Eat: PanCAKE Bake

 During the work week, my breakfast routine is completely boring: a bowl of cereal with skim milk. I am far, far away from being a morning person so the very fact that I manage to get out of bed at all much less muster up the energy to do anything is a real triumph. There's just no way I'm going to scramble eggs or flip pancakes. I don't even get out my bowl and spoon—Matt is a dear and does that for me!

The shame of it all is that I LOVE breakfast food. So most weekends I make something special for us to enjoy and get a break from our Monday-Friday whole grain monotony. This arsenal of recipes is huge but has a few go-to regulars that are easy, can be prepped the night before, and (most importantly) delicious. This PanCAKE Bake has quickly become such a favorite!

I mix up the batter on Friday evening and keep it in the fridge overnight. First thing Saturday morning, my early-riser husband will pour it into a baking pan, throw it in the oven, and set the timer. In a perfect world I wake up by the time it's ready! This recipe is straightforward, using staple ingredients you are likely to already have in your kitchen. The first time we made it we were a bit skeptical that it would actually have the fluffy consistency of pancakes but it really does. You get the yummy goodness of pancakes without having to stand at a griddle for 20 minutes. All in all, I highly recommend this one!

PanCAKE Bake

Dry Ingredients:
1-1⁄3 cups flour
3/4 cup quick-cooking oats
1⁄3 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoons salt

Wet Ingredients:
3/4 cup milk
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 egg

In a large bowl, combine the dry ingredients: flour, oats, sugar, baking powder and salt.

In a separate bowl, combine the wet ingredients: milk, oil and egg. Now add this blend to the dry mixture. Stir just until moistened (batter will be lumpy).

Fold in whatever "extras" you want (like a cup of fresh or dried fruit, chopped nuts, chocolate chips, etc.) and cover with Press N Seal wrap. Store overnight in the fridge.

In the morning, preheat your oven to 400°F and grease an 8-inch round pan. Spoon the batter into the pan and bake for 20-30 minutes (or until the cake is golden and pulls away from the pan sides). Cool on a rack for 5-10 minutes, then flip the pan over to remove the cake. Flip the cake again (so it is right-side up) onto a large plate. Top with your favorite syrup, fruit compote, powdered sugar, or nothing at all!

If you do not want to prepare the batter ahead of time, simply follow the instructions as written but preheat your oven while mixing everything and omit the overnight refrigeration step.