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Let’s start with a confession from me: I’ve never mastered cooking pancakes. Oh, I tried, for a while, years ago. But I always poured the batter too thick or let the pan get too hot, and the only way I could make the pancakes round was by using a mold I’d made by cutting the top and bottom off a tuna can. And then I married someone who was just fine at cooking pancakes to perfection, so we eventually divided the work: I’d mix up the batter, he’d work the pan. We’re still doing it that way. If you want a simple recipe for pancakes, try our Anyday Pancakes.
So I don’t have a lot of pancake expertise to share. What I have is an alternate way to make one big, two-serving pancake that doesn’t need to be flipped and comes out round because it takes up the whole pan. It actually bakes in the toaster oven, but don’t let that put you off. The whole thing takes only 15 minutes.
You’ll need a small, ovenproof frying pan — I used a five-inch cast iron one. Before you start, make sure your pan will fit in the toaster oven with the door closed. And have a potholder handy.
- 1 egg
- ¼ cup milk
- ¼ cup flour
- 2 teaspoons sugar
- Heat toaster oven to 450.
- Melt about half a teaspoon of butter in the pan. (You can do this either on top of the stove or by putting the pan, with butter, into the oven for a few minutes.
- I think the fewer times I have to pull it out by the handle, the better, but your mileage may vary.)
- Measure the milk into a glass measuring cup and break the egg into it. Beat them together thoroughly or you’ll get white and yellow spots in the pancake.
- Then add the flour and sugar and beat till smooth.
- Pour the batter into the pan (see, isn’t it handy to have it in a cup with a spout?) and bake in the toaster oven for 10 minutes.
- Then take it out carefully and use a spatula to get it onto a plate. Eat with cinnamon sugar or fresh fruit, or whatever you want.
- This makes a very eggy, solid pancake that’s almost like an omelet.
- You could leave out the sugar and serve it with meat or cheese.
- Of course, it’s still good to know how to make pancakes the regular way — it’s also a lot faster — but for that, I need to do some research.
