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One of our favorite breakfast recipes is the dutch baby. It seems like every blog has a version, but the one I based my recipe on came out of a catalog. While it could have been Williams Sonoma, the true origin is lost to time. Have you ever seen a dutch baby? It’s the stuff of dreams. Warm and crispy, kind of fluffy, with a rise that you would see with a popover. They are gorgeous.


Over the years we made it so often I transferred it to the little handwritten cookbook that I made. I have played with the ratios and it’s always come out nice and fluffy and crispy. Except for this time. The time I decided to write about it. This time I chose to add some sourdough discard to the dough. I do it with a lot of recipes just to see what happens (when you make sourdough you end up with tons of discard). Oh boy was THAT a bad idea.

The image shows an almost dutch baby. Instead of it being fluffy and tall, like a popover, mine came out flat.
The flattest dutch baby you have ever seen,


Except. It’s an almost dutch baby. Instead of it being fluffy and tall, like a popover, mine came out flat. Yes, it didn’t behave the way I expected. The insides were almost custardy. I had weighed the batter down with that discard, to the point where it couldn’t rise. But it tasted good. And the outside was crispy. It had turned into french toast. Baked french toast without the bread. Give it a try and let me know what you think. FYI, if you don’t have sourdough discard simply laying around, make it without. It will be delicious and as intended!

Almost dutch baby dusted with powdered sugar and whiskey bacon maple syrup.
See? Doesn’t look too bad!

Note: You can make them in any oven-safe pan you have, but I tend to prefer cast-iron. And if it’s a weekend (or a really hard quarantine day) serve them with whiskey bacon maple syrup.

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Almost Dutch Baby

Equipment

  • blender or food processer
  • Oven-safe pan

Ingredients

  • 4 large eggs
  • 1 cup AP flour scooped and leveled
  • 1 cup milk I used dairy, but any kind
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/3 cup sour dough discard if you have on hand and are feeling adventurous
  • 4 tsp unsalted butter

Instructions

  • Place pan in cold oven and preheat to 475F.
  • Add all the ingredients except the butter to the blender or processor.
  • Blend until smooth, scraping the sides as needed.
  • When the oven is hot, put the butter in the pan. It will smoke and start to brown almost immeditely. This is fine.
  • When the butter is melted, 3-4 minutes, pour the batter into the pan.
  • Bake until it is lightly brown and the sides have risen (or not if using discard) 17-20 minutes.
  • Serve with powdered sugar, whipped cream, and whisky bacon maple syrup.