This easy German Pancake with Apples is an impressive dish for breakfast or brunch. It’s made in a cast iron skillet and it puffs up BIG in the oven!
I love a good one-pan meal. And this German Pancake with Apples is one of those! It’s made in a cast iron skillet, and it’s a super impressive dish for breakfast or brunch.
Much of my heritage is German, yet I haven’t found a recipe for a German pancake in the family recipe books. I’m always interested in German recipes, so I was delighted to find this recipe in an old church cookbook.
This recipe for a German pancake with apples (which is also called a Dutch baby or a Bismarck), is quite simple: flour, eggs, milk, sugar, butter, and apples cooked in a cast iron skillet.
The pancake puffs up really big in the oven, which makes for a really impressive presentation for anyone standing RIGHT next to the oven, anyway. It deflates in seconds after being removed from the heat!
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Ingredients
- Three eggs give the pancake lots of lift in the oven
- The apples are cooked in butter until tender. I recommend using a sweet/tart apple such as Honeycrisp or Pink Lady. If you like tart, try Granny Smith!
- Flour, milk, salt, and a little bit of sugar create an easy pancake batter that you’ll just need to whisk together.
How to make a German pancake with apples
Start with a 10-inch cast iron skillet. If you don’t have one of those, you can use an 8×8 inch baking dish.
Place two tablespoons of butter in the baking dish, and pop it into a 400°F oven until the butter is melted.
While the butter is melting, slice the apples into thin slices. You can peel the apples or leave the peel on—up to you!
Remove the skillet from the oven and add the sliced apples. Toss to coat the apples in the butter, then return the skillet to the oven for 5 minutes. This gives the apples a head start on baking, so they will be perfectly tender when the pancake is done.
This step is optional, but you can also take this opportunity to arrange the apples in a pattern, if you’d like.
While the apples are baking, whisk together another tablespoons of melted butter along with eggs, milk, flour, sugar, and salt.
When the apples have baked for five minutes, remove the skillet from the oven and pour the pancake batter carefully over the top.
Return to the oven and bake for an additional 17–20 minutes. You want the pancake to be golden brown around the edges when it’s finished cooking.
The pancake will be big and puffy when you remove it from the oven, but it will quickly deflate.
Dust the German pancake with powdered sugar and serve!
Tip: I like using a tea strainer for dusting powdered sugar. It’s just the right size and you can be a little more precise vs. using a large mesh colander for it.
Frequently Asked Questions
A sweet/tart apple such as Honeycrisp or Pink Lady is a nice addition to a German pancake. If you prefer tart apples, you can use Granny Smith instead.
Yes! To make German pancakes for a crowd, double the recipe and bake it in a 13×9 inch pan.
A German pancake is done when it is golden brown around the edges and no longer doughy in the middle. It will puff very large in the oven, but it will deflate in seconds after being removed from the heat.
Nope! This is just the nature of the recipe. It rises high in the oven thanks to the eggs, but when it’s removed from the heat, it deflates quickly. This is normal. It’ll still have edges that are taller than the center once it cools.
Storing and reheating
Store any leftover German pancake in the refrigerator. To reheat, place it back into a cast iron skillet and bake for 5 minutes in a 400°F oven.
I don’t recommend using a microwave as that can overcook the eggs in the pancake and make it tough.
After reheating, dust it with additional powdered sugar.
Serving suggestions
While this German pancake with apples is cooked in a 10-inch skillet, it’s quite thin, so it only serves 2–4 people (2 if you’re really hungry and 4 if there are other sides being served, like my praline candied bacon!).
If you want to serve more people, double the recipe and bake it in a 13×9 inch baking dish.
I love dusting it with powdered sugar. You can also serve it with maple syrup for drizzling on top.
It’s delicious with a steaming cup of coffee!
Have you tried this recipe? Please leave a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating and/or comment below!
📖 Recipe
German Pancake with Apples
Equipment
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons butter, divided
- 2 apples, peeled and sliced
- 3 eggs
- ½ cup milk
- ½ cup flour
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- Powdered sugar for sprinkling
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°F. Place two tablespoons of the butter into a 10-inch skillet, and place in the oven until the butter has melted (3–4 minutes). Add the apple slices, toss to coat with the butter, and cook for 5 minutes longer.
- While the apples are cooking, melt the remaining tablespoon of butter in the microwave.
- Then, whisk together the remaining melted butter, eggs, milk, flour, sugar, and salt until smooth.
- Remove the skillet from the oven and immediately pour the flour mixture over the top. Return to the oven and bake for 17–20 minutes, or until golden brown on the edges.
- Sprinkle with powdered sugar and serve.
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