The Spunky Coconut

Gluten-Free ❤ Dairy-Free ❤ Paleo

You are here: Home / Breakfast / German Pancake or Dutch Baby: version 1 (gluten-free, casein-free, grain-free)

German Pancake or Dutch Baby: version 1 (gluten-free, casein-free, grain-free)

By

grainfreegermanpancake

I have a feeling that the Dutch Baby and the German Pancake are both German, just topped differently. My main reason for suspecting this is because we come from a town where there are Pennsylvania “Dutch.” They are not Dutch however, but German or, “Deutsch.” But maybe I’m wrong about the pancakes. It’s just a hunch.

Whatever you call it, I was inspired to make my own oven pancake when one of you said it meant comfort and home to you. I don’t think I’ve ever had a German Pancake or a Dutch Baby, so I’m basing what they’re like on reading about them 🙂 I wanted mine to be fluffy but not eggy in the middle, and crunchy around the edges. I tried making one many different ways, but this was my favorite.

German Pancake or Dutch Baby

gluten-free / grain-free / casein-free

Place cast iron skillet in the middle of the oven. Turn the oven on to 500 degrees. Set the timer for 15 minutes.

Add to blender:
1 cup cashew milk (How to Make Cashew Milk Video)
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tbsp coconut sugar, which is low glycemic index
Optional: 1/4 tsp nutmeg

Puree.

Add:
1 cup almond meal (I use Bob’s)
1/4 cup tapioca flour
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder

Puree well.

When the skillet has been in the oven for 15 minutes carefully remove it with an oven mitt.

Add 2 tbsp ghee (which is casein-free) or coconut oil to the hot pan. When the ghee or coconut oil is liquified in the skillet add the batter. Carefully transfer the skillet back to the oven with the oven mitt.Bake for about 12 minutes. Optional: Top with sliced apples that have been sauteed in ghee or coconut oil till tender. Sprinkle apples with cinnamon.

How do you like your German Pancake or Dutch Baby? Do you like it more crepe-like? More eggs? How do you get it to climb up the walls of the pan? —I haven’t figured that out myself 🙂

♥, Kelly

Share this:

Reader Interactions

Comments

  5. What size is your cast-iron?

    I can’t tolerate apples or pears, unfortunately, so I might try this with strawberries or blueberries.

  7. Here is my recipe, You would need to substitute the milk with Coconut milk and the butter with olive oil or your favorite butter substitute.
    It creeps up the sides of the skillet quite well. You need a pan with sides that curve. I will send a pic if you like.

    Oven pancake
    Ingredients:
    • 1 cup all-purpose flour, sifted (I use Jules All Purpose Gluten Free flour)
    • 6 eggs, lightly beaten
    • 1 cup milk
    • 4 tablespoons melted butter
    • 1/2 teaspoon salt
    Preparation:
    Gradually add flour to beaten eggs, beating with an electric handheld mixer or Wisk. Stir in milk, butter and salt. Pour batter into greased 11-inch oven-safe skillet. Bake at 450° for 20 minutes. Serve hot. Cut into wedges. Sprinkle generously with powdered sugar. It is easy to make, fun to serve, but plan to get it directly from the oven to the table.
    We like ours topped with homemade apples and cinnamon.
    Serves 8.

  8. kelly, you have no idea how EXCITED i am for this. we used to have “german pancakes” every holiday morning growing up and since going Gluten free-grain free…haven’t had them…i searched high and low about 6 weeks ago for a recipes and couldn’t find anything that would work for our diets…will definitely try this! thanks

  9. The version we like is called “Apple Oven Pancake”. I saute the apples and raisins first with some sugar (coconut crystals would work well here). Once they are soft I pour the pancake batter over them and pop the whole cast iron skillet into the oven to bake. We top this with fresh squeezed lemon and powdered sugar. I am pretty sure my recipe uses more eggs and is definitely NOT a crepe!
    Blessings, ~Mrs. R

  10. I’ve only had a Dutch Baby a few times, but I think the ones I’ve made (it was a few years ago) were more eggy. They did climb the walls of the pan a bit. But this look really tasty!

  11. Hi Kelly! Great to see oven pancakes on your blog! I grew up in Pennsylvania dutch / Amish country and am of German descent. Our recipe for these has far more eggs (6 to 8)….I use pasture-raised farm eggs of course. Ours always rise incredibly well and are super delicious topped with cinnamon-spiced Karmijn apples from my orchard.

  12. I have not tried a dairy-free version of this, but when I make it I use 1 cup coconut milk, 3/4 any gluten free flour (I am always trying different ones) and 4 eggs. Then while the oven is pre-heating I melt 1/2 a stick of butter in a small glass pan and pour in my batter and cook for about 20 mins or so at 400. Yummy with syrup.

    Never saw a need to add lots more ingredients. The eggs help tremendously with the rising.

  14. OOOH so happy to see a gluten and grain free version of a family favorite! I made this pancake back in 1973 after reading the recipe in Sunset Magazine and made this for my family (I was 13) for Christmas breakfast as a surprise. It was a hit and became a yearly Christmas morning tradition. I passed this year because of the grain and gluten issues in our diet changes. Next year! Thank you!
    If you visit Germany, their version of this is quite a bit different but based on a pate choux batter. We found it sliced into thin strips served with sautéed apples and whip cream and with a German friend, we searched online to find a cake version similar to his mom’s recipe. Still not quite the dutch baby baked puff pancake we’ve come to know and love.
    Here’s a link to the history of the Dutch baby, German pancake. Created in Seattle in the first half of the 1900’s .http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dutch_baby_pancake

  15. Hello Kelly! I’ll be writing w/ you at The Balanced Platter! :-). Can you tell me if there’s an alternative pan to the skillet? I don’t have one but I’d love to make this! Would my other alternative be stove top? Thanks! I can be reached at wholenewmom {at} gmail {dot} com.

  16. Thanks guys!

    It’s about a 12 inch skillet.

    I don’t know if another pan would work. Lexie did one in a ceramic dish I think: LexiesKitchen.com

  19. Reminds me of a sausage apple kuchen I had when I was a child. I may try to adapt this with chicken sausages and apples in a coconut sugar or honey syrup to recreate it. Maybe I would need to thicken the batter up more. Thanks for all the great recipes and creative ideas.

  21. I made this last night! It was delicious!! I wanted it to be more eggy, like traditional german pancakes, so I used 6 eggs. I also upped the palm sugar a bit so I didn’t have to add a topping, and used about 1/3 C. tapioca starch and 2/3 C. almond flour to see if I could get it to rise up the sides. It didn’t rise up the sides – I think it needs to be more airy, and almond flour is too heavy, but I was in heaven eating it. Sooo delicious! Thanks again for posting the recipe.

  22. Has anyone tried this with egg replacer? I imagine that the eggs are what make it. But, I had to ask. I can’t eat eggs, but used to love these pancakes, so I’m hopeful that someone might come up with an egg free version!

  24. I just gave this a try and it didn’t turn out. The inside was super gooey and the outside was almost burnt. I flopped it out of the skillet, scrapped the crispy stuff off the bottom of the skillet, then plop the pancake back in to see if I can get it to finish cooking.

    The crispy parts are tasty! Might try using this batter as regular pancakes to see if it will work that way.