Let’s bake one giant puffed pancake…a German Pancake!
German Pancakes are a baked in the oven fluffier version of the standard pancake. The first four ingredients blend together smooth and then the whole thing bakes in one pan…so easy. Top with fresh berries and our favorite homemade buttermilk syrup for a delicious breakfast.
Whether you call them puffed pancakes, dutch babies, oven pancakes, “hootenannies” or German pancakes, they really are so good! German pancakes with buttermilk syrup is one of my family’s most favorite breakfasts. I usually make it for breakfast on Christmas morning and we serve it with bacon and fresh fruit. They make a great breakfast to feed a crowd all at once. To make our favorite German pancakes a little more special, we always make homemade buttermilk syrup to go with. This syrup is the best!
What you need to make German Pancakes:
- 6 eggs
- 1 cup milk
- 1 cup flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons butter
How to make German Pancakes:
- Preheat your oven to 400 degrees…*WITH your 9×13 baking dish in the oven. This is THE key to big rising german pancakes.
- In a large bowl whisk together until smooth the eggs, milk, flour and salt. You can use a blender or hand mixer if you’d like.
- Put the butter into the hot 9×13 baking dish, the butter will melt with the heat of the dish. As the butter melts move it all around the pan to help grease the pan.
- Pour the blended pancake batter into the hot dish.
- Bake uncovered for 20 minutes at 400 degrees.
- Remove from oven and poke holes into the edges to release the hot air. Serve warm with homemade buttermilk syrup, fresh berries and a sprinkle of powdered sugar.
The Secret to get big puffy German Pancakes:
There’s a trick to getting your German pancakes really BIG and puffy… THE TRICK: place your baking dish in the oven as your oven preheats and warms up to temperature. When your oven has reached temperature, carefully take the hot dish out of the oven. Add the butter to the hot dish and it will start to melt. Move the butter all around the dish. Pour the pancake batter into the baking dish, and bake. Something about starting with the baking dish hot, helps the pancakes puff up really big while baking in the oven. We all love to see how tall the German pancakes get right before it’s time to take it out of the oven. It quickly deflates as the hot air escapes, but if you poke some holes into the edges, you can keep the height.
Why are the called German Pancakes:
These pancakes are derived from a German pancake dish. It’s like one giant popover or as some call a yorkshire pudding. The idea is rather than flipping multiple pancakes to feed a crowd, you just bake one big pancake and serve everyone at once. You can make this recipe as little individual popovers too. Here’s our favorite recipe for popovers.
German Pancakes
One big 9x13 puffed pancake to feed a few. Whether you call them puffed pancakes, dutch babies, oven pancakes, "hootenannies" OR German pancakes, they really are so good!
Ingredients
- 6 eggs
- 1 cup milk
- 1 cup flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons butter
Instructions
-
Preheat your oven to 400 degrees...*WITH your 9x13 baking dish in the oven. This is THE key to big rising german pancakes.
-
In a large bowl of a stand mixer, or with a hand mixer... Or with a whisk: blend until smooth the eggs, milk, flour and salt.
-
Put the butter into the un-greased 9x13 baking dish, the butter will melt with the heat of the dish. As the butter melts move it all around the pan to help grease the pan.
-
Pour the blended pancake batter into the hot dish.
-
Bake uncovered for 20 minutes at 400 degrees.
-
Remove from oven and poke holes into the edges to release the hot air. Serve warm with homemade buttermilk syrup, fresh berries and a sprinkle of powdered sugar.
Making This Recipe? Tag us on Instagram: @NoBiggie using the hashtag #NoBiggieRecipes, so we can see what you are making in the kitchen!
There you have it! Oooh they’re so good!
I’d love to know what you have for breakfast with your family on special occasions. I’d love to find a new favorite recipe for one of those sausage souffles (aka breakfast casserole). Do you have a good one?
More breakfast recipes we love:
- Cinnamon Rolls
- Croissant Bread Pudding
- Sticky Ring and Hash (aka Monkey Bread)
- Biscuits and Sausage Gravy
- Chocolate Chip Bread Crust Pudding
- Strawberry Stuffed French Toast
Have you tried this recipe?! Using the star icons below: RATE and COMMENT! I would love to hear your experience.
I have never commented before, but last year I made this breakfast casserole, and it was really good. It uses hashbrowns instead of the bread cubes, and it was a hit with my family. Good luck.
http://www.recipezaar.com/Hash-Brown-Breakfast-Casserole-108283
Well, I think you already know how I feel about German Pancakes. I can't wait to try the syrup!
You know my "Christmas Crap" casserole (which for the record–I absolutely love) but no one in my family likes it so we do Brett's tradition which are breakfast burritos and homemade Cinnamon rolls.
We like to let one of our daughters do the cooking on Christmas morning!!?
Oh yes, that syrup is absolutely yummy. Thanks for dinner.
We've always topped ours with heated cinnamon applesauce, which is really tasty … but I'm sure NOTHING like the buttermilk syrup! Mmmmmmmm, I'm going to have to try it!
Forgot to say we do monkey bread on Christmas usually, but we're still developing our solid tradition in that area. Anything easy, with tons of sugar usually wins!
we will be going to my in-laws for breakfast but this is what I bet we are having:
caramel rolls
scrambled eggs with bacon
OJ
more bacon
the german pancake looks delicious, i love those. we call them oven pancakes in our house. merry christmas!
