Low Carb German Pancake Recipe - Gwen's Nest (2024)
By Gwen Brown162 Comments
This low carb German Pancake recipe is the answer to my heart’s cry for the perfect sugar free breakfast. Back before I read Trim Healthy Mama, we would eat a version of this oven pancake nearly every week. It was heavenly. I’d tweaked a recipe from my Finnish friend Jen. The Finns call it Pannukakku. Jen’s kids prounounced it “Bunny Cake,” and the name stuck.
But it also stuck to the thighs like nobody’s business. It contained a whole stick of butter, 3/4 cups of sugar, 2 cups of milk, 1 1/2 cups of flour, 6 eggs…it was SO naughty. But ever so delicious. I was grieved to give it up. Nigh unto heart sick.
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Finally…FINALLY I have perfected a THM version of my favorite breakfast dish. If you’ve never had the pleasure of baking or enjoying a German or Finnish oven pancake, it’s a real treat. My old recipe would puff up as it baked and become a GIANT fluff that would shrink back down as it cooled.
This version rises in the oven just like the sugary version, AND it’s got the essential custard-like texture with the sweet crust on the top and edges. My favorite.
*swoon*
I served it this past weekend, and it was a big hit. Even my kiddo that doesn’t like eggs was asking for seconds and super excited about it. I served it with a drizzle of real maple syrup for the kids, and my sugar free maple syrup for my Trim Healthy Man and me. We also had spoons of warm sugar free berry syrup mingled over the top. H.E.A.V.E.N.
(Sorry about the blurry photos. I suspect it’s directly connected to tiny syrupy fingerprints that I later discovered on my lens.)
We call this "Bunny Cake" at our house. But not matter what you call it, it's my favorite breakfast treat. Somewhere between a baked custard and a pancake, this delightful S breakfast is a family pleaser, and the perfect weekend or holiday breakfast treat. It reheats nicely.
Author: Gwen
Recipe type: Breakfast
Serves: 10
Ingredients
4 T butter (1/2 stick or ¼ cup)
6 eggs
½ c. xylitol or erythritol + stevia to sweeten (2 scoops)
2 tsp. vanilla
1½ cups oat flour*
1 t. salt
1½ c. unsweetened almond milk
½ c. cream or ½ & ½
¼ tsp nutmeg, optional
Instructions
Preheat oven to 375.
Place 9x13 casserole dish into oven as it preheats, and add 4 T of butter (half of a stick) to the pan and allow to melt as you mix up the batter.
In a blender or bowl, combine remaining ingredients, and whisk together until well blended.
Pour batter into hot casserole dish, and swirl with melted butter to blend it in briefly.
Bake for 30 minutes.
Serve with Sugar Free Berry Syrup, and/or Sugar Free Maple Syrup, and dust with powdered erythritol if desired.
Notes
*If you do not have oat flour handy, blend 1½ cups of oats in your blender to make your own. Check your carb count if buying premade oat flour- they can vary. If you'd like to lower the carb count, try subbing ½ cup of oat fiber for the oat flour. Usually, oats and oat flour are an E ingredient, but I calculated the servings in this recipe, and it's squarely in S territory. Cut into 12 servings, I calculate 8 grams of fat, and 6 net carbs per serving if using 1½ cups of ground oats. Cut into 10 servings, I figured 10 grams of fat and 7 net carbs if using 1½ cups of ground oats.
So, what does *your* family call an oven baked pancake? 🙂
And now for MY favorite part of Trim Healthy Tuesdays: all of the FANTASTIC link ups from other THM bloggers! Thank you all for making Tuesdays so inspired, trimming, and fun!
If the pan isn't hot enough then the liquid does not heat up and create the steam quickly enough and so the flour will cook through and set before the pancake can rise. We suggest that you give the oven and skillet plenty of time to heat up thoroughly before adding the batter.
While these pancakes are derived from the German pancake dish, it is said that the name Dutch baby was coined by one of Victor Manca's daughters, where "Dutch" perhaps was her corruption of the German autonym deutsch. Manca's Cafe claimed that it owned the trademark for Dutch babies in 1942.
How are German Pancakes different than American Pancakes? German pancakes use a whole lot more eggs and no added leavening agent. German Pancakes are also baked in the oven to a golden perfection.
Eggs are a crucial ingredient. They provide the cakes with the structure to hold light bubbles. Eggs also give the batter additional, richer flavor from the yolk fat. If you add too many eggs, you'll have “pancakes” that look more like custard or crepes.
Pancakes and waffles typically both contain baking soda, which causes them to rise. As soon as the baking soda is combined with the wet ingredients (which contain an acidic ingredient, like often buttermilk), it starts producing carbon dioxide gas bubbles that cause the batter to rise.
The German pancake, sometimes called a Dutch baby, is a study in contrasts: The edge of the skillet-size breakfast specialty puffs dramatically to form a tall, crispy rim with a texture similar to that of a popover while the base remains flat, custardy, and tender, like a thick crêpe.
Dutch babies, popovers, German pancakes, Yorkshire pudding are all the same thing just different names. Technically these are all baked puddings and delicious. Try serving them with my delicious strawberry syrup.
These bite-sized pancakes are similar to the small Scottish pancakes, sometimes known as drop scones, since the batter is dropped directly into the skillet. In the U.S., we refer to them as "silver dollar" pancakes, as they are roughly the size of the old-school coin.
A pannenkoek (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈpɑnə(ŋ)ˌkuk]; plural pannenkoeken [-ˌkukə(n)]) or Dutch pancake is a style of pancake with origins in the Netherlands. Pannenkoeken are usually larger (up to a foot in diameter) and much thinner than their American or Scotch pancake counterparts, but not as thin as crêpes.
Note that mayonnaise contains eggs and oil, so it can replace oil or butter as well. This trick may not work as an egg replacement for an allergy or egg-free diet (unless it's a vegan mayo) but it works for those who don't have eggs on hand in a pinch.
Baking soda is essential for baked goods, but baking powder is really what makes pancakes and biscuits rise and become so super fluffy. Double-acting baking powder, which is the kind that you'll find in the grocery store, produces bubbles in two ways: when it is mixed with wet ingredients and then when it gets heated.
The aeration in the pancake batter makes the eggs light, tender, and fluffy without adding any obvious flavor, so the egg dish is both hefty and light at the same time. Pancake batter also gives the eggs enough body and structure to hold together over the meaty, cheesy fillings.
Why are my pancakes flat and not fluffy? A flat pancake is usually the result of the batter being too wet. This is because there isn't enough strength from the flour to trap the bubbles produced by the baking soda.
The first is that the batter is a bit runny. Add a little more flour (or mix) to make a thicker batter, and see if that fluffs up the pancakes. The other reason I can think of is that the leavening is either past its prime, or not getting enough time to work before cooking.
Flat pancakes are nearly always because of expired baking powder, too little baking powder for the recipe size, or too thin of a batter. How to fix flat pancakes: First, test your baking powder by adding a teaspoon of baking powder in a glass and adding a tablespoon of water or two.
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.
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