Dabney Hedegard's Baby Dutch Pancakes

Dabney Hedegard is a writer, speaker and professional patient. Her memoir, When God Intervenes (Tyndale House Publishers, July 2013), is a fast-paced medical drama surrounded by miracles that Amazon reviewers are saying, “I couldn’t put it down!”

At twenty-five years old doctor’s discovered a football-sized tumor embedded in Dabney’s lungs. But the greater fear stealing her focus grew inches below the mass: a six-week-old baby. Her cancer and her decision to keep her child began her battle with nine life-threatening-illnesses, four of which were near-death experiences. Dabney lives in South Florida with her husband and four children. She blogs at www.dabneyland.com. 

Dabney's Baby Dutch Pancakes

In the 15-plus years that I’ve cooked for my family, I only have a handful of recipes I repeat. I’m a recipe sampler. The only caveat to this therapeutic activity is that it yields inconsistent results. Thankfully, my family doesn’t mind my dabbling in the kitchen. Especially when I stumble upon a recipe that is restaurant-style good. In my secret stash of repeat recipes, this over-sized pancake meets that standard.

Baby Dutch Pancakes, as we incorrectly call them, were discovered one morning when we watched Martha Stewart on a popular morning show. She whipped and smiled and served the media a fluffed one-pan egg-y cake she called “Dutch Baby Pancake”. My son never repeated the name right. We adopted his reversed (plural) version. That’s the nice part about recipes. They’re adaptable—even the titles. Since Martha boasted about this buttery breakfast treat, I knew I had to try them—adding my own healthy twist, of course. Oh my, Martha. These are delish, and they have become the number one requested breakfast item in our house. 
 
Ingredients:
3 tablespoons salted butter, plus 2 TBLS diced butter for dotting
1/3 cup unbleached white flour
¼ teaspoon salt
3 eggs room temperature (I soak mine in hot water, this helps the pancake fluff)
¼ cup granulated sugar
½ cup of organic 2% milk or whole milk, warmed
1 teaspoon of Wheat Germ or Chia Seeds or Ground Flax Seeds (optional nutritional booster no one will notice)
Confectioners’ sugar for dusting
Spritz of juice from a fresh lemon (bottled juice leaves a chemical aftertaste)

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Blend the flour, salt, eggs, granulated sugar, milk, salt and optional wheat germ/flax/chia. Heat a large oven-safe skillet and melt 3 tablespoons of butter, making sure to coat the bottom and sides of the pan. Add the batter and bake until the edges puff and turn lightly brown, around 17 to 20 minutes. Remove pancake from oven. Here’s the best part you don’t want to deviate from: gently dot the top of the pancake with remaining 2 tablespoons of diced butter. Sift or dust confectioners’ sugar over the top, and finish with a spritz of fresh squeezed lemon juice. Glory.

Serve immediately, as the fluffiness will deflate. (Don’t worry. The flatter version still tastes scrumptious!)
Yum, yum, yum. Two batches of these cakes don’t last but 10 minutes in our household of six. Enjoy!