Stay on track with this low-carb keto pancake that has all of the flavor of the original. Perfect for Easter or Mother’s Day brunch! Eating low-carb and keto doesn’t mean that you can’t enjoy your favorite meals! One of our favorite family traditions is making “Dutch Baby” pancakes.
What is a Dutch Baby Pancake?
A Dutch baby pancake (or Dutch baby), sometimes called a German pancake, a Bismarck, a Dutch puff, or a Hootenanny, is a large American popover. A dutch baby is a fluffy, puffed baked pancake. It tastes like a hybrid of a pancake, crepe and sweet souffle.
Why Keto Dutch Baby?
I’ve been eating low carb and keto for about 9 months and I love it! I feel like I feel more focused and have more energy plus I’ve lost almost 40 pounds! Over that time I have learned so much about what I can eat and how to make food to satisfy all of my wants. My family even love the low-carb meals and recipes I create! I made this keto version of our favorite dutch baby recipe because I try to stay on track with keto eating every day. The reason I don’t splurge and have cheat days very often is that when you are eating keto your body goes into a ketogenic state and that usually takes a few days to achieve. So I find it easier just to stay on track so my body doesn’t have to adjust back and forth. By switching out some ingredients for low-carb versions, this recipe is easily converted to low-carb and keto and retains it’s dutch baby flavor. Al-Purpose flour is replaced with almond powder, granulated sugar is replaced with monk fruit sweetener, regular maple syrup is replaced with sugar-free maple syrup and whipped cream is replaced with whipped coconut cream.
Key Ingredients and Substitutions for Keto Dutch Baby
- Flour: All-purpose flour is replaced with almond powder and coconut flour. If you have a nut allergy a better substitute is sunflower seed flour. Meet the best almond flour, with premium California almonds. Use it in your favorite recipes like pancakes, muffins, cookies, bread, crackers, breaded chicken or fish, and more - all low carb for your healthy lifestyle! Meet the best coconut flour, with just one simple ingredient: pure, premium organic coconuts. Use it in your favorite recipes including pancakes, muffins, cookies, bread, crackers, and more - all low carb for your healthy lifestyle!
- Sweetener: Granulated sugar is replaced with monk fruit sweetener. Meet Wholesome Yum Allulose sweetener is a natural sugar without the sugar spike. Use granulated allulose in place of granulated sugar for cooking, baking and topping!
- Syrup: Regular maple syrup is replaced with sugar-free maple syrup. Meet Wholesome Yum Zero Sugar Maple Syrup Substitute: the perfect liquid blend of monk fruit extract and allulose, with the rich flavor and consistency of maple syrup. This natural sugar free maple syrup alternative tastes, bakes and pours just like maple syrup does.
- Cream: Whipped cream is replaced with whipped coconut cream. Half and Half - Half and Half is half milk and half heavy cream. If you are not in the USA you may not be able to find it. Feel free to just use light cream. Coconut Milk - Not a fan of coconut milk? No problem!
The Key to Keto Dutch Baby Success
The only thing that doesn’t remain very similar is that traditional dutch baby pancakes usually puff in the middle quite a lot while baking. This low-carb version tastes the same but because we use almond flour it remains pretty flat. Without the use of regular flour or starch in any dutch baby recipe, the puff isn’t quite as large as it’s carb filled counterpart ( BUT there IS a DECENT puff though!); however, I promise the taste of THIS Keto German Pancake is on POINT, without comprising your carbs for the day. In order to get the BEST texture, PUFF, AND flavor in this keto dutch baby, I used a mix of “flours”- Unflavored Isopure protein powder, finely ground almond flour, and ground psyllium husk. All three of these are a MUST HAVE, I hate to say. See, I found that the more protein powder you use - THE BETTER and better the classic dutch baby ‘puff’ you get in the oven ; however, the downside to more protein powder or TOO much of it is that You’re left with a totally flavorless pancake. This is why I use almost equal parts almond and protein powder - to get BOTH FLUFF & FLAVOR. Believe it or not, the type, size and shape of pan you use to bake your keto dutch baby will make a HUGE difference in how your dutch baby will turn out!!!! This is true for ANY kind of Dutch baby - carb filled or keto-friendly! This little tip is coming from someone who used to make dutch babies literally every sunday . I have used a HECK of a lot of different types of pans over my life time of dutch baby making ????. Second, it needs to be either non-stick, extremely well-seasoned (if it’s a cast iron) ideally. You CAN also use ceramic or glass, however, those are not my first preference (but they still totally work). Third, it MUST have a rounded edge or slightly angled edge to it (ie. like the pan in the pictures or a cast iron skillet!). The dutch baby will expand, grow and curl up the sides of your pan, so it needs a bit of a expandable ramp! For example, a brownie pan with 90 degree angled sides, will NOT work, because a flat wall that prevents it from growing while baking will equal a brownie shaped german pancake (it’s JUST not the same!!!). Fourth, pan SIZE Does matter. If your pans too big, then the dutch baby will look flat and just like a puffy pancake. If you’re pan’s too small, it will puff enormously, but be a little too thick! So, What’s MY favorite pan to use? My pre-seasoned Lodge Cast Iron 9 Inch Skillet (Click link for exact pan on Amazon!) OR my 10 inch Calphalon Non Stick Frying Pan (Here’s a link to the Calphalon Frying Pan). The Most important piece of the size of these pans???? Is the diameter of the very base ( just the bottom flattest part) is AROUND 7 INCHES. A base width of 6.5 inches to 8 Inches is going to be IDEAL forr this to turn out right. If the diameter of the base of your pan (just the flat part I’m talking about here!) is any larger than 8 inches, then you won’t have enough batter to ‘grow’ and ‘curl’ up the sides of the pan like a true dutch baby would!
