German Oven Pancakes

We just had the best dinner in a long time. Really, it was so that good. What is this amazing dinner? It’s easy really: Beer, Pancakes, & Bacon. Real maple syrup doesn’t hurt either.

As you can see, these were no ordinary pancakes. We had visited our friends house over the weekend and they served these magical pancakes, BAKED IN THE OVEN! Andrew and I were both stunned. We have both been through out entire lives without tasting pancakes made in the oven, or “German pancakes.” How are these not served at every breakfast joint? I have no idea. They are beautiful, fluffy, easy to make, and so much fun to fill with different toppings.

It has been our habit to have pizza every Thursday night. Last week, Andrew didn’t feel too good after our pizza, maybe as we get older we can’t handle all of that grease… So we were looking for something fun and easy to replace pizza. Andrew summed it up: “I think this is better than pizza Thursdays.” Enough said.

Well, except the recipe, which I took fromSteamy Kitchen. She had it for breakfast, which I guess is also an option.

German Oven Pancakes

• 1/2 cup of all-purpose flour, sifted
• 3 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1/2 cup milk
• 2 tablespoons melted butter
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon of salt

Preheat oven to 450F. If you have a convection oven, set it at 425F.

Lightly beat eggs in a large bowl. Stir in the milk, melted butter, salt and sugar. Gradually add flour to egg mixture, a spoonful at a time.  Make sure the flour is well incorporated in the batter with no lumps, but do not over-mix, as you want to keep the pancake light.

Lightly spray a 9″-11″ oven-safe skillet with cooking spray (I used my cast iron, which may have resulted in less poof in the middle, but the sides climbed like crazy!).

Pour batter in the skillet.

Bake 12-18 minutes, just until the edges are golden. Mine was perfect at about 15 minutes. It wasSO much fun to watch it rise so quickly, seriously, Andrew and I were acting like little kids giddy with excitement–maybe the pre-dinner beer also helped.

Serve with whatever toppings you have around. We had peaches, blackberries, and strawberries. Throw in some sweet with powdered sugar and maple syrup. But you could really do this what ever favorite toppings. If you wanted a super fancy dessert, we were thinking chocolate syrup.

Me, now excited for oven pancake Thursday.