Food: Oatmeal Pancakes

I love breakfast. But during the week my morning diet is pretty regular, consisting of cereal or a banana and raw nuts. But weekends? Saturdays and Sundays are reserved for something special. I mean what's more perfect than sleeping in, taking the dog for a nice long walk around the neighborhood (weather permitting, of course), and then coming back and having a warm, homemade, delicious breakfast with good company, a hot cup of tea, and the Wall Street Journal.

Although I love my waffle maker, lately I've been experimenting with pancakes. A couple of weekends ago I made some whole wheat apple cakes topped with fresh strawberries (I'll post the recipe once I tweak it a little bit more). And the variety I decided to make this past weekend are oatmeal. These are a little denser of a pancake than I've made before - even thicker than one of my favorite whole wheat from growing up. Although typically I like to make buttermilk pancakes (very traditional), this is a nice departure. And no, if you think pancakes should come out of a box or a whipped topping style can...you really must try to make them from scratch. They're not that difficult - no excuses.

When I first discovered this recipe, I couldn't believe how much butter was in it (Over a stick! Wow! I almost fell over!). So I decided to modify it significantly and only incorporate 1.5-2T of butter. It didn't seem to affect them a bit. The batter is pretty thick, so you can add a splash or two of skim milk if you'd like to thin it out a little...would probably result in slightly thinner cakes as well. They're even good cold, eaten right out of the fridge the next day (yes, I'm guilty of taking one out and eating it with my fingers).

Oatmeal Pancakes

Adapted from Orangette

INGREDIENTS

• 2 cups old fashioned rolled oats
• 2 cups buttermilk
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 4 T sugar
• 1 t baking powder
• 1 t baking soda
• 1/2 t kosher salt
• 2 extra large eggs, lightly beaten
• 2 T unsalted butter, melted but not hot
• Cooking spray to grease the pan
• REAL maple syrup, for serving

DIRECTIONS
Evening Prior:
Combine the oats and buttermilk in a bowl. Stir to mix. Cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate overnight.

Next Morning:

• Remove the buttermilk/oatmeal mixture from the refrigerator. Set aside.
• Add the eggs and melted butter to the bowl, stir well.
• Add the flour, sugar, baking powder, soda, and salt. Stir to combine. If the mixture seems too thick, add a splash or two of skim milk.
• Heat a nonstick griddle (or large skillet) over medium heat. Spray with cooking spray,
• Allow to heat and then scoop out the batter into 3-4 inch puddles. When the top starts to bubble, check to see if the pancakes are ready to flip (the bottoms should be a nice, golden brown...but not deep brown).
• Flip the pancakes and cook for a few minutes longer until the batter is fully cooked and both sides are a lightly toasted color.
• Repeat process until you have gone through all of the batter. If the cakes seem to be browning too quickly, slightly turn down the heat.