Dutch Baby Pancake

Pancakes are a weekend staple in our house, but once in a while I like to make something a little different.  I remember my Mom making Dutch babies once on occasion when I was growing up and I remember them being quite tasty.  They're basically an oven skillet pancake, heavy on the eggs, light on the flour.  Perfect with some butter melted on top and warm maple syrup.

If you're feeding a crowd, you'll probably want to make two batches, one Dutch baby barely feeds my husband, toddler, baby, and me.  I think these would be a perfect addition to a nice weekend brunch with some fresh fruit and whipped cream.  I just whizzed up the ingredients in my Magic Bullet, poured in the buttered skillet, and baked for 20 minutes.  When it comes out it's all golden and puffy (it does fall quickly), very impressive for something that is so easy to make!

Dutch Baby Pancake
from Martha Stewart 

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
3 large eggs
3/4 cup whole milk
1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 cup sugar

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. In a medium cast-iron or ovenproof nonstick skillet, melt 2 tablespoons butter over medium heat; set aside.
In a blender, combine eggs, milk, flour, salt, vanilla, an  sugar. Blend until foamy, about 1 minute. Pour batter into skillet; bake until pancake is puffed and lightly browned, about 20 minutes.  Serve immediately.

Linked to:
Melt in Your Mouth Monday
Sweet Tooth Friday 
Sweets for a Saturday

Clinton St. Baking Co. Pancakes

In a previous post I had mentioned that Martha's buttermilk pancakes were my favourite breakfast recipe.  Well move over Martha, you have been replaced by Neil Kleinberg of Clinton St Baking Company in NYC.  My lovely husband bought me several cookbooks for Christmas, one of which was the Clinton St Baking Company cookbook.  Their pancake chapter boldly declares "The best in New York".  So of course I had to try them.  Only having been to NYC once I'm certainly no expert on the best pancakes, but I can tell you these are the best I have ever eaten, in a restaurant or otherwise.

The secret is surely the whipped eggs whites which are folded into the slightly lumpy batter.  These pancakes cooked up like little clouds, just perfect.  The flavour is more than just a plain pancake, they're absolutely delicious.  We had them with with maple syrup, but they are so good you could eat them plain.  They're definitely a little more work than most pancake recipes, but so worth it.  The recipe also halves easily if you're only making them for a few people.  I can't wait to add some blueberries next time.

Neil's Pancakes 
from Clinton St Baking Company

Ingredients

Makes 18 to 20 3-inch pancakes

• 4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon coarse salt
• 6 large eggs, separated
• 3 cups whole milk
• 3/4 cup (12 tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted, plus 2 teaspoons unmelted for cooking
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 1/2 cups blueberries or sliced bananas and 1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
• 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar or cinnamon sugar for dusting (optional)

Directions

1. Sift flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt into a large bowl.
2. In medium bowl, whisk together yolks, milk, melted butter, and vanilla until combined. Whisk yolk mixture into flour mixture until just combined; batter will be slightly lumpy.
3. Place egg white in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, or whisk by hand, until medium peaks form. Gently mix half the egg whites into batter with a rubber spatula. Gently fold in remaining whites. The egg whites should not be fully incorporated into the batter.
4. Heat a griddle until hot, about 350 to 375 degrees. Add remaining unmelted butter to hot griddle. Add 1/4 cup pancake batter and let set. Sprinkle 1 tablespoon blueberries or sliced bananas and 1 teaspoon chopped walnuts, if using, over pancakes. When bubbles begin to form, lift pancake; if golden brown, turn. Cook until golden brown on remaining side.
5. Transfer cooked pancake to a plate and keep warm. Repeat process with remaining batter, fruit, and nuts. Garnish with confectioners' sugar for blueberry pancakes and cinnamon sugar for banana-walnut.

Buttermilk Pancakes

Pancakes are becoming a bit of a weekend tradition at our house.  Someone is bound to be in the mood for pancakes and I'm always happy to indulge.  For years when I made pancakes they came out of a box.  And they never really tasted right.  There is something about pancake mixes that just doesn't cut it, they have a weird taste I can't put my finger on, maybe it's too much baking soda or something like that.  At any rate, after making pancakes from scratch a couple years ago I have never gone back.  I can't understand why pancake mixes have become so popular, most require you to add the wet ingredients anyways so you may as well spend the extra three minutes to prepare the dry and get pancakes 100X more delicious.

Anyways.  My favourite pancake recipe comes from Martha Stewart.  Yes, I know I have mocked Martha for many years, but her recipes are the bomb.  I can't think of one recipe I have yet to make from her website that hasn't turned out delicious.  Back to the pancake recipe.  I have adapted it a little, for instance I never use buttermilk, just add a few splashes of lemon or lime juice to regular milk and let it sit for a few minutes, and I usually use white whole wheat flour.  There are plenty of add-ins for pancakes: chocolate chips, diced apples, blueberries, etc.  Be creative, pancakes are hard to screw up.  

If you like your pancakes crispy on the outside and soft on the inside like I do, add lots of butter to your griddle before every batch, and flip them fast (shortly after you see bubbles form on top).  If your batter seems too runny you can add more flour, or just go with it.  The pancakes end up being quite spongy rather than cakey.  Top with maple syrup, strawberries, and whipped cream and you've got a completely delicious breakfast.  This recipe makes a lot more than nine pancakes as it claims, if you have leftovers enjoy them cold with a bit of jam . 


Best Buttermilk Pancakes
http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/best-buttermilk-pancakes-by-martha

Makes nine 6-inch pancakes

Ingredients:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour (I use white whole wheat)
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 3 cups buttermilk (if you don't have buttermilk on hand just reduce by a couple teaspoons and add lemon or lime juice)
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, plus 1/2 teaspoon for griddle 

Directions:

1. Heat griddle to 375 degrees. Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and sugar in a medium bowl. Add eggs, buttermilk, and 4 tablespoons butter; whisk to combine. Batter should have small to medium lumps.
2. Heat oven to 175 degrees. Test griddle by sprinkling a few drops of water on it. If water bounces and spatters off griddle, it is hot enough. Using a pastry brush, brush remaining 1/2 teaspoon of butter or reserved bacon fat onto griddle. Wipe off excess.
3. Using a 4-ounce ladle, about 1/2 cup, pour pancake batter, in pools 2 inches away from one other. When pancakes have bubbles on top and are slightly dry around edges, about 2 1/2 minutes, flip over. Cook until golden on bottom, about 1 minute.
4. Repeat with remaining batter, keeping finished pancakes on a heatproof plate in oven. Serve warm.

Enjoy!  You'll never go back to a pancake mix again!