Friday could not come soon enough this week!! Is it just me, or are things busier than usual? Lately, there are not enough hours in the day to get all of the things done that I want to, let alone cook. Yikes! So it’s particularly apropos for me to be sharing this wonderful new time-saving cookbook, The Minimalist Kitchen, by Melissa Coleman, as my Famous Fridays pick this week. If you’re looking to cut corners in the kitchen and cut down on stress in your life but still turn out delicious and definitely not run-of-the-mill dishes, you are going to adore this book. I know I do! Take for example, this crazy easy Blender Dutch Baby that practically prepares and cooks itself in under 30 minutes. Do I hear weekend brunch plans shaping up?

Speaking of time, if you’re starting to think of holiday gifts (if you’re not, breathe—sorry, didn’t mean to stress you out) The Minimalist Kitchen would be the perfect gift for both cooking pros and those who are a little bit afraid of how to handle themselves in the kitchen. In it, Melissa (who is also the blogger behind The Faux Martha) explains how to pare down your kitchen when it comes to appliances, tools, ingredients, pantry organization and even cooking techniques so that you can spend more time enjoying what you eat and less time worrying about how to make it happen. There are 100 different recipes ranging from comfort food like the Perfect Diner Burger and Stovetop Mac & Cheese to the more unusual like but also simple-to-prepare, Banana-Coconut Baked Oatmeal and Roasted Chickpea Bahn Mi Salad. I’ve already made these Weeknight Veggie Fajitas and Chicken Tinga Tacos (will share soon) and I can’t wait to cook more from the book.

Now onto this crazy easy breakfast treat. This Blender Dutch Baby is going to revolutionize brunch for you. If you’re thinking “Great! But what the heck is a Dutch baby?” just know that its essentially a large pancake that bakes in the oven rather than on top of the stove like traditional pancakes. The advantage to this is that you can turn out a pancake 1-2-3 that can be enjoyed by all at the same time. No more flipping pancake after pancake as your family eats in stages.

And with this version, you simply whiz the ingredients together in a blender, dump them in a hot skillet of melted butter and bake for about 15 minutes. That’s it! So easy, you kind of can’t make excuses that you don’t have time for it.

Gotta love those peaks and valleys!

It lends itself to a variety of toppings—fruit, whipped cream, maple syrup, but I like it best with just a little powdered sugar—sort of reminds me of the sugar crepes you buy on the street in Paris!

Okey, dokey, that’s enough talk—we are busy after all. Have a great weekend with your family and friends. Hope there’s a Dutch baby in it for you somewhere. Laters!

The Minimalist Kitchen’s Blender Dutch Baby-Famous Fridays

Makes 4 servings but honestly 2 hungry people could eat this (not that I know from experience or anything)

Not to highlight the duh factor, but you will need a blender for this

Prep Time: 10 minutes; Cook Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients

• 3 large eggs, room temperature (either take them out about 1 hour ahead of time or let them sit in a bowl of warm water for 5 minutes right before you are ready to use them)

• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter

• 3/4 cup unbleached, all-purpose flour

• 3/4 cup whole milk

• 1-2 tablespoons sugar

• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

• Confectioners’ sugar, maple syrup for serving (optional)

  The Recipe

  1. Preheat oven to 425ºF. Add the butter to a large cast-iron skillet or other heavyweight, oven-safe pan and place the pan in the oven until the butter is melted and bubbly. Keep an eye on this because the butter can go from melted to burned pretty quickly.

  2. While the butter is melting, place the eggs in the blender and blend on medium-high for about 5 seconds or so, until the eggs are bubbly. Add in the flour, milk, salt and vanilla and blend for about 5 seconds more, until incorporated.

  3. Once the butter is melted, carefully remove the pan from the oven and immediately pour the batter into it. Place it back into the oven and let cook for 13-15 minutes. Then turn the oven off and let the pan sit for another 5 minutes to allow the Dutch baby to set up a bit.

  4. Remove from the oven and dust with the confectioners’ sugar if using and cut into wedges. Serve as is or with maple syrup or anything else you like.

  5. If you don’t have a blender, you can still make this. Stir the flour, sugar and salt together in a medium bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs together until fluffy. Whisk in the milk and vanilla and then slowly add the mixture to the dry ingredients, whisking all the time until well combined.

  Enjoy!

  Note: Recipe adapted from The Minimalist Kitchen by Melissa Coleman. There’s a stewed tart cherries that you can make to go along with this, but in the interest of minimalism, I think it’s just perfect as is and incredibly easy—much more so than regular pancakes.