Easy As Sin: Make Glorious Puff Pancakes

As a breakfast treat for sleepover guests (or for anyone any time for that matter), nothing is more spectacular than classic German puff pancakes.

FROM THE VAULT | “Easy as sin” is how Deb Perelman at the famous food blog Smitten Kitchen describes her generic recipe for sweet German pancakes, which involve precisely two and a half minutes of prep time. “A delicious no-brainer” is the way I describe the most scrumptious dessert pancakes on the planet.

My good friend Ann, an accomplished cook, grew up making spectacular, show-stopping soufflé-style pancakes at home in Germany, and she showed me how to make them not long ago. Baked in the oven where they puff up on their own, Ann’s pancakes are served in the classic manner with a scatter of powdered sugar and a squeeze of fresh lemon juice (pictured above; CLICK HERE for the Cooking Light recipe she now uses).

Puff pancake lovers like Julia at See You In The Morning, an amazingly beautiful and tasty food blog, make theirs clafoutis style with fresh fruit added into the mix. Her recipe for Dutch Baby pancakes with cherries in lemon sugar and toasted hazelnuts (pictured directly above; CLICK HERE for her recipe adapted from Orangette) may be sinfully delicious, but it is as close to food heaven as you’ll get in this lifetime. —Carolann Rule

Photos, top to bottom: Becky Luigart-Stayner and Lydia DeGaris-Pursell, Cooking Light; Julia at See You In The Morning