The Best Way To Cook Pancakes Requires No Flipping

There are plenty of reasons a person might want to whip up a stack of pancakes without breaking a sweat over a skillet. Maybe you're having a bunch of friends over for brunch and need to hatch a batch. Maybe you have tons of mix-ins to arrange into particular patterns for the holidays or other special events. Or maybe you just have other things to tend to in lieu of standing at the stovetop for a portion of your precious off-work hours. In any case, a sheet pan is the fastest and simplest way to make the breakfast staple for any occasion without carefully monitoring or cautiously flipping each individual pancake.

Sheet pan pancakes do not require any major ingredient swaps, but be advised that they will obviously not resemble the round flapjacks most folks are familiar with. Although you can cut the sheet pan variety into whatever shapes you wish (and even use a cookie cutter for maximum cuteness), slicing them into simple squares with a few flicks of a knife is the quickest route. They should also turn out fluffy with a uniform temperature, unlike the traditional type where only the freshest is truly the best.

While you can make sheet pan pancakes from a boxed mix (and improve them with an easy ingredient swap), making them from scratch only requires a few extra steps to achieve modest bragging rights. Preheat your oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit, follow the steps of your favorite flapjack recipe, pour the batter into a greased sheet pan, and bake. You can first check for doneness after about 10 minutes and ultimately pull them out around the 15-minute mark. If you don't yet have a favorite recipe, try these basic buttermilk pancakes, which are impressively delicious despite their simple ingredients.

Part of the beauty of sheet pan pancakes is how easy it is to upgrade your pancakes before baking. Crumble in some bacon for a smoky, savory addition that tastes even better with a generous drizzle of maple syrup. Toss in chocolate chips for a blast to your kiddo past. Or press sliced fruit into the batter to keep breakfast on the light and sweet side. Like a not-so-short stack of these fluffy beauties, the sky's the limit.