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
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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.
Hi Beth! Would a glass round casserole dish be suitable to cook this in, if I preheat it? Something similar to this: https://www.homedepot.com/pep/Libbey-Baker-s-Premium-2-Qt-Glass-Casserole-with-Cover-57024/304294178?source=shoppingads&locale=en-US&&mtc=Shopping-B-F_HDH-G-D59H-029_029_HOUSEWARES-Multi-NA-NA-PLA-NA-NA-bakeware_smart_pla_test&cm_mmc=Shopping-B-F_HDH-G-D59H-029_029_HOUSEWARES-Multi-NA-NA-PLA-NA-NA-bakeware_smart_pla_test-71700000087623971-58700007447146482-92700066903913990&gclid=Cj0KCQjwqp-LBhDQARIsAO0a6aLmmuHgXMYo-CIFuX43GNSSdlJca4acoywnAJH9URyDGDphRMTwyScaApcOEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds
I ask because my partner doesn’t have a lot of dishes or cooking equipment at his house, but I can always bring my own cast iron since that will probably make it nice and crispy!
Thanks :)
I haven’t tried it so I can’t say for sure, but I think you could make that work. You may want to preheat it in the oven instead of on the stove top as I did with the skillet.
The general rule of thumb when using glass bakeware is to reduce the temperature by 25 degrees. Otherwise, the bottom and sides tend to scorch/burn.
So delicious! Very easy to make. This recipe is now in the breakfast rotation 😊
LOVED THIS – it was great to have it go out on the table for everyone at once, and the texture and flavour was perfect. We made a fortune wheel and wrote toppings in each section then turned decking out the pancake slices into a game for the kids. It was a huge success for family brunch. Thank you for the recipe!
What a pretty pancake! Looking forward to trying it. For what it’s worth, I love my pancake griddle. I can fit 8 at a time on it and between batches I cover the cooked ones with a tea towel to keep them warm. I’m not a fan of lots of extra kitchen appliances but I make an exception for the griddle.
Thanks Beth! Brilliant idea baking them in the oven . . . I will definitely try this…
What a great recipe for National Pancake Day today. I am excited to try this!
When my daughter saw this at the top of your latest and greatest, she knew this is what she wanted for breakfast. Both kids said this was a big win.
I subed out Bob’s red mill 1 for 1 flour, oat milk, and vegan butter. Came out perfect! This will be going into our breakfast rotation.
Thank you for all the AMAZING recipes over the years, Beth. My all time favorite place to find amazing dishes.
Made this this morning and it was a hit! Thanks for the recipe!
Unfortunately this did not work out for me this morning. Came out tasting like play dough :(
Made this using oat milk and it was delicious! Thanks for another great recipe!!
This was delicious! Do you have any suggestions for how to double it for a larger crowd?
If you want to do a larger amount, I would probably use the sheet pan method. A larger skillet might work as well, but I just haven’t tried it. :)
I’m trying this tomorrow with Kodiak mix and the cinnamon swirl. Yum!
What an absolutely brilliant idea! I’m surprised no one has thought of this before (maybe they have but I’ve never seen it). Gotta try it with my gluten-free pancake mix or I may try it with your recipe and use Bob’s Red Mill 1 for 1 flour.
Haven’t made this recipe yet, but it looks delicious! As for regular pancakes, I keep them all warm by moving them from the skillet when they’re just cooked to a preheated oven on a wire rack over a rimmed baking sheet – but this method looks far less tedious than cooking a few pancakes on a skillet at a time!
We have a small cast iron skillet. I’ll try doing half a recipe, and think it would be great for the two of us! Have you tried this using a combination of flours? Thanks.
I haven’t tried a combination of flours, unfortunately.
How did it turn out using a cast iron? It’s just the 2 of us as well and I’m curious if it worked for you! :]