Puffed Pear Pancake

I have been making this Dutch baby recipe since it came out nearly two decades ago! I was in high school when I first made it and have passed the recipe to so many people since then. It’s very forgiving; we usually make it with apples and often increase the flour and milk to 1 cup to make it simpler to measure. Pears and brown sugar works great as does just about any fruit (cherries and berries especially) and sweetener you throw at it. If not brown sugar, I usually only have turbinado sugar, and really like that hint of molasses. I nearly always use vanilla extract, sometimes I will add nuts, but don’t think I’ve really ever used almond extract now that I think about it. We’ve made this while camping, while renting vacation homes, in porcelain coated or plain cast iron, in skillets of all sizes. It’s never let me down. I’m sad to see people giving it a low rating with explanation—it’s not helpful to anyone if you don’t explain what you disliked!

I forgot to mention we like it with apples too (instead of pears). Top it with maple syrup, yum! And depending upon your oven, etc. it can only take 20 mins to fully cook, so keep an eye on it. --- Also, I prefer to mix the vanilla with the milk. Then add the milk to the flour. Then add the egg. --- Instead of dirtying another bowl you can sprinkle cinnamon and sugar on the bottom of the pan. Then add apples. Then top the apples with cinnamon and sugar. ENJOY!