Sheet Pan Pancakes
One pan, one bake, no flipping. Breakfast for a full camp before the coffee runs out.
- calories
- 420
- weight
- 4.5 oz
- cal / oz
- 93
- protein
- 11 g
- serves
- 6, scales
- prep
- 8 min
- cook
- 15 min
- total time
- 23 min
- water
- 350 ml cold
- cost
- $
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Breakfast
- Dutch oven
- Campfire coals
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Vegetarian
- Nut free
- One pot
- Pre-mix at home
- Shelf stable
- Basic
Ingredients
| Flour | 2 cups | all-purpose or whole wheat, both work |
|---|---|---|
| Baking powder | 1 tbsp | check the date, it dies in the pantry |
| Sugar | 2 tbsp | |
| Salt | 1 tsp | |
| Powdered whole milk | 1/2 cup | reconstitutes into the 1.5 cups of milk the batter wants |
| Powdered eggs | 3 tbsp | equals 2 eggs |
| Cold water | 1 1/2 cups | |
| Oil or ghee | 3 tbsp | plus a little more for the pan |
| Dried fruit | 1/2 cup | freeze-dried strawberries or chopped dates |
| Maple syrup | to taste | carried in a screw-top bottle |
Method
- Build a bed of coals, or run the stove low. You want steady moderate heat, not flame.
- Grease the bottom of a 12-inch dutch oven. Skip the sides, the batter will not climb.
- Shake the dry mix and the water together in a lidded bottle or bag until the lumps are mostly gone. Stir in the oil.
- Pour the batter in, level it with a spoon, and scatter the fruit across the top.
- Lid on. Six or seven coals underneath, fifteen or so on the lid. Bake 15 minutes.
- Check the middle with a stick. If it comes out clean, pull it off the heat and cut it into squares in the pan.
- Pour syrup over the whole thing and hand out squares.
The original is an oven trick: pour the batter into a sheet pan, bake it once, and stop standing at a griddle flipping rounds one at a time. A dutch oven over coals does the same job in camp, and it is the only way to feed six people pancakes before the first ones go cold.
The swaps are the usual no-fridge ones. Powdered milk and powdered egg carry the batter, and both go into the dry mix at home so camp is one bag plus water. Do not expect browning. Baked batter comes out pale and closer to a thick cake than a pancake, so the syrup is doing more work here than it would on a griddle. Keep the coals under the pot sparse or the bottom scorches before the middle sets.
Packing
Dry ingredients go in one gallon bag at home, egg and milk powder included. Oil and syrup in leakproof bottles inside a second bag, because they will eventually leak.
Variations
- Skip the milk and egg powder, use a just-add-water pancake mix, and cut the water to what the box says.
- Cinnamon and brown sugar over the top instead of fruit, pressed in with the back of a spoon.
https://dontwastethecrumbs.com/sheet-pan-pancake-recipe