I love pancakes, but I find the process of cooking them a little tedious and frustrating. I can only cook a few at a time in a skillet which leaves me stuck between serving everyone at different times, or serving all at once with some pancakes being a little less than fresh. So I just started cooking them as one big sliceable pancake! It’s so much easier and a lot more hands-off. With this method, the entire batch of pancake batter is cooked at one time in the oven and then it’s sliced and served like a cake. I guess you could say that it’s a literal pan-cake!
Other Pancake Topping Ideas
You don’t have to make your oven pancake “cinnamon swirl” flavor, you can add any of your usual favorite pancake add-ins. Here are some other pancake topping ideas:
- Bananas
- Walnuts or Pecans
- Chocolate Chips
- Coconut
- Peanut Butter
- Blueberries
- Strawberries
- Bacon
- Lemon zest
Use Your Favorite Pancake Batter
The recipe below uses a very basic pancake batter, but you can use this oven method with just about any pancake batter. So feel free to try it out with your favorite recipe or even your favorite pancake mix!
Use an Oven Safe Skillet
The most important part of this recipe is that you use an oven-safe skillet. This means no plastic handles and no Teflon coating. Stainless steel or cast iron will both work. You can also do a similar oven-baking method using a sheet pan (see sheet pan pancakes).
Cinnamon Swirl Oven Pancake
Servings 4 2 slices eachIngredients
- 1 cup all-purpose flour ($0.10)
- 1.5 tsp baking powder ($0.04)
- 2 Tbsp sugar ($0.02)
- 1 cup milk ($0.40)
- 1 large egg ($0.24)
- 4 Tbsp butter*, divided ($0.44)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract ($0.28)
- 1/4 tsp salt ($0.01)
- 1 tsp cinnamon ($0.10)
- 2 tsp brown sugar ($0.08)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425ºF.
- In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the milk, egg, vanilla, and 2 Tbsp melted butter.
- Pour the bowl of wet ingredients into the bowl of dry ingredients and stir just until everything is combined (avoid over stirring). Let the batter sit for five minutes. Meanwhile, prepare the cinnamon swirl mixture.
- Combine 1 tablespoon of melted butter with the cinnamon and brown sugar. Set the cinnamon mixture aside. This will be the cinnamon swirl in the pancake batter.
- Add 1 tablespoon of butter to a 10" oven-safe skillet. Preheat the skillet on the stove top over medium theat until he butter starts to sizzle and foam. Use a brush to spread the melted butter all over the surface and up the sides of the skillet.
- Pour the pancake batter into the preheated skillet. Drizzle the cinnamon mixture over the pancake batter and then drag a spoon through the surface to sort of swirl the cinnamon into the pancake batter.
- Transfer the skillet to the fully preheated 425ºF oven and bake for about 18 minutes, or until puffed in the center and slightly golden brown on the outer edges. If you prefer a more browned top to the pancake, you can switch the oven to the broil setting and broil until the desired color has been achieved (watch closely!).
- Slice the pancake into eight pieces and serve.
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Notes
Nutrition
How to Make an Oven Pancake – Step by Step Photos
Begin by preheating the oven to 425ºF. In a large bowl, stir together 1 cup all-purpose flour, 1.5 tsp baking powder, 2 Tbsp sugar, and 1/4 tsp salt.
In a separate bowl, whisk together 1 cup milk, 1 large egg, 2 Tbsp melted butter, and 1 tsp vanilla extract. Let the batter sit while you prepare the cinnamon swirl.
Pour the bowl of wet ingredients into the bowl of dry ingredients and stir just until everything is combined. It’s okay if there are a few lumps, it’s more important to avoid overstirring. Let the batter sit for five minutes. Meanwhile, prepare the cinnamon swirl mixture.
Combine 1 Tbsp melted butter, 1 tsp cinnamon, and 2 tsp brown sugar in a bowl. This will be the cinnamon swirl.
Add 1 Tbsp butter to a 10-inch oven-safe skillet. Heat on the stove top over medium until the butter is sizzling and foaming, then spread the butter all over the surface and up the sides of the skillet.
Pour the pancake batter into the skillet, then drizzle the cinnamon swirl over top. Gently drag a spoon through the surface to swirl the cinnamon into the batter. Transfer the skillet to the preheated 425ºF oven.
Bake the pancake for about 18 minutes, or until it’s puffed in the center and slightly golden brown around the edges. If you prefer the top more browned, you can switch the oven to the broil setting for a couple of minutes (watch it closely!).
Slice the pancake into eight pieces and serve immediately.
Terrific! I can’t wait to make it again this autumn with some caramel syrup.
Thanks so much for this easy & tasty recipe!
YOU BETH ARE AMAZING!!!
My family loved this! I made it exactly as printed and it came out wonderfully. I did check it a minute early and it was done, and probably could have cooked for around 15/16 minutes and been done. We topped it with fresh peach syrup and it was sooo good. We will be making this again and probably try doubling it and baking on a sheet pan as my teens wanted larger servings. Thank you for another successful recipe.
Can you use a cake pan or cheese cake pan
I haven’t tried it, unfortunately.
I just tried with a pie plate (I think a 9-inch deep dish?) and that worked. I took it out at 18 minutes, but next time I’d give it another couple.
So good! Family favorite. Wish it were bigger. Will try to double the recipe and see how well it cooks through.
First time I made it without warming the skillet first and it stuck horribly. Don’t forget this important step!
Absolutely perfect!! I made this Christmas morning in the cast iron skillet. Fast & easy. Kids loved it (and they are picky:))
Job well done.
Hi :)
has someone tried to freeze them yet?
I did this in a cast iron skillet and it turned out perfect! Just the right amount of sweetness but not too much since you are adding syrup. My kids loved the “pizza pancake”
Mine came out too fluffy and tall, like at least an inch thick, with a really crumbly and cake-like texture. It also was getting pretty brown by only 15 minutes so I’m glad I checked and it was cooked through by then.