Looking for a simple, delicious first-day-of-school breakfast that will bring everyone to the table? This recipe is republished with the permission of Dawn Camp, from her blog My Home Sweet Home: Decorated with Family, Faith and Photoshop. Dawn says, “The Dutch Puff is the only recipe guaranteed to get my kids out of bed. Everyone wants to see it when it’s tallest and pick the part they like best.”
We begin with simple ingredients: butter, eggs, flour, milk, vanilla extract and cinnamon. Most of us have these staples in our homes every day (unless we’re seriously overdue for a grocery run).
Place a stick of butter—equivalent to 1/2 cup or 8 Tbsp.—in a 9″x13″ pan. 
Place the pan into a cold oven, turn the temperature to 425°F (220°C) and begin preheating. The butter will almost certainly melt by the time the oven has reached temperature, but you’ll want to check periodically to see that it doesn’t scorch.
In a bowl, combine 8 eggs, 2 cups milk, 2 cups all-purpose flour, 1 tsp. vanilla extract and a dash of cinnamon. You can add more cinnamon or vanilla to suit your family’s tastes. Those two ingredients are optional; omit them if you aren’t serving this as a sweet dish (more on that in a moment). 
A gluten-free blend can be substituted for all-purpose flour in this recipe. After much experimentation with making our own blends, I’ve finally found a commercial blend that gives consistently good results: Bob’s Red Mill 1-to-1 Baking Flour. We can substitute this GF blend in just about any recipe without adjusting the other ingredients.
When the oven has reached 425°F, remove the baking dish with melted butter, and tilt the dish to spread the butter evenly over the bottom and up the sides. Then, pour the egg and milk mixture into the dish.
Return the baking dish to the oven and bake at 425°F for 20 minutes.
This recipe will rise tremendously as it bakes. If you have a double-oven range with different size ovens, you probably want to use the larger one for this … our first batch puffed up so much it actually touched the heating element!
Remove the puff after 20 minutes of baking and serve immediately with syrup, fruit preserves or a generous spoonful of slow-cooker apple butter.
If someone in your family doesn’t care for a sweet breakfast, the Dutch Puff recipe is a wonderful base for a more savory version, too. For my daughter who melts cheese on waffles instead of using syrup, I omitted the vanilla and cinnamon, and instead added a pinch of salt, freshly-ground pepper, a dash of hot sauce, 1 to 2 tsp. of parsley, and 1/2 c. of grated parmesan cheese. 
We served it with a sprinkling of shredded cheese, although you might want to add crumbled bacon, diced ham, sauteed veggies, or a bit of salsa. We all agreed this version was really tasty, too. 
We hope this simple recipe can help you celebrate your family’s first day of school with a special—but stress-free—breakfast!
Dutch Puff — Quick and easy breakfast recipe for a crowd.
Author: Dawn Camp @ myhomesweethomeonline.net
Recipe type: Breakfast
- 1 stick of butter
- 8 eggs
- 2 cups flour
- 2 cups milk
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract (optional)
- cinnamon (optional)
- Put a stick of butter in a 9″ x 13″ pan and place it in a cold oven.
- Turn the oven to 425° and keep an eye on the butter; it usually melts in about the time it takes for the oven to preheat.
- Beat eggs in a large bowl.
- Add the flour and milk to the eggs and beat until mixed. Add vanilla and cinnamon if desired.
- When the butter has melted, remove the dish from the oven and pour egg, flour, and milk mixture over the melted butter.
- Bake for 20 minutes at 425°.
- Serve immediately with pancake syrup.
