Your Next Dutch Baby Needs A Chocolatey Twist

Chocolate for breakfast may have been strictly prohibited when you were a child, but hey, rules were made to be broken. And we can't think of warm weekend breakfast that would better benefit from chocolate than a Dutch baby — the wonderfully versatile, pancake-adjacent concoction that can easily upstage any run-of-the-mill French toast or waffle. We know that's a controversial take, but we stand by it.

Baked over a sea of melted butter in a preheated skillet, the Dutch baby is both simple and show-stopping. It hovers between the categories of pancake and popover yet requires nothing more than a quick bake in the oven. That being said, there's always room to raise the stakes. Incorporating chocolate, whether a puff of cocoa powder or melty little chocolate shards, will elevate your next brunch contribution from pleasantly simple to restaurant-worthy. The key is knowing how to incorporate the star ingredient without compromising your batter — and we've got you.

When it comes to baking anything, from scones to sheet cake, it's important to pay close attention to your measurements. Adding a disproportionate heaping of dried ingredients, like flour, sugar, or cocoa powder, can lead to a crumbly, dry texture as your mixture bakes. Instead of simply adding unsweetened cocoa powder to a non-chocolate Dutch baby recipe, try swapping out a small quantity of the flour for cocoa powder — keeping your dry ingredient ratio in check.

Try the method with a fluffy Dutch baby recipe that incorporates one surprise ingredient to ensure moisture: a bit of ricotta. First, preheat your oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit and stick in an oven-safe skillet, cast iron or otherwise. Whisk your eggs and add the remainder of your ingredients (milk, ricotta, flour, sugar, salt and cocoa powder). Continue to whisk or blend until the mixture is smooth. After taking your heated skillet out of the oven, add a generous helping of butter and enjoy the aroma as it melts instantly. Add the batter and bake for 20 minutes.

If you'd rather not experiment too much with cocoa powder, there's an easier route: Stir chocolate chunks or chips into your batter before throwing it onto your preheated pan. Once baked, pair your chocolate-infused Dutch baby with any combination of toppings, like raspberries, banana slices, walnuts, or some flaky salt. Of course, this raises another question: How many other breakfast classics can benefit from a little added chocolate?