Make-ahead breakfasts are perfect for something simple to cook for your family in the morning. This pancake casserole was a hit for my boys!
Jump to RecipeMy boys absolutely love pancakes, so I’ve been trying to find ways to use them in other breakfasts. When I came across a recipe for pancake casserole in a magazine, I knew we had to try it.
This is another breakfast that can be made the night before and then baked in the morning. As we started making this, we realized how much it would yield. We decided we would prepare it and bring it over to Justin’s parents for a weekend breakfast.
With five adults and two kids eating, there were still leftovers. It was able to be reheated once pretty well, but I don’t think it would be good again after that. This recipe took a bit more work than the Make-Ahead French Toast, but we liked this better. I wasn’t sure how well it would come out with covering the pancakes in liquid overnight, but it wasn’t soggy.
I also got to try out the Bee’s Wrap 3-piece Pack in Mimi’s Purple Clover Print from Southern Kitchen that I received. Since I’ve never used a beeswax cover like this I wasn’t sure what to expect, but they worked really well! Justin didn’t realize that there was liquid in the pan and had to move it a few times. He lifted only one side of the pan a couple of times and it never leaked. This was a great way to test that out! I have always hated plastic wrap, even before trying to cut down on waste in the kitchen. It always sticks to itself and doesn’t seem to work well.
This recipe uses buttermilk pancakes, which is slightly different than my normal go-to pancake recipe. I’ve used buttermilk a few times now, and find it easier to buy the powder mix. I don’t use it often enough to buy it in liquid form since it would go bad too quickly.

Pancake Casserole Step by Step
Ingredients
Pancakes
- 2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tbsp granulated sugar
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1 1/2 tsp salt
- 3 cups whole buttermilk
- 3 eggs
- 6 tbsp unsalted butter (melted)
Casserole
- 6 eggs
- 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
- 1 cup whole milk
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Streusel
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 cup pecans (roughly chopped )
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter (cubed)
- Pure maple syrup
Preparation
Start by mixing the dry ingredients for the pancakes together in a large bowl. I like to use my stand mixer, but you could use a hand mixer as well.

Combine the buttermilk with the eggs.

Pour the liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients. Stir until it forms a batter. Gently stir the melted butter in last. It’s ok if there are a few lumps left in the batter.

When I make my regular pancake recipe, I use a flat square pan. This time, I decided to get out my large electric skillet and prepare the pancakes over medium heat. That allowed me to make 6 pancakes at a time, so I only had to do about 5 or 6 batches (I don’t remember exactly how many). Use 1/4 cup of the batter for each pancake and cook until they are golden brown on each side.

After you finish making the pancakes, and they cool off a bit, cut them in half. Add some cooking spray to your dish. Layer the pancake halves in a 9×13 baking dish with the cut side down. You can do this one of two ways: either in two long rows all the way across the pan, or in a few rows along the short side of the pan. I chose to do two rows, but I had to keep pushing them up since they were sliding down.

In a medium bowl, whisk 6 eggs, heavy cream, milk, sugar, and vanilla until they are combined.

Pour the egg mixture as evenly as possible over the pancakes and into the casserole dish.

Cover the pan with beeswax wrap, aluminum foil, or plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight. In the morning, preheat the oven to 350F then make the streusel. In a small bowl, combine the flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, salt, and pecans.

Use a pastry blender (or your hands) to cut in the butter. This will be chunky, and that’s ok.

Sprinkle the streusel over all of the pancakes, making sure it covers the entire dish.

Bake the entire casserole in the preheated oven for about an hour. Cook until the center is set. The liquid will cook into the pancakes.

Serve the pancake casserole warm with maple syrup and enjoy!

Pancake Casserole Leftovers
Storage: Place leftover pancake casserole in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2-3 days. If possible, store without the syrup on top to keep the pancakes from getting more soggy.
Reheating: The best way to reheat pancake casserole is in an oven or toaster oven at 350F for about 10 minutes, until warmed through.
Freezing: If you want to freeze some of the pancake casserole, I suggest putting it in individual freezer-safe containers. Thaw in the refrigerator overnight before reheating. This should last about 1-2 months in the freezer.

