A gluten free Dutch Baby pancake is the best way to get warm and comforting gluten free breakfast on the table in about 20 minutes. It feels light but is still filling—and it only looks like it was hard to do!
Maybe you've never had a Dutch baby/German pancake, gluten free or otherwise. If not, you're in for a treat.
If you have had a Dutch baby and have been missing this lovely cross between a pancake and a popover now that you're gluten free, I'm happy to report that you can have it back. In a big way!
As is especially the case with a super simple recipe like this one, there are a few tricks of the trade. You must select and prepare the few necessary ingredients carefully.
Not just any flour blend will do. You need my gum-free blend. Plus, your eggs and milk must be at room temperature.
And your pan must be hot from the oven when you pour in the batter. That's what gives rise to that gorgeous, puffy pancake and the even browning.
As with many things, there's something special about baking it in a cast iron skillet, as it holds heat so well and heats so evenly. But I have made this gluten free Dutch baby successfully in a 9-inch cake pan.
If you can, try to avoid making it in a Pyrex pan, as glass bakes very hot and the pancake is much more likely to burn before it browns.
Wondering about why some people call it a Dutch Baby, and others a German Pancake? Well, as the story goes, the young daughter of a German restaurateur in Seattle couldn't pronounce the word “Deutsche,” and instead said “Dutch.”
And so this classic German pancake came to be known as a Dutch baby. Fact or fiction? Who knows. All I know is that it's ridiculously easy and delicious, and it works like magic every. single. time.
Gluten free Dutch baby pancake recipe
Fluffy Gluten Free Dutch Baby
Equipment
- Blender
Ingredients
- 1 ½ tablespoons (21 g) unsalted butter
- ¾ cup (6 fluid ounces) milk at room temperature
- 3 (150 g (weighed out of shell)) eggs 150 g, weighed out of shell at room temperature
- ¾ cup (105 g) basic gum-free gluten free flour blend (69 g superfine white rice flour + 23 g potato starch + 13 g tapioca starch/flour)
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 375°F. In a 9-inch cast iron skillet or heavy-bottom 9-inch cake pan, place the butter.
- Place the pan with the butter in it in the preheated oven just until the butter is melted, while you make the batter.
- In a blender, place the milk, eggs, flour blend and salt, and blend just until smooth. You do not need a high-speed blender for this task. The batter will be thin.
- Remove the hot pan with the melted butter from the oven, and pour off excess butter, leaving just a coating on the pan.
- Working quickly, pour the batter into the hot pan and return to the oven. Bake for 12 minutes.
- Rotate the pan 180° and continue to bake until the pancake is puffed and golden brown all over (about another 5 minutes). Remove from the oven.
- The pancake should release easily from the pan. If it seems stuck on any sides, loosen it with a knife and slide it out of the pan onto a wire rack. This will ensure that the bottom of the pancake doesn’t become soggy as it cools.
- Allow to cool briefly before slicing into wedges and serving warm garnished with fruit, a light dusting of confectioners’ sugar and maybe a dollop of whipped cream (in the winter, I like to serve it with citrus, in the summer with berries).
- Any leftover wedges can be stored at room temperature for about 4 hours, or even wrapped tightly and stored in the refrigerator for at least 1 day.
- Reheat gently in the microwave before serving. This recipe can be doubled easily, and baked in two batches.
Fluffy Gluten Free Dutch Baby
Equipment
- Blender
Ingredients
- 1 ½ tablespoons (21 g) unsalted butter
- ¾ cup (6 fluid ounces) milk at room temperature
- 3 (150 g (weighed out of shell)) eggs 150 g, weighed out of shell at room temperature
- ¾ cup (105 g) basic gum-free gluten free flour blend (69 g superfine white rice flour + 23 g potato starch + 13 g tapioca starch/flour)
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 375°F. In a 9-inch cast iron skillet or heavy-bottom 9-inch cake pan, place the butter.
- Place the pan with the butter in it in the preheated oven just until the butter is melted, while you make the batter.
- In a blender, place the milk, eggs, flour blend and salt, and blend just until smooth. You do not need a high-speed blender for this task. The batter will be thin.
- Remove the hot pan with the melted butter from the oven, and pour off excess butter, leaving just a coating on the pan.
- Working quickly, pour the batter into the hot pan and return to the oven. Bake for 12 minutes.
- Rotate the pan 180° and continue to bake until the pancake is puffed and golden brown all over (about another 5 minutes). Remove from the oven.
- The pancake should release easily from the pan. If it seems stuck on any sides, loosen it with a knife and slide it out of the pan onto a wire rack. This will ensure that the bottom of the pancake doesn’t become soggy as it cools.
- Allow to cool briefly before slicing into wedges and serving warm garnished with fruit, a light dusting of confectioners’ sugar and maybe a dollop of whipped cream (in the winter, I like to serve it with citrus, in the summer with berries).
- Any leftover wedges can be stored at room temperature for about 4 hours, or even wrapped tightly and stored in the refrigerator for at least 1 day.
- Reheat gently in the microwave before serving. This recipe can be doubled easily, and baked in two batches.
Debra says
Hi, I make this for my family very often – the gluten option that is. I would love to join them. I am milk diary intolerant. Think I can use non-diary milk and butter alternatives? Thank you you for any input.
Sarah Chapman Bass says
I didn’t realize how much I missed these until I saw your recipe! This has to be the easiest recipe I’ve made from you so far. I made them for breakfast and since I didn’t have any milk, I used yogurt. Worked great for me and even my sick toddler, who was refusing food, hobbled them up. Thanks, Nicole!
Nicole Hunn says
Oh yay, Sarah! That’s so great. And really good to know that the recipe worked with yogurt. Hope your little one is feeling better soon. :)
Michelle says
Is there a difference between white rice flour and super fine white rice flour?
Also, if your eggs don’t weigh quite enough, what do you do? I’ve read that you can add egg whites from a carton, but was wondering what you personally use.
Thanks
Nicole Hunn says
Hi, Michelle,
Yes, there is a big difference between white rice flour and superfine white rice flour! Most rice flours sold are not superfine and lead to a gritty taste in the baked goods. Authentic Foods brand is the only brand that I am sure makes a truly superfine rice flour. Vitacost makes it own brand that it also calls superfine rice flour, but I haven’t tried it.
If your eggs don’t weigh enough, if a recipe calls for whole eggs, just beat another egg and add just enough of the beaten egg to make up the remaining weight.
Good questions, Michelle!