Peach Dutch Baby by Erica

My aunt first introduced me to oven pancakes when I was a little girl. She whizzed up some eggs, flour, milk, and a few other ingredients in a blender, then poured the batter into a pan and popped it into the oven. Mysteriously, it puffed up as it baked. It was one of the most delicious things I’d ever eaten for breakfast.

For some reason, it wasn’t until I was a few years into adulthood that I began to try making my own oven pancakes. The puffy confection just seemed too magical for me to recreate! But when I finally gave in and made a Dutch baby pancake, I was hooked. And so were my husband and daughter. “Dutch baby!” my little girl squeals, her eyes shining, when she learns that I’m planning on making one.

Dutch babies (also known as German or oven pancakes) are a great way to get your protein in the morning. They contain a higher ratio of eggs to flour than regular pancakes. But they still satisfy your carby-sweet morning cravings.

You can add many different kinds of fruit to a Dutch baby. Peaches pair particularly well. They’re already soft and juicy, so you don’t have to worry about getting them cooked through. And the flavor—oh, the FLAVOR! You really must try it for yourself.

Here’s what you’ll need: milk (or cream), eggs, flour (optional), vanilla extract, cinnamon, salt, and ripe peaches.

And I almost forgot: BUTTER!

Put all of your ingredients into a blender and blend until completely smooth.

Slice up a couple of peaches.

Pour the batter into a buttered cast iron skillet.

Arrange the peach slices in the batter.

Bake until puffy and golden.

Slather with butter, sweeten with maple syrup, honey, or powdered sugar, and top with whipped cream (or ice cream to take this to dessert status).

Notes:

• I experimented with this recipe to see if it would work with gluten-free flour. It was successful! I’ve tried coconut and almond flours in oven pancakes, and I was quite underwhelmed—the texture and flavors were off. I tried again with white rice flour, and it was excellent.
• You can reduce the amount of flour if you wish. I made it using only 1/4 cup of flour and it worked well, though it was less puffy.
• If you’re trying to avoid starches altogether, this will also work with no flour at all. It will be more eggy, of course, but it’s still yummy. I recommend using cream if you don’t use flour, to help replace some of that starchy goodness.
• If you cook this in a smaller cast iron pan, you won’t be able to cram in as many peaches and you’ll need to cook it a bit longer. The edges might start to over-brown before the middle is done.
• A glass 13×9 pan works very well if you don’t own a cast iron skillet.
• I don’t peel my peaches (the skins don’t bother me), but you can if you prefer them skinless.
• Dutch babies are best served warm, but I enjoy them cold (spread with butter) as well. They’re great to take places as a snack!