Sheet Pan Pancakes

Sheet pans really are workhorses in the kitchen.  I think most of us have discovered the liberating ease of a sheet pan dinner (it almost feels like cheating), but have you ever made pancakes on one?  

I return time and again to Ree Drummond’s Super Easy! cookbook for this and other recipes.  She wrote it during the pandemic, but when so many home cooks were taking advantage of the time at home to experiment with elaborate methods and tackle complicated recipes, she writes about how she experienced cooking fatigue.  She had a house full of grown, ravenous kids plus their friends looking for three meals a day, every day.  Even though her happy place is in the kitchen and it’s hard to picture her in a bad mood (she's one of the most cheerful personalities in the food world), in this book she explains how she started developing recipes to save her sanity and keep some dishes out of her sink.

Her quick pancake recipe brilliantly uses the blender to whip up the batter, and then the oven does the work so you can go about your morning.  There is no watching the griddle or worrying about keeping the stack warm while you make more.  You can also customize the toppings to make everyone happy.  It’s an all-around winner.

I have tweaked her recipe a bit to cut back on some of the fat and sugar and boost the fiber, but the result is still delicious.

Sheet Pan Pancakes

5 tbsp butter

2 ½ cups whole milk

2 large eggs

1 tbsp vanilla extract

2 cups all-purpose flour

¾ cups whole wheat pastry flour (if you don’t have this on hand, you can just use all-purpose)

2 tbsp baking powder

2 tbsp ground flax seed

3 tbsp sugar

½ tsp kosher salt

*Optional toppings (see note)

Preheat the oven to 425℉.  Place the butter in a microwave-safe bowl and heat until melted.  Set aside.  

In a blender, combine the milk, eggs, vanilla, and 4 tbsp of the melted butter and blend for a few seconds to mix well.  Add the flours, baking powder, flax seed, sugar, and salt.  Pulse until just combined.  

Using a pastry brush, spread the remaining 1 tbsp melted butter onto a sheet pan.  Pour the batter evenly onto the pan.

*Optional toppings: Now, you can leave the batter plain at this point, or you can have a field day topping this pan however your heart desires.  You can use chocolate chips, chopped nuts, fruit such as blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, or sliced peaches, or you can even swirl in some peanut butter or Nutella.  We usually do ⅓ chocolate chips, ⅓ blueberries, and the rest plain.

Bake for 20 minutes until the top is lightly golden.  Cut into squares and serve with butter and syrup or honey.  

Life, within doors, has few pleasanter prospects than a neatly-arranged and well-provisioned breakfast-table. 

   - Nathaniel Hawthorne