Half A Puffy Blueberry Pancake Recipe

Over the summer I played with a Dutch Baby recipe that you bake in a 9 x 13-inch pan and loved it so much that I made it multiple times. Dutch Babies are puffy pancakes that you bake in the oven instead of griddling on the stovetop. The batter is mixed up quickly in a blender and I like to scatter fresh blueberries or raspberries over as soon as the batter is in the pan.

It would be hard to top the original recipe for serving a group, but it's too much pancake for two people. Because this pancake puffs up while baking, but begins to flatten once removed from the oven, it really isn't a good dish for leftovers.

So the solution, since I wanted to have some a few days ago as our morning treat, was to take the original recipe and to divide the ingredient amounts in half. Then I baked it in a 10-inch cast iron skillet. That worked very well and we found room to eat the whole thing. The cast iron heated up well in the pre-heating oven, so the edges were nicely browned. I highly recommend it! 

German Pancakes with Blueberries (smaller version)

Serves 2-3

3 tablespoons butter (or non-dairy margarine or 'butter')
3 large eggs
1/2 cup milk (or nut milk)
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
dash salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
a few drops lemon oil (optional)
1/2 cup fresh blueberries, washed and drained and picked over for stems or over-ripe berries
1/2 tablespoon granulated sugar (optional)

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

As oven preheats, put the butter in an ungreased 9 or 10-inch cast iron skillet (or a 9-inch cake pan with high sides) and place in the oven, just until the butter is melted. (Mine started to brown slightly at the edges)

Place the eggs, milk, flour, salt and vanilla, (and lemon oil, if using) in a blender and process until smooth. Scrape down the sides, if needed, and process again for a few seconds.

Pour the batter into the hot baking pan, over the melted butter. Sprinkle with the blueberries and with the sugar (if using).

Bake, for 16-22 minutes or until edges are golden brown. Pancake will puff up, but will sink down again as it cools once removed from the oven.

Serve at once. Can sprinkle with powdered sugar, with lemon juice, or serve with maple syrup and/or more berries.

Note: you can make this without berries, too, and it will still puff up gloriously and taste wonderful.