Tag Archives: brunch

Sunday Brunch: German Pancake

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What’s better than a nice puffy pancake on a cold Sunday morning?

Nothing. That’s what.

I don’t remember exactly how the dutch pancake was introduced to our family, but I remember that I was young, and it involved a lot of melted butter, powdered sugar, and a 9×13 cake pan full of delicious.The huge, browned air bubbles were the best part.  The family would grab at it from around the table and despite the huge breakfast dish served before us (did I mention mom made it in a 9-BY-13 pan!?), there was never once a single bit left over.

Not even a bite.

Back then mom called it a “German” pancake, but since then I’ve also heard it called a “dutch baby” or “dutch pancake” as well.  I’m not sure which is correct.  I suppose you can call it whatever you like, after all, “A rose by any other name…” right?

Something like that.

I’ve made mine a bit fancier than mom’s by cooking and serving it in a pretty skillet and sprinkling it with fresh berries.  I’d love to say that it’s my favorite skillet because it cooks the best, or has some sort of magical powers of deliciousness, but really it’s just because it’s purple (what more reason do I need?)

Oh, and I give it a nice, healthy drizzle of my favorite top-secret 2-minute-berry-syrup… which will no longer be a secret by the end of this post (Lucky you).

I usually give it a dusting of powdered sugar too, but I had already made enough of a mess that morning and I didn’t want to tempt fate by carting out the powdered sugar.

sugar

Yes, that is my entire container of sugar that exploded onto the floor, in hopes of attracting every bug within a 10-mile radius.  Yes, I was annoyed.  Usually this would be the part where I would decide it “wasn’t meant to be” and call it a day.

But I didn’t.  I trudged on.

Only to be defeated yet again when I put the pancake in the oven and thought, “Hm, that’s not really poofing much…”

And then I realized I forgot the milk, which is basically half of the batter.  HALF OF THE BATTER!  The batter that is basically only 3 ingredients, and I forgot one.

Clearly, I was having one of “those” days.  How do I mess up the easiest recipe known to man?  Who knows, but after I cleaned up my sugary mess, threw my disgrace of a “pancake” into the disposal, and debated giving up on life a second time… I went full speed ahead for round two… and succeeded.

The “pancake” itself is rather neutral in flavor, I sweetened it just a bit with a dash of vanilla and a bit of sugar, but you can add whatever you like.  Though I serve mine with berries, mom always served it with  a stick-or-two “drizzle” of melted butter and powdered sugar.

No judgment.

This is the perfect recipe for your next breakfast or brunch, or a day when you have the house all to yourself and want to make something fast, then eat it just as quickly and pretend it never existed, leaving only a blog post as evidence.

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Did I mention I made this on a day when the only person in the house to eat it was me, myself, and I?

Oops…

To be fair, I think I earned it after all that work.

German Pancake

[ Printable Recipe ]

For the Pancake:

  • 2 Tablespoon butter
  • 3 eggs
  • ⅔ cups flour
  • ⅔ cups milk
  • 1 Tablespoon sugar
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • ¼ teaspoon vanilla

2-minute Berry Syrup:

  • 1 cup berries, fresh or frozen
  • 2 Tablespoons powdered sugar
  • 1 Tablespoon water
  • splash of lemon juice

For the pancake:

1. Put two tablespoons of butter in an oven-proof skillet and put it in the oven while it preheats to 400 degrees F

2. Put eggs in a blender and process on low until pale yellow in color. Add remaining ingredients and mix until smooth.

3. Carefully pour the batter into the hot pan and return to the oven.  Bake for 20 minutes at 400 degrees, then reduce the heat to 350 and continue baking another 10 minutes or until golden brown and puffed.

For the “syrup”

1. Measure one cup of berries into a two-cup measuring cup or a bowl and toss with the powdered sugar.  If using fresh berries add about a tablespoon of water.

2. Microwave on high for 1 to 2 minutes until the berries are popped and the liquid has leaked out.  (Keep an eye on it to make sure it doesn’t bubble over the container).  Stir and allow to cool slightly before using.

* To make in a 9-x-13 pan, double the recipe

breakfast greatness

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monkey bread cream cheese

Easy enough for kids to make, this cinnamon-sugar treat is just as appropriate for breakfast as it is for dessert. The traditional monkey bread is made my quartering refrigerated biscuits, rolling them in cinnamon-sugar, and popping them into a bundt cake pan (at least, that’s how it was made at grandma’s house).

This is a slightly modified version of that recipe, and while you can’t pick off bite-size gems of caramelized sugar goodness, it’s just as delicious (if not moreso) as the original. This recipe adds cream cheese to the mixture, giving it a sweet and tangy cinnamon swirl filling.

Most of the cream cheese is absorbed somehow into the dough leaving a tunnel of sweet, creamy cinnamon bliss running through the middle of your monkey bread. Meanwhile, the cinnamon sugar and melted butter all drip to the bottom of the pan (which is now the top of your bundt cake) to make a crunchy, caramelized, cinnamon-sugar glaze topping.

Since the pieces are a bit too big to be “bite size”, I served this in slices, but you could rip off pieces just as well. Make sure you invert your cake pan while it’s still warm so that you don’t lose the top half of your cake when the sugar cools and hardens.

Cream Cheese Monkey Bread

[ Printable Recipe ]

  • 2/3 cup dark brown sugar
  • 2/3 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 tablespoon cinnamon
  • Two 12-ounce tubes refrigerated buttermilk biscuits
  • One 8-ounce package cream cheese, cut into 20 cubes
  • ¾ cup butter, melted

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 12-cup bundt pan with cooking spray; set aside. In a medium bowl, combine the sugars and cinnamon; set aside.

2. Slice 10 discs of dough from each tube of biscuits. Set discs on a flat surface and set one cube of cream cheese in the center of each piece of dough. Wrap edges of dough up and around the cheese so all that is visible is the top side of cream cheese cube.

3. Place 10 dough-wrapped cheese cubes, cheese-side-up, in bottom of prepared pan. Top with half of the sugar mixture and half of the butter. Top with the remaining dough-wrapped cheese cubes, cheese-side-down, the remaining sugar and remaining butter.

4. Bake in the preheated oven for 40 minutes. Invert onto a serving platter and serve.

[ Another winner from Pinterest ]