[Welcome back to ✨ Newer, Better Month ✨ on Smitten Kitchen, when I get update a few SK classics with new knowledge, new techniques, and with real-life time constraints in mind. Previously: Perfect Spaghetti and Meatballs and Extra-Flaky Pie Crust.]

Sometimes “newer, betters” emerge because the original recipe wasn’t as good as it could be. But most of them — like this — come from real life. Like, when you’re really tired on a Saturday morning and you look at a recipe that you swore by at some time in your life when nobody dragged you out of bed at 7am on a Saturday [and then, instead of handing you a cup of coffee for your troubles, as you’d once daydreamed they’d be trained to do by now, demanded pancakes] and say “WHUT.” A blender? No, I am definitely not getting the blender out right now. Wait, why am I turning on the stove and the oven? Do I really need this much butter? Why are there lumps in the batter? Why isn’t this as puffy as I thought it would be? Can I go back to bed yet? I mean, just for a random example that’s definitely not going down in my kitchen as we speak.

In the early days of this site, I told you about what my mom’s 1970s blender recipe insert called German Pancakes, confusing many German friends and readers, who had never heard of them. We better know these as Dutch babies — equally confusing, and said to have been coined by a corruption of the German deutsch — or David Eyre’s Pancakes, but they’re closer to popovers or Yorkshire puddings than anything else in batter. Because dramatic, rumpled crepe-like pancakes will always be more exciting than undramatic, unrumpled crepes, I’ve made a lot of versions over the years: buckwheat, cherry-almond and chocolate on the site; gingerbread (in The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook) and a parmesan dutch baby with creamed mushrooms (in Smitten Kitchen Every Day). It was when I was working on the chocolate Dutch baby that took a closer look at dutch baby formulas I’d been using and found through trial but mostly error one that I preferred.

I found that an eggier batter led to a more billowy pancake. I found a little less flour and milk also increased rumples. I found that by adding the flour first, a lumpy batter was fully avoidable. I also realized that a lot of what makes a Dutch baby “work” — i.e. have a dramatic and Instagram-worthy finish — making sure you have the right amount of batter for you pan and, often, cooking it a minute or two further than merely cooked through. An extra couple minutes helps the shape of the waves set, and provides a nice crispy edge underneath.

On sleepy Saturday mornings, I did away with the blender and sometimes even the whisk, the stove, and even the requirement of an ovenproof skillet. I also realized that you don’t even need to choose a sweet vs. savory angle (read: break up any arguments from children who didn’t agree on flavors) before you bake the pancake. You can shower it with anything you choose after it exits the oven — sugar, lemon, fruit, or chocolate for sweet tooths; cheese, herbs, sauteed vegetables, and/or ham or bacon for savory cravings. You could make it right now; believe me, I already am.

Previously

One year ago: Melting Potatoes
Two years ago: Easiest French Fries and Peanut Butter Swirled Brownies
Three years ago: Nolita-Style Avocado Toast and Chocolate Peanut Butter Tart
Four years ago: Black-Bottom Oatmeal Pie and Potatoes with Soft Eggs and Bacon Vinaigrette
Five years ago: Double-Chocolate Banana Bread and Sizzling Chicken Fajitas
Six years ago: Coconut Bread and Chocolate-Hazelnut Macaroon Torte
Seven years ago: Carrot Cake Pancakes
Eight years ago: Oat and Maple Syrup Scones
Nine years ago: Baked Rigatoni with Tiny Meatballs, St. Louis Gooey Butter Cake, Breakfast Pizza
Ten years ago: Pita Bread, Layer Cake Tips + The Biggest Birthday Cake, Yet and Caramelized Onion and Goat Cheese Cornbread
Eleven years ago: Hazelnut Brown Butter Cake, Chard and White Bean Stew, Pasta with Cauliflower, Walnuts, and Feta
Twelve years ago: Skillet Irish Soda Bread and Lighter-Than-Air Chocolate Cake

And for the other side of the world:
Six Months Ago: Breakfast Burritos
1.5 Years Ago: Pizza Beans
2.5 Years Ago: Piri Piri Chicken and Chocolate Pavlova
3.5 Years Ago: Oat and Wheat Sandwich Bread
4.5 Years Ago: Herbed Tomato and Roasted Garlic Tart and Cauliflower Slaw