How to Make a Pancake Breakfast in Two Minutes

You can make a pancake breakfast like this in two minutes.

Breakfast 1: The Toaster

I interviewed my friend in Minnesota yesterday. “How many pancakes do you cook at once?"

“Twenty-five to thirty,” he answered.

“And how many of those do you eat fresh for breakfast,” I asked.

“Four or five,” he answered. That leaves twenty or so for other meals.

The rest went in the freezer. He puts little squares of waxed paper between the pancakes so they don’t freeze together and stacks them into zipper-type plastic bags. He writes what kind of pancakes on the bag and the date and sticks them into the freezer. He does that over and over. He may have five or six different kinds of pancakes in the freezer at once.

When he wants breakfast, he pulls out a bag of frozen pancakes and sticks two of them in the toaster and then two more. They come out just like fresh pancakes, ready for butter and syrup. The only problem he has is figuring out what kind of pancakes he wants that morning.

Breakfast 2: The Microwave

In the summer and near-summer, we spend much of our weekends wandering through the woods pulling our little 18-foot, high-clearance camp trailer behind us.

This is where we were last weekend, high in the Snow Crest Mountains in southern Montana, two hours up a dirt road. (The weekend before, we were in the same area looking for a lost lake and we came across a couple of old ranch hand types in a beat-up Jeep. Their advice was, “Drop the trailer.”)

When we’re camping, usually, we’re anxious to get out in the mornings. Pancakes in the freezer are the perfect solution. But we don’t have a toaster in the trailer. But the microwave works well. A couple minutes is all we need.

On a camping trip, hot pancakes and a great syrup sure work better than cold cereal and a cumbersome gallon of milk. And pancake batter makes a nice staple in the trailer. We keep three or four kinds there. You can leave it there year around. (It’s amazing how often we come in tired in the evening and want nothing harder to make than pancakes.)

"I put the rest (of the pancakes) in the freezer. I pulled out 3 frozen pancakes this morning and microwaved them for 1 minute, and they tasted just as good as they did on the day that I made them fresh." Jennifer McHenry

If frozen pancakes work well in the woods, think how handy they will be in your kitchen when you simply don’t have time to cook.

What Kind of Pancakes Work Best?

Anything.

We have fancy pancakes and we have hearty pancakes. For Sunday morning, I’ll take the fancy pancakes. With two-minute pancakes, Merri Ann and I can squeeze them in before church. Raspberry Sour Cream, Strawberry Peach, and Southern Blueberry are my favorites.

"I have NEVER had such tasty pancakes! I will never have plain pancakes again." Cathy Conner

Out in the woods, I choose hearty pancakes. I love Texas Corn Cakes. I’m also crazy in the woods over multigrain pancakes and sweet potato pancakes.

Texas Corn Cakes

"Had the Texas Corn pancakes for dinner last night. Lord love a duck they're good!" Melanie

Incidentally, since these are savory instead of sweet, they are an excellent choice for a quick dinner. Erin, in our store, uses these for dinner often. Her favorite is corn cakes topped with a can of chili. She then tops the chili with grated cheese and nukes it until it melts. Sometimes she puts s few finely chopped jalapenos in the batter.

Multigrain Pancakes

"Lighter than a cloud. When I thought of "multi-grain" pancakes, I used to think of a dense, heavy pancake...such is definitely NOT the case with this wonderful mix! The pancakes are as light as a feather and cook up like they just came from a 5-star restaurant! AND, with all the various grains, they're actually fairly healthy, considering that they're pancakes/waffles! This mix is a MUST in our pantry!" Sharon Roscher

Sweet Potato Pancakes

These Cinnamon Chip & Brown Sugar Sweet Potato pancakes are so amazing! We absolutely love them! A must try!!! Julie B.

We have 30 kinds of pancakes and there are more in the pipeline.

What Do You Put on Your Pancakes?

Anything.

I’m partial to buttermilk syrup. It’s scrumptious, it comes in a little Mylar bag, and it’s quick and easy to make. No more spilled syrup from bumps and jumps in the road. It only takes a few minutes to make. Here’s how:

1. Dump the mix, the butter, and water in a good-sized pan.
2. Heat and stir through until it turns color, to a golden caramel color. It’s done.

It comes in different flavors and costs less than the syrup in the grocery stores.

If buttermilk syrup is not your thing, we have a great selection of syrups made with fruit juices. Try Marionberry Syrup or Apricot Syrup.

We also have a selection of cream syrups.

What Else Can You do with Your Pancakes?

Merri Ann adds chopped pecans to her batter for pancakes and waffles—and almost always, adds buttermilk syrup.

I like fruit on my pancakes—raspberries, blueberries, strawberries, and fresh peaches. Cut the fruit into little chunks and then spoon it over your pancakes after you pour the batter on the griddle but before you turn your pancakes. If you put the fruit in your batter, it tints your batter pink or purple. And the juices thin the batter. Instead of having tall, fluffy pancakes, you’ll have skinny pancakes. Finally, you don’t need to cook your fresh fruit so minimize the time it’s on the griddle.

Incidentally, when you pour your batter on the hot griddle, it should stop spreading with the batter is ¼-inch thick.

If you want to add dry fruit—cranberries, raisins, dates, or apricot chunks—to your pancakes, you can stir that fruit into the batter.

The Beauty of Frozen Pancakes

With frozen pancakes and two-minute meals, your life just got easier. Your family can’t tell the difference between fresh and frozen and you just don’t have time to cook breakfast every morning. Use frozen pancakes at least for emergency meals when you simply don’t have time to cook.

And there’s nothing wrong with two-minute pancake meals for supper either.

Thanks for your interest.

Dennis