German Pancake with Butter Syrup

This easy German pancake recipe is a breakfast staple! Five basic ingredients for a perfect baked pancake. Those craggy, golden edges are the best!

This simple German pancake is a staple breakfast around here, especially on the weekend!

Puffy and golden, it’s a classic, and this recipe has been in our family for years.

Blender Recipe

Five basic ingredients go into a blender:

• eggs
• milk
• vanilla
• salt
• flour

Process until smooth and well-combined. You don’t want to over blend here, but at the same time, you don’t want flour bits and lumps.

Best Pan for German Pancake

I always use a glass 9X13-inch dish for this recipe.

I’ve tried baking in a metal pan, and while it worked ok, it was much harder to clean the metal pan of the egg-based batter than the glass pan.

A cast iron skillet could also be used, although you’d likely need to cut down the recipe to use for a 9- or 10-inch skillet.

One word of caution for glass pans: after removing the baked pancake from the oven, ALWAYS set the hot glass pan on a trivet or hot pad and NOT on a cold countertop (even if it’s a material that can withstand heat). I’ve learned the hard way that the glass pan will shatter in to a million pieces.

Puffy Golden Pancake

German pancakes are notorious for their puffy, golden edges and wavy middles.

Our house is deeply divided on which section is best. Several of us fight over the craggy edges while the others try to sneak seconds on a middle piece before anyone notices.

What to Serve with German Pancake

This German pancake is delicious served with maple syrup, jam, or a sprinkle of powdered sugar.

But when we’re feeling like we want to treat ourselves in a special way, I’ll make the buttermilk syrup featured here. It’s also included with the recipe below.

It may seem unusual to simmer butter, buttermilk, baking soda, and sugar together to make syrup, but I promise it works.

I mean, if you are morally opposed to eating caramel for breakfast, you might want to look away, but otherwise, this is the breakfast dreams are made of.

A Special Breakfast

Brian makes this recipe more often than I do. It’s his signature recipe for weekend breakfasts, and we all love him for it.

For our family of seven, one pan isn’t enough anymore. So we (or rather, Brian) doubles the recipe and splits between two 9X13-inch pans.

It’s gobbled up lickety split, and it will definitely be a recipe that is passed down to future generations!

One Year Ago: Amazing Romaine Salad with Light Poppy Seed Vinaigrette
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Baked German Pancake

Yield: 6 Servings

Prep Time: 15 minutes mins

Cook Time: 30 minutes mins

Total Time: 45 minutes mins

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Ingredients

For the Pan:

• 2 to 4 tablespoons butter

Pancake:

• 6 large eggs
• 1 cup milk
• ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup (142 g) all-purpose or white whole wheat flour
• ¼ teaspoon salt

Syrup:

• 1 cup (212 g) granulated sugar
• ½ cup buttermilk
• ½ cup (113 g) salted butter
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon baking soda

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Instructions 

• For the pancake: preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Put the butter in a glass 9X13-inch baking dish and pop the pan in the oven while it preheats (if it's taking a while to mix up the batter, keep an eye on the dish so the butter doesn't burn; take it out when the butter is melted). Swirl the melted butter to coat the bottom of the 9X13-inch pan and set aside.
• Combine all the pancake ingredients in a blender and process until smooth and well-combined, 20-30 seconds.
• Pour the batter into the prepared pan and immediately return to the oven. Bake for 20 minutes until the pancake is puffy and lightly browned on the bottom and edges.
• Serve immediately with jam, butter syrup, maple syrup or whatever else your heart desires.
• For the syrup: in a larger than you think saucepan (it will foam and triple in volume at the end), combine the sugar, buttermilk and butter and bring to a boil, stirring often. Reduce the heat and simmer for 5-7 minutes. Off the heat, stir in the vanilla and baking soda until well-combined. Serve warm over pancakes. For an extra caramelly version, add the baking soda at the beginning with the buttermilk.

Notes

Oven Temp: the original recipe had a temperature of 400 degrees F. If that’s worked for you, continue to use it! The last couple of years I’ve set the oven to 425 degrees F – the pancake puffs better and the edges are especially golden and yummy.

 

Author: Mel

Course: Breakfast

Cuisine: American

Method: Bake

Serving: 1 Serving, Calories: 477kcal, Carbohydrates: 53g, Protein: 11g, Fat: 25g, Saturated Fat: 14g, Cholesterol: 241mg, Sodium: 558mg, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 37g

Recommended Products

Glass 9X13-inch Pan

Vitamix Blender

Cookware

Recipe Source: pancake recipe from my Aunt Marilyn, syrup a combined recipe from Aunt Marilyn + Lindsay, a reader who emailed me her favorite butter syrup recipe eons ago

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