Easy German Pancake Recipe {VIDEO} - Feeding Your Fam (2024)

FAQs

Why are my German pancakes not fluffy? ›

Why Didn't My Dutch Baby Puff Up? Like popovers and Yorkshire pudding, the thing that gives Dutch babies their signature puff is steam. In order for that steam to work the pancake into its signature peaks and valleys, you need two things: enough air in a well-developed batter and a piping-hot pan and oven.

A Dutch baby pancake, sometimes called a German pancake, a Bismarck, a Dutch puff, Hooligan, or a Hootenanny, is a dish that is similar to a large Yorkshire pudding.

The tip, via Food52, relies on relaxed egg whites, aka unbeaten whites that have been allowed to sit for a bit. The pancake technique calls for the eggs to be separated and for the yolks to be mixed into a buttermilk, milk, and melted butter mixture.

Milk helps make pancakes fluffier than water. Since milk is thicker than water, it creates a thicker batter. Further, if you use whole milk or low fat milk, the fat content helps yield tender, fluffy results.

1. Use Milk/ Alternative Milk Instead Of Water. Even though the mix may call for water, you can easily substitute that for an alternative milk (I like oat milk). You may have to add a dash more due to the difference in consistency, but it'll taste so much better!

Using extra virgin olive oil in place of the melted butter in this recipe adds moisture in addition to flavor, resulting in a light and fluffy pancake that's perfectly tender and moist, not dry or doughy in the least.

Baking powder, like baking soda, is a chemical leavening agent made with sodium bicarbonate (aka baking soda) plus a weak acid, such as potassium bitartrate. Baking soda is essential for baked goods, but baking powder is really what makes pancakes and biscuits rise and become so super fluffy.

We love to serve German pancakes with homemade pancake syrup and powdered sugar, but many people like them served with fresh squeezed lemon, butter or fruit toppings.

What do Southerners call pancakes? ›

In the South, pancakes are interchangeably called hotcakes, griddlecakes, and flapjacks, though British flapjacks are made with rolled oats cooked in the oven. In the U.S., pancakes are made with flour, eggs, butter, and milk, and cooked on a griddle or frying pan to form leavened flat cakes.

In the UK, the word pancakes refers to the same thing, but the word flapjacks refers to something entirely different: a baked good made from oats, resembling what elsewhere may be called a granola bar or oat bar. The word flapjack is traced back to the late 1500s.

Overmixing the batter can cause the gluten in the flour to overdevelop, leading to a dense pancake. Batter Not At Room Temperature: Ingredients that are not at room temperature can cause the batter to be too dense. Make sure all ingredients, including the eggs and milk, are at room temperature before making the batter.

Why are my pancakes flat and not fluffy? A flat pancake is usually the result of the batter being too wet.

Too much egg, however, will make the pancake dense and custard-like; not enough will make it drier and more biscuit-like. Baking powder and baking soda are the chemical leaveners typically used in pancakes. They are responsible for the bubbles in the batter, and for making the cakes light and fluffy.

In order to get a fluffy pancake, we need to have gas (carbon dioxide) bubble up through the gluten just as the mixture is heated. This reaction requires an acid and a base. Almost all pancake recipes use baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) for the base.