i love me some dutch baby

It's important to start the week off right with a yummy breakfast so I present to you one of my all-time a.m. favorites, the Dutch baby.  It's a light, buttery treat that never fails to make my day, whether I'm enjoying it for breakfast, an impromptu dinner, or as a late night snack.  In fact, I could really go for one now.  Martha Stewart Living ran an article a few years ago about cast iron and recipes to make using cast iron and one of the suggestions was a German pancake.  I had never heard of one before but set out to make one the night I read the article.  It's made of ingredients I always have on hand so it was quick and easy to whip together and I LOVED IT.  My recipe is written on a tiny monogrammed piece of note paper and I can't find the original on Martha's website so here it is - 
Dutch Baby
Ingredients
3 large eggs
1/2 C flour
1/2 C milk
1/4 t salt
1/2 t vanilla
2 T butter
Directions
Heat oven to 400°.  Whisk eggs to combine.  Add flour to eggs and whisk until smooth.  Add milk, salt, and vanilla and mix to incorporate; set aside.  Add butter to a cast iron skillet and transfer to oven until melted.  Remove from oven and quickly pour batter into the skillet.  Bake until golden brown, about 15 minutes.  At this point you can add whatever toppings you like, such as freshly squeezed lemon juice, confectioners sugar, or preserves.  I'm usually too impatient to bother with any of that so I eat it plain... delicious!

ready for the oven

This one and this one are similar to my recipe.  I think I'd like to try the second - honey and cardamom with apples sounds heavenly.  Check out TasteSpotting for more variations here and here.  Someone even had the fantastic idea of making Dutch babies in mini muffin tins... genius!  Can't wait to try that next time I host a brunch.  Deb over at Smitten Kitchen has a version that she refers to as loopy breakfast goodness.  I would have to agree with her on that description.

Other pancake-like breakfast foods I would like to sample - ebelskivers!  I need this pan and this cookbook for my birthday.  And these would be quite helpful, I'm sure.  Matt?  Mom?  Are either of you reading this?