French Toast-ified Pancake
Part of the big-pan pancake series
Last year, I published a recipe for a yeasted/sourdough pancake baked in a big pan. It was my most popular recipe from last year, and it is indeed delicious. I still make it 1-2x a month, and have been trialing out fun variations on the recipe. I already published two versions this week, and today’s final recipe is for a French toast (pan)cake.
The big-pan pancake series:
There is one thing that’s been irking me about the big-pan pancake recipe: if you are just feeding 1 or 2 people, it makes too much. I had a handful of people ask last year about halving the recipe which is complicated because the recipe makes 2 pancakes, and calls for 3 eggs. So, I explored solutions and came up with keeping the quantities as is, but creating a way to repurpose the leftovers!
You can fry the pancakes for that morning’s breakfast (may I suggest making one of the variations: blueberry crumb or pineapple upside-down), and save a plain one for a French toast pancake the following morning.
Not only is this an ideal solution because it tackles that egg problem, but one batter will give you breakfast for two days in a row! Ask me what my ideal weekend breakfast plan is, and this is it.
This pancake recipe–because it is made from a yeasted/naturally leavened batter–falls somewhere between bread and a pancake (like a more tender and moist loaf). The slices of pancake are about 1.5” thick, making it a great candidate for a thick-cut style French toast, and while the crust does mean it takes longer to soak, I love the deep savory notes it brings to an otherwise sweet breakfast (without adding any extra chew/toughness that a baguette or boule style French toast has). Bonus points: I think the final slices of French toast are so cute.
One important note: The cooking technique for this pancake is slightly different than the other versions, so please do check out this recipe’s cooking method if you are also following a recipe for the blueberry crumb (pan)cake, or pineapple upside-down (pan)cake.
Another important note: This recipe requires 10+ hours of drying out the pancake, and you need to soak it overnight. Please plan accordingly!
Makes 6-10 slices
