I was looking for a quick recipe to make Saturday morning and I felt like baking, but didn’t want muffins or something like that.  Then I ran across the Betty Crocker recipe for a Dutch Baby.  I had forgotten how easy these are to make.  It’s a cross between a popover and a pancake and the term originates from the Pennsylvania Dutch, although the origins of the pancake appear to be in the Pacific NW (thanks Wikipedia!).

Anyway, you can make them sweet or not.  I chose not to for this recipe from Betty Crocker, although with a different cooking technique.

Ingredients:

• 2 eggs (room temperature)
• 1/2 cup of milk (warmed)
• 1/2 cup of flour
• 1/4 tsp of salt
• fresh ground nutmeg
• 2 tablespoons of butter, cut into pieces

The first thing you want to do is set your oven to 475 F and put in a 10-inch cast iron skillet.

 

While this is heating up, you can assemble the batter.  It doesn’t take long.  In the list above, the room temp eggs and warmed milk will help make a puffier pancake.  I put the eggs in a bowl of warm water for a few minutes and then heated up the milk for about 30 seconds in the microwave.   In a small bowl, mix together the flour, salt and nutmeg.

In a larger bowl, add the eggs and whisk until fluffy and light in color.

Stir in the milk.   Your oven has probably reached the preheat of 475 by now.  Once it has, open the oven door and put the butter pieces in the pan:

Now add the flour mixture to the batter and whisk to combine:

Carefully pour this batter into the skillet.  I removed it from the oven to do this (remember the handle is HOT!)

 

Reduce the oven heat to 425 F and return the pan to the oven.  Cook for about 12 minutes until puffed and golden:

It puffs up so much!  Too bad it won’t stay like that.  It does deflate as it cools.  Cut into wedges and serve however you like.  Many people do lemon and powdered sugar.  You could do maple syrup, fruit, or even bacon and cheese since this one isn’t sweet.  I chose to put an apple topping on ours:

It tastes like a cross between a crepe and a pancake and is really good.  It probably took 20-25 minutes from start to finish, so not long for a weekend breakfast.

Nutrition:  The entire dutch baby has 590 calories (made with 2% milk).  So, if served into 4 slices –  that is 145 calories per wedge.