Recipe
Originally Published On: January 28, 2017
Last Updated On: June 30, 2023

Make-Ahead Pancake Casserole Breakfast
Ingredients
- 2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tbsp granulated sugar
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1 1/2 tsp salt
- 3 cups whole buttermilk
- 3 eggs
- 6 tbsp unsalted butter (melted)
- 6 eggs
- 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
- 1 cup whole milk
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 cup pecans (roughly chopped )
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter (cubed)
- Pure maple syrup
Recommended Equipment
Instructions
- In a mixing bowl, combine all dry ingredients: flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt
- Whisk buttermilk and eggs and stir into flour mixture
- Gently stir in the butter (the batter may be lumpy)
- Make each pancake with about 1/4 cup of the batter, continuing until batter is completely used
- Once cooled, cut each pancake in half
- Arrange pancakes in a greased 9×13 baking dish with the cut sides down
- In a medium bowl, whisk eggs, cream, milk, sugar, and vanilla
- Slowly pour egg mixture over pancakes, cover and refrigerate overnight
- Preheat oven to 350F and remove pancakes from the refrigerator
- In a small bowl, whisk the flour, pecans, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt
- Use a pastry blender (or your hands) to cut in the cold butter
- Sprinkle streusel mixture over the pancakes
- Bake uncovered for about an hour, until the pancakes are set in the middle and the liquid has all cooked into the pancakes
- Serve warm with maple syrup
All nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered estimates. Actual nutrition content will vary based on brands used, measuring methods, portion sizes, and more.
Other Pancake and Waffle Recipes
- Dutch Baby Pancake with Blackberries
- Classic Waffles in the Waffle Maker
- Banana Bread Pancakes
- Sheet Pan Pancakes
- Lemon Crepes
- Easy Fluffy Vegan Eggless Pancakes Recipe
- Fried Chicken and Waffles
- Make-Ahead Pancake Casserole Breakfast
- Quick and Easy Bisquick Pancakes
- Breakfast Crepes Your Way
- French Toast Waffles
More Make-Ahead Breakfast Recipes
- Make-Ahead Pancake Casserole Breakfast
- Make-Ahead and Pull-Apart Mini Cinnamon Bites
- No-Bake Cereal Bars from Crumbs
- Make-Ahead Oatmeal Breakfast Bars
- Easy Pull-Apart Caramel Coffee Cake Recipe
- Make-Ahead French Toast Casserole
- Granola Bars
- Breakfast Hot Pocket
- Vegan Breakfast Cookies
This recipe looks so delicious! My family loves pancakes and this casserole would be an awesome addition to our breakfast food. I’m definitely going to be trying this out this week 🙂
My boys absolutely love pancakes, too. This takes a little more work, but we devour this. And it reheats decently the next day if you don’t eat it all.
oh my gosh when I saw all the pancakes together I became so hungry! lol I just ate but this looks fantastic! and your kid is so adorable sitting in front of the oven.
It’s so hard not to eat some of the pancakes at night when I prepare this. I won’t lie, I might have sneaked one or two before! My oldest son loves breakfast so had such a hard time waiting for it to bake!
Totally new way to eat pancakes for us. Going to have try this one out.
It was new for us, too, but oh so yummy!
Definitely something to make for a crowd! My family loves Saturday morning pancakes … this will be a winner with us!
Yes, it works best if you are feeding about 6-8 people at least. For our family of four, it is a little much, but we will reheat the leftovers the next morning, too.
That is a real delicious way to start our Sunday. I said Sunday as it’s the only day that we all together for breakfast. I think my kids would love to try that recipe. Thanks for sharing.
We do our “big breakfast Sunday” every weekend, so Sunday is usually the day for our fun recipes like this, too.
I’ve never heard of anything like this before but you’ve totally kick-started my cravings! What a great way to switch up a classic favorite- can’t wait to try it!
It was definitely different, but we all really like it. I don’t care for the nuts on top as much, so I will often make it half and half so my husband can enjoy them while the boys and I don’t!
This sounds and looks delicious but I don’t think I’d ever have a need to make such a large portion. Pinning for future use though because it sounds so good!
It’s great to have this much if you have company over for breakfast. You can prepare it the night before and have minimal work to do in the morning to have a delicious breakfast.
wooohooo… my breakfast for this weekend is sorted 🙂 my doll loved pancakes and she loved baking.. I am gonna take her help and make this. Thanks for sharing
We love making breakfast like this on the weekend. I don’t have time on school mornings, but the weekends are perfect for relaxing with a delicious breakfast.
I am super curious about the beeswax, I also hate using plastic wrap and want to do better. This looks so good, I love the streusel topping!
I love the beeswax wraps! I’ve used mine so much they are starting to lose their stickiness a little bit, especially on the biggest one. But I will be getting more when I need to. Or I’ve heard of melting your own wax and “refreshing” them though I haven’t tried it yet.
Oh my, this looks so yummy! I need to make this recipe asap!!
It’s so delicious, we all devour it at my house. It’s a little work in the evening, but nice to not have to do much in the morning for a wonderful breakfast.
oh wow, this is such a unique spin on pancakes!! Looks delicious. And the picture of your kid watching them in the oven is too cute!
My older son is my breakfast kid. He couldn’t wait for these to come out of the oven!
This looks like a great breakfast option! I’m going to have to try it soon.
April
I hope you do! It’s a great weekend breakfast to enjoy as a family.
That looks so delicious! Id be just like your kiddo staring at the oven until it was done lol
I won’t lie, I snapped the picture then sat right down next to him! 🙂
This looks delicious – what a great make-ahead breakfast idea. I’ll have to give this recipe a try over the Christmas holidays…
This would be great for Christmas morning, too. Let it bake while you do a few gifts, then enjoy a nice warm, delicious breakfast together!
This recipe is so delicious, I made it Stephanie, and there was nothing left. My kids and I enjoyed our Sunday Brunch and this recipe was the highlight of our meal.
I’m so glad y’all enjoyed the breakfast! It takes a little work, but it’s so worth it for how yummy this one is!
Ooooo this sounds so yum!!! I never heard of a pancake casserole before!!! So perfect for Christmas brunch!
It would be perfect for Christmas or any other day that you want something made ahead of time to bake in the morning.
I am all about make ahead meals! This looks so good. I just want to eat a bowl of that streusel topping!
They are especially great if you know you are going to have a really busy morning!
What an interesting and new way to make pancakes. I would love to try making some like that.
It’s definitely different, but we really like this one! It just takes a bit of prep the night before, but makes the morning so easy.
Looks yummy! I’m definitely going to make one this weekend.
It’s so delicious, I hope you enjoy it, too!