You can serve Dutch Babies for breakfast, lunch, dinner, or dessert! Depends on how you make them and serve them. Their very versatility makes this a recipe that is hard to categorize. This will be a two part post – with the basic recipe today.

Dutch Babies in the Southwest are “Flat Bread”

We start with the the reason I share this with you today – one form of “dutch babies” has a long tradition in the Southwest. I learned (years ago) this from a well-seasoned ranch hand in Patagonia, Arizona.  He made them in an open frying pan over a campfire. Carlos was the descendant of a family that had an old Spanish land grant in what later became Arizona. Probably about 15 generations of his family were buried in the cemeteries of the region.

Carlos called them “pan plano,” which translates to “bread flat.” With nostalgia in his voice Carlos told me that his grandfather used to make them when they went out to round up and brand their cattle. He explained that pan plano is faster and easier than making tortillas. We ladled refried beans over our “pan” and that made a fine and filling breakfast indeed. Carlos shared other ways to serve them, and that will be in part II of this post (next week).

Dutch Baby for Two

3 eggs 
3 /4 cup flour – or gluten-free substitute
3/ 4 cup milk – or other liquid
pinch of salt (1/8 to 1 /4 teaspoon)

Preheat oven to 450 F.
Place a 8 to 10 inch cast iron skillet in the oven with a dollop of butter or other oil.
Let everything get nice and hot.
Put the ingredients in a blender and give it a whirl.
If you are camping out, or live off grid, whisk the eggs really really well with a fork then add the other ingredients.
Pour into hot oiled pan.
Bake/cook 15 to 20 minutes.
Regular oven – cook it uncovered. If you are camping do put the lid on your Dutch oven to maintain the heat, although Carlos showed it was not necessary.

Best served immediately upon removal from the oven, all hot and tasty with a crunchy layer on the bottom. Don’t worry – it generally goes flat very soon after being removed from the oven, but that does not affect the flavor.

The cover photo above shows these three flours made into Dutch Babies.  The two flours from Pereg had nice flavor notes.  The almond flour was more bland.

Optional Flavor Changes

There are ways to make this for lunch or dinner with specific spices and other tasty inclusions. For dessert, well – that’s a different story.  Come back next week!

What’s in the Name?

In the age of the internet, Wikipedia tells us that the name Dutch babies is probably derived from “deutsch” meaning German, because these are also called German pancake, Bismarck, or Dutch puff. A Dutch baby is basically a large American popover, similar to a large Yorkshire pudding. Wikipedia further says “Compared to a typical pancake, a Dutch baby is always baked in the oven, rather than being fried on both sides on the stove top, it is generally thicker than most pancakes, and it contains no chemical leavening ingredients, such as baking powder.”

Add some Honey on top?  Sure!

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