Blueberry Pancake Bowl

Pancakes on a weekday morning mean a pan, a spatula and standing at the stove. A pancake bowl means stirring a few things together and walking away for 90 seconds. It's not a stack of diner pancakes, but it tastes like blueberry pancakes and it's ready before the kettle's done.

What makes it a pancake

On paper this looks a lot like the mug muffinsmug cakeA single serving of cake batter cooked right in a mug or bowl in the microwave, usually in a minute or two. It won't brown like an oven cake, but it's done before you could preheat one.More: Protein Blueberry Muffins, Baked or Microwaved, but two small changes shift the texture. There's more milk, half a cup instead of a third, so the batter is thinner. And there's a quarter teaspoon of baking powder, which gives it extra lift. Together they make it lighter and fluffier, closer to a pancake than a dense muffin.

Tip

Use a wide, shallow bowl. The thinner batter needs room to spread, and it cooks more evenly that way than in a mug.

Frozen fruit, straight in

Frozen blueberries go in without thawing. They cool the batter a bit, which keeps the outside from overcooking while the center catches up. Frozen strawberries work the same way; chop them first if they're big.

For the real thing on a griddle, the Pancakes post covers it. If chocolate's more your speed, the Chocolate Protein Pancakes are the stovetop version, and the Cupcake Pancake Bowl is this same bowl gone full dessert.

Heads up

The extra milk means the middle can stay wet longer. If it jiggles at 90 seconds, give it another 15.