Keto Dutch Baby Recipe
Puffy, fluffy, and delicious, this Keto Dutch Baby recipe is an incredible way to start the day. Learn how to make this low carb dutch baby with just 8 ingredients! With very few steps, this effortless dish is something you will make again and again.
Read also: Easy Low-Carb Cheese Crackers
Ingredients:
- Eggs
- Coconut Milk
- Vanilla
- Half and Half
- Sweetener (blend of xylitol, erythritol, and stevia)
- Almond Flour
- Coconut Flour
- Butter
Instructions:
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
- Place the eggs, coconut milk, vanilla, and half and half inside of a blender.
- Add all remaining ingredients (including the remaining 2 T butter) to a blender and process till smooth.
- Place the butter in an 8x8 and put it into the oven to melt.
- While the butter is melting, add the wet ingredients to a blender. Add the dry ingredients on top of the wet ingredients.
- Take skillet out of oven and pour pancake mixture inside.
- Pour the batter into the center of the hot skillet so that the batter runs to the edges and some of the butter is pushed onto the top of the batter.
- Bake the keto Dutch baby pancake for about 20 to 25 minutes until the Dutch baby is puffy and golden brown. The center should be just set.
- Put skillet back in oven and set timer for 15 minutes.
- After 15 minutes check pancake. If edges are brown and middle starts to puff it is done. If the middle is liquid let it bake for another 5 minutes.
- When pancake is brown on the edges take it out of the oven and garnish with sliced lemons and berries.
- Serve your pancake hot or warm in the skillet with your favorite keto-friendly toppings.
Tips for Baking:
- When cooking German pancakes or Dutch babies, you’ll put melted butter in the bottom of your pan.
- As soon as the butter begins to sizzle and brown, remove the pan from the oven.
- Pour the batter into the center of the hot skillet so that the batter runs to the edges and some of the butter is pushed onto the top of the batter. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until the Dutch baby is puffy and dark brown. The center should be just set.
- It is common for the Dutch baby to rise in a little lopsided and will deflate somewhat as it cools.
Actually making a keto dutch baby is so dang easy that a 10 year old could do it (ahem- me at 10 years old ????), because it’s really only 3 simple steps. First step, you heat your aforementioned pan in the oven with butter in it BEFORE you put the batter in. 2nd step is to mix the batter in a BLENDER with just a few clicks of buttons. Lastly, you pour your batter into the sizzling hot pan coated with your melted butter (careful to pour up close and directly in the center of the pan only) and slide the pan back into the oven to cook for 11-13 minutes….and BAM!….
Serving and Topping Ideas
Serve hot from the oven, topped with a few fresh berries and a dusting of cinnamon or powdered sweetener, if desired. You can serve dutch baby pancakes with some fresh fruit like strawberries, blueberries, or raspberries. Or give them a spoonful of homemade low carb whipped cream. Sometimes we drizzle some melted chocolate on top. It makes the dutch baby look even more gorgeous and tastes great too. A few more ideas would be some sugar-free jam or jelly or a low carb maple syrup.
Traditionally, Dutch Babies are eaten with fresh lemon squeezed on top with a dusting a powdered sugar, which combines together to make a sort of lemony frosting. Since this is a sugar-free, KETO dutch baby, we can still enjoy it with the same topping but by using erythritol (powdered). If you’re not into lemon flavored things at all, then these pancakes are still delicious with sugar-free syrup and powdered ‘sugar’, or some cut up strawberries and whipped cream.
There are so many great options for toppings for keto pancakes!
- Keto Buttermilk Syrup
- Sugar free blackberry jam (or any other berry!)
- Confectioner’s erythritol and fresh squeezed lemon juice
- Sour cream mixed with mashed berries of your choice and as much sugar free sweetener to your taste
- Peanut Butter Ice Cream Sauce
- Natural Peanut Butter
- ChocZero also has a variety of sugar free syrups to choose from.
Storage and Reheating
While this keto dutch baby is best when served fresh, you can store and reheat it for later. Let the dutch baby cool down all the way after baking. Then put it in an airtight container and keep in the fridge until ready to serve. It will last 3-4 days in the refrigerator. To reheat, place on a microwave-safe plate and cover with a paper towel. To Reheat: place the dutch paper on a microwave-safe plate. Reheat the dutch babies in the microwave, or in the oven at 325 degrees.
Read also: Keto Calorie Counting: A Detailed Guide
Dutch Baby Muffins
All the tasty flavor of a dutch baby or German pancake miniaturized into a muffin! These Low Carb Dutch Baby Muffins are gluten free AND flourless, but you won't be able to tell.
Ingredients:
- Butter
- Eggs
- Cream cheese
- Heavy cream
- Vanilla extract
- Coconut flour
- Sugar substitute
- Baking powder
- Salt
Instructions:
- Preheat oven to 375°F.
- Add 1/4 tablespoon butter to each muffin cup (or silicone muffin cups, if using--don't use paper muffin cups). Place muffin tin in oven just to melt butter and remove immediately after melted. (This is 3 T altogether--you will have 2 T butter left to go into the batter).
- Add all remaining ingredients (including the remaining 2 T butter) to a blender and process till smooth.
- Divide batter evenly among the muffin cups.
- Bake in 375°F oven for 13-15 minutes until slightly golden. The muffins will pop up like popovers in the oven, but they will collapse as they cool, leaving a nice hollow to put butter, jam, syrup, or other fillings in.
Tips for muffins
When cooking German pancakes or Dutch babies, you’ll put melted butter in the bottom of your pan. I placed 1/4 tablespoon of butter into each metal cup or silicone cup. And that’s just fascinating to me! While both ended up fluffy and delicious, with the same texture, the muffins without the liners seemed to fluff up more.
Read also: Magnesium Supplements for Keto