German pancakes, dutch babies, popovers…whatever you call them in your part of the world, they are irresistible! Ready in 20 minutes and only 5 very basic ingredients! Serve them with fresh fruit, syrups, or whipped cream!
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Why You'll Love This Recipe
- AKA mini Dutch babies, mini Dutch pancakes, or Yorkshire puddings!
- Only needs 5 very basic ingredients and is ready in 20 minutes!
- Individual portions are easier to serve than the larger version of German pancakes and make for a fun breakfast on special occasions!
- Can be served as a sweet dish for breakfast or as a savory side to meat and gravy.
Ingredient Notes
- Butter - Both unsalted butter and salted butter work fine.
- Flour - All-purpose flour, not self-rising flour.
- Milk - I used 2% milk.
- Eggs - I used large eggs.
Products I Used For This Recipe
Step by Step Instructions:
- Preheat your oven to 425 degrees.
- Cut the 6 Tbs. Butter into 18 pieces.
- Place each butter piece in a muffin cup in 2 muffin tins or cupcake pan. Set aside.
- NOTE - It's tempting just to spray muffin tins with nonstick cooking spray, but the butter is essential to this recipe.
- Blend the milk, eggs, flour, and salt in a blender until smooth and no flour clumps remain.
- I love to use my Ninja smoothie blender because it has a lid with a pour spout; however, any blender will do.
- Put the muffin tins in the oven to melt the butter to sizzle. This only takes about 30 seconds or so, so keep an eye on it.
- Once the butter is sizzling, not just melted, quickly fill each muffin cup halfway with the batter.
- Bake for 13-15 minutes. Here are some pictures of how they look as they cook.
- The edges should be brown, and the pancakes should be puffy. They will deflate upon cooling.
- Serve immediately with syrups, whipped cream, fresh fruits, or a dusting of powdered sugar.
Recipe FAQs and Expert Tips
They are puffy pancakes baked in a hot metal or cast iron pan. The batter is poured over hot sizzling butter and placed immediately in the oven, where it puffs up and then falls as it cools. German pancakes are similar to popovers and Yorkshire puddings. Yorkshire puddings, however, are prepared using meat juices and fats and are served with roasted meat with gravy. Poffertjes are also similar but made with yeast. A couple of other names they are known by are Dutch Babies, bismark, a Dutch puff, or large American popovers.
They actually are not German. So where do they come from? The American “German pancakes” originated in the United States. Originally called Dutch Babies, they were invented in Seattle, Washington, and the Dutch in the name comes from Dutch, as in Pennsylvania Dutch, referring to the German immigrants in the 17th and 18th centuries. The story goes that the name Dutch Baby was coined by one of Victor Manca's daughters. Manca's Cafe claimed that it owned the trademark for Dutch babies in 1942.
They are baked pancakes made from eggs, milk, salt, flour, and vanilla. They are light with a buttery egg flavor. You can serve them with your favorite toppings like maple syrup, cool whip, or fresh berries.
Serve them with syrups (I have a list of syrups below), vanilla sauce, fresh fruits, or whipped cream.
Related Recipes
- Cinnamon Cream Syrup
- Lemon Cream Syrup
- Cream Cheese Syrup
- Pumpkin Pie Syrup
- Homemade Buttermilk Syrup
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Mini German Pancakes Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 Cup Milk
- 6 Eggs
- ½ teaspoon Salt
- 1 Cup Flour
- 6 Tbs. Butter
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
- Cut up the 6 Tbs. of Butter into 18 pieces that are roughly the same sizes.
- Place each butter piece in the muffin cups of the muffin tins.
- In a blender, blend the milk, eggs, salt, and flour until smooth. Set aside.
- Place the muffin tins with butter in the cups in the preheated oven and melt the butter to sizzling. This doesn't take long so keep an eye on it, and it must be sizzling, not just melted.
- Once the butter is sizzling, remove from the oven and fill the muffin cups about ½ full with batter quickly.
- Return to the oven for 13-15 minutes. The edges should be browned and the pancakes puffy.
- Serve immediately.
Lynda
The flavor was great and the butter was awesome but mine were solid, no hole indentation at the top. They do rise, but more like a soufflé. What did I do wrong?
Aurora
Can these be reheated?
Mindee
They can be reheated to make them warm again but they will not puff up again.
Missy
Made these this morning and they were so good! My only suggestion is to put the pans on a cookie sheet in case you over fill a bit and butter drops onto the bottom of the oven! Will definitely be making these again!
Mindee
Great idea!
May
Can I substitute almond milk for a nondairy version?
Mindee
I've been back and forth about your question. Honestly I don't think these are going to turn out well dairy free as you would have to substitute the butter as well. Almond milk has a significant amount less protein and fat. It also has a lot more water in it. I worry that the pancakes would puff up quick due to the higher amount of steam from the water but also collapse very quickly due to lack of structural stability from not having enough fat and protein making them more dense and heavy. They would also be less tender and probably not brown.
Paula Bagshaw
I used unsweetened almond milk and I teaspoon of sugar and the came our delishes. Even my husband loved them better than pancakes. Yum
Gloria
I made these for the first time, delicious. Was very easy to make. Is there a tip to getting them out of the muffin tin? That was a little tricky as they were sticking.
Mindee
If mine stick I just run a small butter knife or stiff plastic spatula around the edges and they tend to pop out.
S. Call
I tried this recipe this morning. I used GF oat flour instead of wheat flour. They turned very nicely. My family really liked them. I will use it again!
Lynda
These are amazing! The only thing that’s confusing is it says it makes 18, but a regular muffin pan is 12. So, i guess its 1 and half batches?
Mindee
Nope, 1 batch, 2 muffin tins.
Cathy J
Is this recipe for a mini tin or can it fill a regular size 12 cup cake tin? I want to use a regular 12 cup tin not mini. Does this recipe fill all twelve tins? How much batter would you use to fill easy tin? Do you fill half way?
mindeescookingobsession
It's for regular 12 cupcake tins. As the recipe states, this will use 18 regular cupcake cups that you fill half way with batter.
wendy graves
are you making these in mini muffin tins? or a regular cup cake tin?
mindeescookingobsession
A regular cupcake tin.
Kristen
I made these for dinner with strawberries and homemade buttermilk syrup I’m so glad my husband suggested I should double it for our family of 8. I made 36 muffins. My 2 year old guy ate 6 of them! They are super delicious but even with all the eggs they probably aren’t going to fill you up so these are better as part of a meal. My family declared we should make these a Friday night tradition.