Pancakes for One: A Love Letter To Solo Breakfasts
Not every Sunday is a brunch-with-friends Sunday. Some Sundays are just you and the soft hum of a Sunday stretching wide before you. You wake up slow. No alarms, no plans. No rush, no shoulds. Just the morning light slanting across the floor, and a craving for something warm, something golden, something that says: Hey, you deserve this.
Enter: The Pancakes
Not the fancy, 12-ingredient, influencer-approved kind. Just you and your perfect, golden, slightly lopsided pancake. The process is simple, elemental. Flour, egg, milk—a combination as old as time, mixed with the quiet intimacy of one’s own hands. The silent transformation of liquid to solid and the slow unfurling of something golden and soft. It is not a performance. It is a private pleasure.
Step One: Set the Scene, Romanticize Everything
You are the main character. The soundtrack? The soft sizzle of butter on a hot pan. The plot? A slow, indulgent morning, where the only decision you need to make is whether to drizzle or drench your pancakes in syrup. Put on something oversized and dramatic. Sip your coffee like you’re in a French indie film. Embrace the slow.
Step Two: The (Very Simple, Very Good) Pancake Recipe
• ½ cup flour (because balance)
• ½ tsp baking powder (for fluff)
• 1 tbsp sugar (for good vibes)
• A pinch of salt (trust me)
• ½ cup milk (or oat/almond, if you’re fancy)
• 1 egg (a binding commitment)
• ½ tsp vanilla extract (because you deserve nice things)
• 1 tbsp melted butter (for that rich, golden finish)
Step Three: The Ritual of Cooking
• Gather the Ingredients. Look at each one. Appreciate them.
• In a bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt.
• In a separate bowl, combine the milk, melted butter, vanilla extract, and egg. Stir everything together like a magician performing a spell.
• Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and gently stir until just combined. A few lumps are okay—it makes the pancakes fluffier!
• Heat a non-stick pan over medium heat and add a little butter, then watch it melt like a tiny golden sun.
• When the butter melts, pour the batter into the pan in small scoops. Watch it spread and cook until bubbles form on the surface (about 2 minutes). Those tiny bubbles appearing on the surface are a sign—that something good is about to happen.
• And then—the flip. A moment of faith. A tiny leap. If it lands perfectly, you win. If it folds awkwardly, you still win. Either way, you made something. Flip and cook for another 1-2 minutes until golden brown.
• Stack them up, drizzle with syrup, top with fresh fruit, or add a dusting of powdered sugar. Most importantly, admire your work. Resist the urge to take a photo. (Or don’t. It’s your morning.)
Step Four: The First Bite
There is no right way to eat a pancake. Eat it slow, or eat it fast. Read while you chew. Stare at the ceiling. Think about nothing, or everything. The morning is yours. There is no rush. Just you and the quiet luxury of breakfast on your own terms. Syrup drips. Butter melts. You eat, you exist, you enjoy.
Step Five: The Afterglow
Plate scraped clean. The coffee is cold. Stomach warm. You feel full—not just from pancakes, but from the quiet magic of a morning spent entirely with yourself. This morning, you showed up for yourself. You turned a handful of simple things into something beautiful. And that? That is a very good thing.
The act itself asks for nothing but attention. And in return, it offers something unexpected: the comfort of slowness, the warmth of self-sufficiency, the subtle yet profound knowledge that even in solitude, there is sweetness. So, the next time Sunday rolls around, give yourself permission to slow down, pour another cup of coffee, and indulge in the quiet joy of breakfast made with love. Because sometimes, the best company at the breakfast table is you.