German Pancakes

This is one of my most frugal recipes! German Pancakes are quick, inexpensive, I almost always have the ingredients on hand.   My kids love them so much that I have to make 2 pans currently whenever I make them. You can see a short history of the German pancake, aka dutch babies here.

The recipe I am sharing is one that has been handed down from generation to generation in my family – although I don’t think I have any German ancestors.  Maybe one of my Swedish pioneer ancestors were friends with a kindly German neighbor. 🙂 Recipes like this one were probably popular with homesteaders and pioneers since the simple ingredients would have been ones they had on hand as staples. Flour, sugar, milk, eggs, butter.

To make German pancakes you make a batter, dump it in a 9×13 and the oven does all the work. It will puff up, with crispy edges and then falls after coming out of the oven. Add some powdered sugar or fruit of any kind and you are done. Delish.

German Pancakes

1/2 stick butter (1/4 cup)

6 Eggs

1 Cup Milk

1/2 cup sugar or honey

1 Cup Flour

1 tsp. of Vanilla

Directions:  Turn on to preheat oven to 350 degrees. Add your 9×13 pan into the oven with the butter so it will heat up and the butter will become melted. Watch to make sure your butter doesn’t burn (usually my butter comes cold from the fridge so it takes a while to melt.) Usually by the time the oven is preheated my butter is just done being melted.

While oven is preheating toss all ingredients into your blender and mix till smooth. Or if you want to mix it all in a bowl, just make sure and mix your milk and flour together first till smooth and then add all other ingredients. If you add your flour last and are mixing by hand it can be lumpy – which you do not want. It needs to be nice and smooth.

Once your butter is melted and oven is ready…pour your batter in. Cook for 20-25 minutes prob. depending on your oven and altitude. The sides will rise really high and when the edges are nice and golden it is done. Just make sure the middle is solid, not runny. Oh and you don’t want to over cook this or the texture can become rubbery- which no one likes. Trust me.

When its done, serve with powdered sugar, honey, or fruit slices, fruit preserves or any other toppings you might like.  We usually just do powdered sugar, but my sister likes it with her homemade strawberry freezer jam.

Enjoy!

See more of my frugal food recipes here!