Yes, thats an exclamation, we were surprised it turned out as good as it did.
The thought of adding oats to pancakes came about because of a recent edict from the pediatrician. We were asked to add more fiber to the kids diet (without making the non parents squeamish, lets just say it was to facilitate bowel movement :). Once you become a parent, you get intimately familiar with aspects of the body that you perhaps wish you didn’t.
Anyway, the edict was to increase fiber. Oatmeal is a great way to accomplish this, however, kids get tired of oatmeal, so we were looking for new ways to incorporate oats. We found a few recipes for oat pancakes but we also love sourdough pancakes. So we researched a bunch of recipes and we tried out our best guess to incorporate the two, which turned out amazing.
The oats in our recipe are left whole and soaked in milk to soften it, as we tend to like the texture of softened oats, but you could also blitz it for a few seconds in a blender to get a smoother texture. We felt that the amount of oats and the texture in this recipe was near perfect but you could increase or decrease without an issue, adding liquid at the end to get the batter to the right texture.
Our last recipe for pancakes (here) uses coconut cream, but we chose to go with plain milk for this one because we didnt want the flavors to clash. Note that the recipe is very similar to our previous one, so forgive me if it seems repetitive..
Recipe :
1 cup Sourdough Starter (226 g)
2 eggs
2 tbsp melted butter (adjust with coconut milk to get to the right texture)
1/2 cup rolled oats
milk to get the right texture at the end
2 tbsp of raw sugar (adjust to taste, and to type, e.g. if white sugar, then reduce the amount, if maple syrup, increase the amount) – note that I almost always end up using 2.5-3 tbsp raw sugar after the first taste test, but that may be too sweet for some folks
Flavourings to taste (vanilla extract, cinnamon)
2 teaspoon baking powder
Method :
Starting with the oats, mix everything except the baking powder together, starting with the sourdough, then the melted butter, and add in the egg once the butter is incorporated (this keeps the butter from solidifying due to the temperature of the eggs – assuming your eggs are straight out of the fridge like mine!). Then add the rest in. Add milk if needed, until you get to the right consistency. I think this recipe works best in a thicker batter (to help hold in the oats). Add the baking powder in at the end, mixing gently as you add in the baking powder.
Do not overmix, and feel free to cook with your fat of choice, we do like to make smaller pancakes for little people.
I’ve not made this in any other form (e.g. waffles). I will update this recipe if it works in a waffle batter. Update: works perfect as written for waffles, just adjust the consistency so that it drips off the spoon before adding in the baking powder. Yield is between 12-16 waffles depending on how well you fill the waffle iron.
Oats! In a Pancake! Maker your tummy happy – Happy Cooking and Happy Eating!
Updates :
Waffle Variant : Add an extra egg, add half a tsp (1.5tsp total) of baking powder)
Savory additions : Cardamom
Crepe Variant (will get its own entry later because it is materially different) : 3 eggs, no oats, no baking powder, 4 tbsp milk, use a blender, then cool for 30 minutes. Plan to increase to 4 eggs next time.