Baby Dutch Babies

I've always been fascinated by Dutch Babies – those huge bowl shaped pancakes that had to be specially made and rushed to the table before they fell – since I was a kid. It was not because I ever had one as a child. My parents didn't do things like that. Kids were supposed to eat pancakes, scrambled eggs, or French toast, period. But I coveted the Dutch Baby every time I saw one on a menu or had the rare pleasure of seeing one pass by our table on its way to some lucky person.

More than a decade ago, I ran across a recipe and began making Dutch Babies at home. There are several standard recipes for making Dutch Babies and each has its own pros and cons. Some recipes call for two eggs (I think they come out too floury.), some recipes call for four eggs (I love these, but some people find them too eggy.), and some recipes call for three eggs (Choose this if you are a middle of the road kind of person.)

Originally, Dutch Babies had no sugar in the batter and the only sweetness came from toppings like apples cooked with brown sugar and nutmeg, or strawberries and whipped cream. I chose to go for something that tastes more old fashioned and simple. I've also modified it slightly by adding simple syrup to the batter, though I just made Dutch Babies for breakfast today and left out the sugar and still had zero leftovers.

For a long time, I made Dutch Babies in a cast iron skillet. When made this way they come out like a big bowl, but the center always seemed a little soft to me. So, in the midst of my cupcake frenzy of the early 2000s, I decided to try to make Baby Dutch Babies in muffin tins. Guess what? I’m never going back to the skillet. The baby Babies are so cute and they bake perfectly!

Baby Dutch Babies Recipe

Preheat oven to 425 degrees

Ingredients

4 large eggs

1/2 cup 2% milk (or use 1/4 cup cream and 1/4 cup milk)

1/2 cup flour

3 tbsp sugar

3 tbsp water

4 tbsp melted butter

1 large lemon wedge or any other citrus (I used a tablespoon of orange juice this morning)

1-2 tbsp powdered sugar in a fine strainer or sifter (I use a fine mesh tea ball)

Put the first three ingredients in the blender and whip about 30 seconds. Put the 3 tbsp sugar and 3 tbsp water in a glass measuring cup and put it in the microwave for 1 minute. Stir or swirl it in the cup to make sure all of the sugar is dissolved. Cook another 30 seconds if sugar hasn’t dissolved. (This is called simple syrup.)

Start the blender again, open the round opening on the top and pour in the simple syrup and the melted butter. Whip about 30 seconds longer. You can pour the orange juice directly in the batter if you want. Frankly, this recipe is very forgiving.

Pop the muffin tin in the oven while you whirl in the simple syrup and then divide the batter evenly between the 12 or 24 mini muffin slots.

Pop these in the oven for about 12 minutes (9-10 in a convection oven). Watch them through the door and remove them when they are tall and golden brown.

Place them on a platter sprinkle with lemon juice and powdered sugar. Serve immediately.