter sit for 5-10 minutes.
- When the oven is at temperature, carefully remove the hot pan and brush each well with the remaining 2 tablespoons of melted butter (it will sizzle.) Immediately pour the batter into the pan, filling each cup about 3/4 full. Slide it back into the oven and cook for about 15-17 minutes, or until the Dutch babies are puffed and lightly golden. Note: if your muffin cups are smaller or larger than mine, your baking time can vary slightly. It helps to do a test.
- Let the pancakes cool briefly. They will sink as they cool, but that's ok, because that will give you perfect little indentations for your toppings.
- Top each pancake with a dollop of lemon curd and a few berries. Dust with powdered sugar just before serving warm with maple syrup.
Nutrition
Can I make this in a Non Cast Iron Muffin Tin (I dont have one and want to make these this weekend)
Hi Laura – you can try, as long as your pan is able to be used in higher baking temp for this recipe. Cast iron works best because it holds the heat well which helps the pancakes puff up when the batter hits the pan.
I really dig this recipe and made it today – in a jumbo muffin tin so they were “mini Dutch babies”. The step to melt the butter (that goes into brushing the tin) is missing but I deduced that 2 of the TBSP of butter should be melted separately first to brush the tin, so I did that first, then melted the remaining 4 TBSP butter separately for the batter. I had some melted “tin brushing butter” leftover so I drizzled it on top of the batter after I poured it into the tins. It was delish and so easy!
I’ll definitely use this again, maybe just adapt this for a popover. I also made my own lemon curd for it and topped it with blueberries too.
Wondering if I can use the basic recipe to make it savory instead…
I’m sure you could do this in a savory way, I would just leave out the sugar.
I had to feed a crew for breakfast and the last time I made a 14″ cast iron skillet one. It was delicious, but I wanted more crispy edges. I’m selfish like that. I just love when the internet has the same crazy ideas I do! Perfect little crispy babies! Wait, that sounds wrong…
Great minds think alike 🙂
My daughter and I made these for an early Valentine’s Day brunch. Everyone loved them. Can’t beat the lemon blueberry combination! I used a 12 cup muffin pan and the recipe was enough to fill all 12 3/4 full. They were so good I’m thinking of getting a cast iron muffin pan.
I’m so glad Susan, and yes, get that cast iron muffin pan, I use it to make mini Yorkshire puddings, too. And cornbread!
An these cute Dutch babies be frozen? I love your recipes!
I would guess that the plain ‘babies’ could be frozen, just like pancakes.
Sue, where did you get the cast iron pan you used for this recipe? I can’t find it on the inet.
I can’t find a link to mine, but here is one that’s similar. Just search ‘cast iron muffin pan’ on Amazon for more.
Well, I made them. I couldn’t resist. I used Bob’s Red Mill 1 to 1 gluten free flour, and I even cut the recipe in half. They came out perfectly! Thank you for an easy breakfast recipe!
Haha, wonderful Alene! Great to know it works gf 🙂
These are adorable! (Not sure pancakes can be adorable!) I’m just waiting for someone to say they tried it with gluten free flour, and it worked. I try to avoid being the guinea pig. LOL! But they’re so cute that I may try it myself.
In this case, the word is totally appropriate 😉