Lazy No-Flip Pancake

Plan B for those who hate standing by the stove with a flipper.

Listen — I love pancakes. But I confess, I am a little fussy about them. I don’t care how much time I may have on my hands — I’m just not a patient flipper.

And I don’t like pancakes from a mix because they always have a weird chemical taste to me. And I’m not a big fan of being stuck by the stove waiting to flip their persnickety little fickle selves.

You know what I mean — you leave them for a second to pour a coffee and the next thing you know the smoke detector is shrieking. Now you have pancakes with one burnt side and the other side is doughy.

Julia Child would mock me.

And even when things are going great — you have- a -pancake- relay -race -to -the- table- to- feed- hungry- people- who- hoover- down- all- the- good- ones- -and- leave- you- one- skimpy -piece- of- bacon- and-the- last- two- pancakes. (Which as we all know — the first two and the last two just aren’t the best.)

It really makes you reconsider who you keep on your Christmas list.

So. I did what all lazy cooks do. I looked for a simpler Plan B.

And once you’ve tried my Pancake Plan B? You’ll never go back. The only time you use a flipper is when you put a slice on your plate.

Confession. After I’d made the batter and put it in the oven I took a closer look at my baking soda.

And it tasted great anyway!

Lazy No-Flip Pancake

Serves: 8–12

Ingredients:

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

2 1/4 cups buttermilk (if you don’t have it — just add 2 teaspoons lemon juice to normal milk)

2 large eggs

1/4 cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla

4 tbsp butter

1. Place 12 x 17 inch rimmed baking sheet (half sheet pan) on the center rack of the oven. Heat oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar, and salt.
3. In a second bowl, whisk together buttermilk, eggs, and vanilla.
4. Melt 3 tbsp butter and whisk into buttermilk mixture.
5. Pour wet ingredients over dry ones and fold just until no traces of flour remain. You want it lumpy.
6. Remove hot pan from oven and swirl the remaining 1 tbsp of butter all over the bottom to melt.
7. Immediately pour in the batter and spread evenly (and be quick about it!)
8. Bake until golden brown and toothpick comes out clean from center. (Mine took about 16 minutes as I used a slightly smaller pan.)
9. Cut into pieces and serve with syrup or homemade preserves as I did.

Author’s notes: If you use the 12 x 17 rimmed baking sheet your pancake will be thinner than my pancake. I used one that was slightly smaller as my husband had torched the larger one in the BBQ.

Thanks for reading! I have loads of food essays (delicious recipes too) and thoughtful and quirky simpler living essays waiting for you. (Well over 100 of them!) And this story caught the attention of NBC News in New York!