One big oven-baked skillet pancake

I think I found another genius pancake recipe!  Memorial Day weekend is coming up (how did that sneak up on us!) so I'm thinking there could well be cookouts and picnics in your near future.  But let's also talk breakfast - of the sit-down, leisurely variety.  This is not a dutch baby (which is quite possibly one of the most delicious sweet things to consume for breakfast) but a similar idea.  You know how much I love letting the oven do most of the work, for so many reasons, and this is the same idea.  Instead of flipping pancakes on the griddle, make one big one in a skillet, bake it up, then slice and serve!

I saw this in the recent May 2014 issue of Martha Stewart Living; the theme of the feature was "better basic recipes", taking a new spin of ten classic favorites.  I liked the whole premise and their oven-baked blueberry pancake recipe was the one that really caught my eye given my love of oven-baked shortcuts and of leisurely weekend breakfasts and brunch with my fellas.  

I omitted the blueberries in my version because my son would not approve (you can serve fruit on the side) and I slightly scaled down the amount of sugar and butter in the recipe.  It turned out great!

I am so glad I tried the recipe!  I was worried I wouldn't get a moist pancake doing it this way, in one large skillet, but the center turned out soft and moist - perfectly delicious. 

Baking the pancake in a cast iron skillet (instead of a non-stick skillet, which you could also use) offers a couple of bonus benefits.  The cast iron pan retains heat so well that the pancake(s) stays warm for a while.  Even after patiently letting me finish with picture-taking, we all still sat down to warm wedges of our pancakes.  And...if you're a fan of cornbread - this is your pancake!  The edges and bottom of this skillet pancake turns out golden and crusts, reminiscent of cornbread, and you end up with something like a soft pancake-skillet cornbread hybrid!  

That cornbread factor might not appeal to everyone.  Our little one would prefer his pancake completely baby-soft all the way through if given a choice but my husband and I really enjoyed the slight textural difference between the slightly crisp edge/bottom and the soft interior.

My husband and I also agree that this is a great recipe for brunch with a group.  When you want to have a combination of savory and sweet and put out a spread, a large pancake like this, that keeps warm and that people can slice to their desired portion, is a great thing.

So I've now added another great pancake recipe to my repertoire and I'll be taking advantage of this shortcut often!

Making this single large pancake is really straightforward.  My version here is a plain one (the original includes blueberries in the batter itself).  I used a little less sugar, partially to account for the blueberry omission, and added a touch less butter to the skillet.  I'm always looking for ways to scale back a bit on those things where possible.  Going into the oven, the batter is spread out like this:

I baked mine for about 20 minutes.  The pancake is just slightly pale golden, set, and the edges will start to pull away from the pan.  A teeny dusting of powdered sugar always looks nice.

Letting the pancake cool for about 5 minutes before serving was no problem, as I take pictures of it before we sat down to eat this one.  

Check out the golden, slightly crisp bottom and sides I was talking about (I just used half a tablespoon of butter to grease the skillet).  It definitely makes you think cornbread.  It's not super crunchy but enough to make it interesting.

But overall, I love the fact that you still get a moist, delicious pancake baking it in this time-saving way.  It's definitely a great spin on a classic!

Recipe:

Oven-Baked Skillet Pancake

Adapted from Martha Stewart's Oven-Baked Blueberry Pancake recipe (featured in Martha Stewart Living, May 2014 issue)

- Makes one 10-inch skillet pancake - 

1 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
3/4 cup whole milk
1 large egg, at room temperature
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, plus 1/2 tablespoon for the pan

Optional: confectioners' sugar for dusting, maple syrup for serving

Set an oven rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat to 375 degrees.  Place a 10-inch cast iron skillet (or other non-stick ovenproof pan) in the oven.  

Whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a bowl.  In another bowl or measuring cup, whisk the milk, egg, and melted butter together.  Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and whisk together until just combined.

Carefully remove the skillet from the oven (remember to use oven mitts because the skillet will be extremely hot) and add the remaining 1/2 tablespoon butter.  Swirl the pan to melt the butter and distribute around.  Scrape pancake batter into the skillet and smooth the top with an offset spatula.  Bake until pancake is set, pale golden, and cooked through (you can test by inserting a cake tester), approximately 20-25 minutes.  The edges will begin to pull away from the sides of the cast iron pan when done.  

Let cool for 5 minutes before dusting with confectioners' sugar and serving.