I was just dreaming of German pancakes last night! Yum! I think I need to make them today 🙂
Funny you posted this because I was thinking of doing german pancakes this year too! It's my first Christmas away from my family. They traditionally have baked apples, little smokies and orange rolls. I've never really liked baked apples or little smokies so I figure it's the perfect time to start new traditions! My family has always called German pancakes hootenanny pancakes or "hoots" and I like to eat mine with sour cream and strawberry jam. I'm a little intrigued by the buttermilk syrup though. I'll have to try it.
I love this one! It is yummy and never mushy like the ones with bread!
Hearty Breakfast Bake
-In a 9×13 pan put 1/4 cut melted margarine
-Add 32 oz hash browns (I prefer the ones that have NOT been frozen)
-Beat 12 eggs and add to them:
-1 tsp salt
-1/2 tsp seasoned salt
-1/8 tsp dry mustard
-1/2 tsp pepper
-1 2/3 C milk
-Mix well
-Then add 4 Cups grated cheese (cheddar or cojack) and 2 Cups cooked meat (can be sausage, bacon or diced ham – most people prefer the sausage)
-Pour over the potatoes
-Bake at 350 degrees for 45-60 minutes
– You can cover the casserole with plastic wrap and refrigerate over night. It will increase the baking time to 75-90 minutes.
-It is good served with salsa!
I love buttermilk syrup. I could marry it. 😉
Check out realmomkitchen.com about three posts down she has a huge list of breakfast casserole recipes. Have fun!
Oh my goodness. I haven't had breakfast yet and that looks SO GOOD. My cereal just isn't going to cut it now. My mom always makes homemade cinnimon rolls for Christmas morning but this is our first year on our own for Christmas and I don't know what to make. I may call and order Cinnabon – is that awful!? 🙂
We love German pancakes! I'm going to have to try this syrup.
On Christmas morning, we always unwrap a few presents that turn out to be cold cereal. I rarely ever buy boxed cereal, so this is a huge treat for us, especially since is BRAND NAME cereal. Later in the morning I make us a big brunch of other yummy things.
One year, my parents gave me an angel food cake pan for Christmas. I decided to make these orange rolls that were supposed to be baked in a bundt pan–thinking I could use my new angel food cake pan. Big mistake! I spent three hours that Christmas cleaning up my oven and kitchen from the oven fire, and bought a bundt pan in the post-Christmas sales.
We LOVE German pancakes and buttermilk syrup. Yum! Christmas morning we usually do some sort of cinnamon roll or monkey bread and my dad's "famous" eggs (scrambled eggs with sausage and green onions). Of course there's hot cocoa and OJ to go with it!
Mmm that looks so good. I've never made German pancakes, because we Swedes always make our Swedish pancakes, but maybe I will try something new this year! 🙂
We had German Pancakes on Christmas all the time growing up. They are so good (and buttery).
Now, I do Stollen (German sweet bread….have to honor my German roots) and an egg quiche or souffle on Christmas morning for my little family. I have a good recipe. I will email it to you.
Yours looks divine. I am going to have to try that syrup.
I make this Creole Breakfast Bread Pudding by Emeril every year for Christmas. It is sooo good and my husband looks forward to it and has already told me how excited he is this year. It takes a while to bake, so I make it all the day before and then put it in the fridge overnight and right when we wake up (super early on Christmas ya know) I put it in the oven and then it's ready to go when we are all done opening presents. Mmmm!
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/emeril-lagasse/creole-breakfast-bread-pudding-recipe/index.html
Oh P.S.
I obviously leave out the wine and just use regular sausage, not linguica or whatever the heck it is. Okay, long comment… sorry!
I have a breakfast casserole that is delicious and easy to make the night before but it doesn't have sausage. Although you could replace the bacon with sausage if you want. I'll email it to you if you'd like because all you have to do Christmas morning is pop it in the oven. It is a brunch stand by for me.
This is my first Christmas morning I will be hosting and my plan is to make oatmeal maple scones and a citrus salad although I was considering doing the casserole I mentioned above as well and you are tipping me in that direction.
I swear we have the same brain! It's just weird, every time I look at your blog it looks like something I would do or have done or like or dislike. Like the Dove peppermint chocolates…totally addicted and went to 4 stores to try and find another bag after I ate the first one. Also, I am making a German pancake for Christmas morning brunch. We make that German pancake all the time. Kindred spirits! Seriously!
I have a great breakfast casserole – and coincidentally it is what we serve on Christmas morning as well:
Breakfast Casserole
1 can cream of mushroom soup
3/4 cup milk
12 eggs
1 chub Jimmy Dean sausage
1 loaf french bread
1 can chopped mushrooms (little)
cheddar cheese
Cook sausage in frying pan. Drain grease. Slice french bread about 1 inch thick. Coat bottom of 11×13 pan with cut french bread. Crumble sausage over bread. Combine eggs, milk, cream of mushroom soup and mushrooms. Pour over bread. Sprinkle as much grated cheddar cheese over top as desired.
Put in refrigerator overnight.
Cook at 350 for 45 minutes.
Oh yumminess! My friend just gave us some apple cider syrup that is to die for too. I think I'm going to have to make yours to go along with it.
I think I've had Tib's casserole before and it was delish.
Gah! Goodbye diet and how great I have been doing this week. I wasn’t even going to eat what I made the family for dinner tonight (your german pancakes with buttermilk syrup) until I tasted it and couldn’t stop eating the syrup. Thanks for sharing!!!
oh good!! thanks for sharing!
My husband has buttermilk syrup and fell in love so I’ve been looking on Pinterest for a really good recipe to surprise him with for his birthday. All the ones I’ve found are pretty similar except yours has corn syrup in it and no one else’s does. Why is that? Just curious! Excited to try your recipe!
Hi Kyrstina! I’m not really sure, I think the corn syrup just helps with keeping it a syrup texture.