Pancake Shortcut.

As I get older, I think I'm becoming more lazy in certain things about our daily routine.
Maybe.
It just seems so much easier to take little shortcuts here and there to make the day smoother, and make me feel less incredibly stressed out.
Breakfast, in particular, has become a daily challenge at our address. My normally non-picky girls have taken it upon themselves to make this our trickiest meal of the day. They will not eat cereal (too crunchy); or oatmeal (weird texture); no toast for them (too much like cardboard); or scrambled eggs (though I haven't a clue why). The perennial fav is PopTarts and pancakes. Sometimes I make pancakes or waffles the night before and just reheat them in the morning. This is a fine solution...when I remember to do it. Most of the time I'm scrambling in the morning, desperately debating with them what will be for breakfast, and handing out toaster pastries in an act of too-tired-to-fight submission.

But now I have a new shortcut. And this one is great. Genius, really.

Did you know you can pour pancake batter into a pan and bake it all at once? (If you already know that then you are superior to me, who has only recently discovered this nifty little trick). It works with any batter, homemade or made from a mix. You simply pour the batter into the pan and bake it at 350 for about 10 minutes. It. Is. Awesome. (And now I know what's for breakfast).

                       Spray a 10 1/2 x 15 (Jelly Roll) pan with non stick spray.

             Pour the batter on in and spread. Doesn't matter what type of batter you use. I used a "regular sized" recipe; it made 12-14 pancakes. Larger batches may need a larger pan.

 You can make different types of pancakes in the same pan! Yay! I made    one side chocolate chip and the other side blueberry-lemon. Yum.

 Bake at 350 for about 10 minutes. The pancake won't brown as much as it might when you cook on a griddle, but our family isn't offended by it.

You can cut the pancake into nifty little dipping sticks, or (and this is genius too), you can use a cookie cutter to cut out shapes. It's completely up to you.

This is the only way I make pancakes now. It's quick and easy. And keeps me away from the griddle cooking endless batches  of cakes. If you want to make a larger batch of pancakes, use more batter and a larger 1/2 sheet pan.