Oatmeal Pancakes

I risk flooding the blog with round foods. I think just about every recipe I've posted featured roundness...cheesecake, cupcakes, and now pancakes. I'm apparently going overboard on different kinds of cakes as well. These are good round cakes though, so I will post them proudly.

I don't have photos of the oatmeal pancakes. They're not really very photogenic. if you can't adequately visualize pancakes, go to the Smitten Kitchen blog. Our mutual friend Deb has pictures.

My brother Joel has been known to say that eating pancakes or cereal for breakfast is like riding in the back of a pickup with a funnel in your mouth. He's not impressed with their ability to sustain life all the way to lunch. My views on the subject are not, perhaps, quite so extreme...but they're along those lines.

These pancakes, however, are pretty substantial. Add a couple of sausage patties, a couple of eggs, plenty of butter, syrup, maybe some fruit and a refreshing beverage and you're well on your way to having a moderately sustaining breakfast.

Seriously though, these are very tasty pancakes. They have a nice oat-y flavor and more heft than the average pancake. They also hold up better in the fridge than regular pancakes, so you can make a big batch on Monday and enjoy pancakes two or three times during the week. This recipe uses cooked oatmeal, so you can get double-double frugality points by using leftover oatmeal...which does not keep well in the fridge and cannot be eaten for days after you make it. This might be the only reasonable way to use leftover oatmeal, unless you're planning on hanging wallpaper.

I have to give Deb at the Smitten Kitchen blog credit for the recipe...and as you can see, she has to credit a cookbook for the original idea. The authors of the Good to the Grain cookbook probably got it from somebody else. Sharing is good.

Oatmeal Pancakes
Adapted and just tweaked a little from Good to the Grain

Makes about 18 pancakes

3/4 cup oat flour (you can make this by pulsing rolled oats into a food processor or spice grinder until finely ground; 1 cup of oats yielded 3/4 cup oat flour for me)
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon Kosher or coarse salt
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly (plus extra for the pan)
1 1/4 cups whole milk
1 cup cooked oatmeal*
1 tablespoon unsulphured (not blackstrap) molasses or 1 tablespoon honey
2 large eggs

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.

Heat a 10-inch cast-iron pan or griddle over medium heat until water sizzles when splashed onto the pan. Lower to medium-low. (This is my tip; I find pancakes impossible to cook well over higher heats. I’ve got more pancake tips over here.) 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, 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.

Serve the pancakes hot, straight from the skillet or keep them warm in a low oven. We also found these to reheat surprisingly well the next morning, again in a low oven.

Do ahead: Although the batter is best if using immediately, it can sit for up to 1 hour on the counter or overnight in the refrigerator. When you return to the batter, it will be very thick and should be thinned, one tablespoon at a time, with milk. Take care not to overmix.

* Make oatmeal, if you don’t have any leftover: 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.