Breakfast for dinner, a winner every time!

I think everyone has a go to meal when it is the end of the day and you need to make dinner but don't have a lot of energy or too many options but you want something yummy, this is that meal for me.  I am a lover of breakfast foods so when I can have these amazing German Pancakes with Buttermilk syrup for dinner, I am happy!  I find myself at my sisters a lot around dinner time and we both love this meal and probably have it 2-3 times a month.
It comes together pretty fast and is actually really easy to make and get in the oven for a fast dinner.  You start by putting some butter in a baking dish and popping that into the oven while it preheats.  While the butter is melting, you blend up the flour, eggs, milk, vanilla, salt and a dash of cinnamon.  Once the butter is melted and the oven is ready, you simple pour your dough mixture into the man, don't mix in the butter!  Pop that back in the oven for about 25 minutes and when it's done, it looks kinda like this!

We have found that depending on the size of the pan, it will look very different!  This is just a half batch since it was only for us and my nephew Sam.  You can serve it with any fruit you have on hand, whip cream is always a nice touch but my favorite topping is Buttermilk Syrup!

Growing up, we always had maple syrup for all breakfast bread related items.  I'm not actually a huge fan of maple syrup but would eat it when there weren't any other options.  Now this syrup, is actually a close cousin to caramel, so it turns the most boring, mundane items into dessert! 

This is another simple recipe that comes together pretty fast.  Start with butter, buttermilk and sugar, heat in a LARGE pan on the stove until boiling. 

Remove from the heat and add vanilla and baking soda.  The chemical reaction you get by adding soda causes the syrup to get really foamy, hence the need of a large pan.

If in doubt how big of a pan to use, go bigger just in case!  It is better to clean a larger pan after the fact than to have to clean a sticky mess from your stove!  We didn't pour this out of the pan until it was cooled, otherwise you could see the layers of syrup and foam, but trust me, it looks beautiful! 
*Update, I made this again last night and got a couple more pics!

Looks so yummy there!

This is a half batch again, a little bit goes a long way and we didn't want it to go bad.  It can be stored in the freezer and then small portions heated in the microwave as needed.  It doesn't get solid in the freezer but it will help it last longer.  Of course the idea of having any to save for later means you can't sit down and eat this with a spoon!  It is good on ice cream, any breakfast breads or anything that would taste better with a sweet and wonderful sauce/syrup.

German Pancakes:
4 T butter or margarine
6 eggs
1 c. flour (can use 1/2 c whole wheat pastry flour)
1 c. milk
1/2 t salt
1 t vanilla
1 t cinnamon

Cut up butter and put into a 9x13 pan, put into oven and preheat to 400.
Put the rest of the ingredients into your blend and blend into everything is mixed and the flour has dissolved.  You could mix this together in a bowl with a hand mixer, doing it in the blender just makes it easy to transfer to your baking dish.
Once mixed and your butter in the oven is melted, pour into your pan.  Do not mix the butter into the dough mix. Bake for approximately 25 minutes.

Cut and serve immediately



Buttermilk Syrup
1 1/2 c. butter
1 1/2 c. buttermilk
3 c. sugar
1 t vanilla
1 T. baking soda

Combine butter, buttermilk and sugar in large saucepan and stir until sugar is dissolved it comes to a boil.  Remove from heat and whisk in vanilla and baking soda.