Oatmeal Pancakes

Pancakes are what I consider a splurge or luxury breakfast.  Most of my breakfasts are quick to reheat in the morning, or don’t require that much attention on the stovetop allowing me to multitask in the kitchen.

Pancakes are easy to make, but who wants to slave over the frypan so early in the morning? Add another insult to the injury because most recipes make a ton of pancakes, and pancakes tend to be infinitely better when fresh.

But for those special occasions, break out this pancake recipe. Or when you feel like eating an all-day pancake special, because that is what I ended up doing.

Adapted from Smitten Kitchen, who in turn adapted them from Good to the Grain, these pancakes are worthy of its high praise (308+ comments later!). Not your typical white, tasteless pancake, these are filled with oat flour (rolled oats that I ran through my food processor until fine) and oatmeal. White flour still makes an appearance though which is probably why they taste so great. They are moist, substantial pancakes and actually a bit sweet. The recipe calls for both sugar and honey and I would decrease the sugar next time, but otherwise these are perfect. A great way to increase your repertoire of whole grain-based recipes and will please even the pickiest eater.

This is my submission to this round of Blog Bites 9, holiday buffet, potluck-style!

Oatmeal Pancakes

3/4 cup oat flour (you can make this by pulsing rolled oats into a food processor or spice grinder until finely ground; a bit more than 3/4 cup of oats yielded 3/4 cup oat flour for me)
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons sugar (or less)
2 teaspoon baking powder
scant 1/2 tsp salt
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly (plus extra for the pan)
1 1/4 cups milk (1% was fine), room temperature
1 cup cooked oatmeal*, cooled to room temperature
1 tablespoon honey
2 large eggs, room temperature

1. Whisk the dry ingredients (oat flour, flour, sugar, baking powder and salt) together in a large bowl. In a smaller bowl, whisk the butter, milk, cooked oatmeal, honey and eggs together until thoroughly combined. Gently fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Using a light hand is important for tender pancakes; the batter should be slightly thick with a holey surface.

2. Heat a 10-inch cast-iron pan or non-stick frypan over medium heat until water sizzles when splashed onto the pan. Lower to medium-low. Rub the pan generously with butter; Boyce says this is the key to crisp, buttery edges. Working quickly, dollop 1/4-cup mounds of batter onto the pan, 2 or 3 at a time. Once bubbles have begun to form on the top side of the pancake and the edges loses its shine, flip the pancake and cook until the bottom is dark golden-brown, about 5 minutes total. Wipe the pan with a cloth before griddling the next pancake. Continue with the rest of the batter.

3. Serve the pancakes hot, straight from the skillet or keep them warm in a low oven. To reheat, warm again in an oven at a low temperature.

* To make oatmeal, if you don’t have any leftovers: Bring 2 cups of water, 1 cup of rolled oats and a pinch of salt to a boil and simmer on low for 5 minutes. Let cool. You’ll have some extra oatmeal, which you can eat while you’re cooking.

Makes 18 pancakes. Serves 6.