Weekend Breakfast

 I love making breakfast! There is nothing like a lazy morning and a big breakfast. Today was the day for a lazy morning. Dave was so tired from his meetings in D.C. all week and I was tired from a long week of shuttling kids around to various activities and trying to keep myself sane!! It has gotten a little easier now that the kids are older, but it is still very exhausting doing it all myself. The week went great up until Friday when everything seemed to go wrong! I was glad Dave was coming home that evening. We had to get up early on Saturday for Lauren's 9am soccer game but it was worth it because she scored the teams first goal of the game! She was very excited!!

So for our lazy day I decided to make a Dutch Baby Pancake. I grew up eating these for breakfast. It was one of those things that I thought every mom made! Just like I thought every mom had a Kitchen Aid mixer and a Cuisinart food processor. I also thought every mom cooked like my mom...as I got older I realized this was not the case and I was so fortunate to have a Mom who prepared yummy food for her family. 

So, back to the Dutch Baby.....these pancakes are extremely easy, very yummy, quick and so pretty!! You can add different toppings (another favorite is blueberries) or eat them plain with powdered sugar and a squirt of lemon. Today I decided to top it with apples. I peeled them with my apple peeler/corer. 

I love this thing. It is a great addition to your kitchen. I use it all the time and they are not very expensive. I sauteed the apples in some butter, sugar, cinnamon and a little spiced rum. So good!! Another must have item for this recipe is a cast iron skillet. I have had mine since I was married. I believe I put it on my wedding registry and received it! I remember being very excited about that! If you buy a new cast iron skillet you need to make sure you season it. Here is a link on how to do it. http://www.kitchenemporium.com/info/castiron.html

Dutch Baby Pancake

4 T. unsalted butter

3 eggs

3/4 C. milk

3/4 C. flour

1/4 t. salt

1/4 t. vanilla

powdered sugar

Sauteed apples:

2 apples (I like granny smith)

2T. butter

1/8 C. sugar

1/4 t. cinnamon

1 T. spiced rum (optional)

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Cut up butter into small pieces, and place in cast iron skillet. Place skillet in hot oven. Prepare batter in a blender by placing eggs in and blending until foamy. Add milk, flour, salt and vanilla and blend until combined. When butter has fully melted in skillet, carefully remove hot skillet from oven and swirl butter to coat pan. Quickly pour batter in skillet and place back in hot oven. Bake for about 25 minutes, or until puffed and lightly browned. While dutch baby is baking prepare the apples. Peel and core apples. Cut into quarters.

 Melt 2 T. butter in a medium saute pan over medium high heat. Add apples, sugar and cinnamon. Saute apples until soft about 5 minutes. Add rum and continue to saute about 1 minute. 

Remove from heat. When dutch baby is done baking remove from oven, top with apples and powdered sugar. Cut into wedges and serve immediately. 

This is almost like dessert for breakfast. My kids love it. I usually make eggs and bacon to go along with the dutch baby too! I hope you try this recipe! It is so easy and good!!