The glorious thing about make-ahead recipes is this: You get to make the food when you feel like it AND you get to reheat and eat the food when you feel like it.
Let’s take pancakes, for example. Sometimes I want pancakes for breakfast, but I don’t feel like mixing up a batter, taking the griddle down from the storage above the fridge, and making them. Or sometimes, I do feel like making pancakes, but I’m not necessarily hungry or in the mood to eat them. (I often feel like this on Sundays, when I’m trying to plan ahead for the coming week.)
Fortunately, pancakes are a great make-ahead food, and yes, you to have it all. Next time you’re in the mood, make gigantic amounts of pancakes, then freeze them so you can reheat them whenever you want. Or, if you end up making too many pancakes in one batch, just toss the leftovers in the freezer for another day. Pancakes taste GREAT reheated. That’s one thing about carbolicious foods: they typically freeze and reheat beautifully, and pancakes are no exception.
I have frozen all types of pancakes—plain buttermilk ones, whole wheat ones, cornmeal ones, buckwheat ones—and I haven’t had any trouble with any type of pancake I’ve frozen and reheated.
To get started, make however many pancakes you’d like, and feel free to use your favorite recipe. The two I make most often are these 100% Whole Wheat Pancakes and these Buttermilk Ones!
You want the pancakes to be fully cooked through on both sides before freezing.
Label a resealable bag with the type of pancakes you made, and date it as well. I try not to keep pancakes in the freezer for more than a month or two.
Place all your pancakes on a sheet pan, so that they’re close together but not touching, then put them in the freezer for 30 minutes, until frozen. Then you can place them in the resealable bag, as many as will fit.
Or, if you don’t think you can fit a whole sheet pan into your freezer, you can stack the pancakes between wax paper or parchment paper, and place those stacks in the resealable bag to freeze.
Here are 3 methods for reheating the pancakes:
This is my preferred method. Place 1 to 5 frozen pancakes on a microwave-safe plate, and microwave about 20 seconds for 1 pancake, and about 60 seconds for 5 pancakes (time will vary depending on the wattage of your microwave). I have found it makes absolutely no difference if you cover the plate in plastic wrap, so no need to bother with that. This method yields soft, fluffy pancakes.
This is a great method too, and can be more suitable for larger numbers of pancakes. Preheat the oven to 350ºF. You can either place the desired number of frozen pancakes into a foil packet, or place pancakes in a flat layer on a sheet pan and cover the pan tightly with foil. Either way, the pancakes need to be encased in foil, otherwise they will be dry. Bake for about 10 minutes, until the pancakes are warm and soft. Note: I didn’t find any need to pre-brush the pancakes with butter in terms of moistness.
I tested this and thought I’d note my conclusions. While I don’t think this is a great reheating method, it does work. You’re really limited in number (one pancake per slot in the toaster), and you have to watch the toaster to keep the pancakes from getting crispy.
A note on defrosting: I have found no reason to defrost the pancakes in the fridge the night before, since it still requires you to reheat the pancakes in the microwave or oven, and the frozen pancakes reheat so beautifully already. The defrosted pancakes weren’t fluffier or better than the frozen ones.
Whatever method you choose, I hope this helps you prep some tasty breakfasts ahead of time. Enjoy those pancakes!
