Oat Flour Pancakes

Dare I say I found my new favorite pancake recipe? Would you believe me if I told you they were gluten-free? Well, start believing. These pancakes are made with oat flour, and as a result, they have so much flavor! An added perk is that you don't feel too full or gross after eating them. The first time I made them, I immediately sent the recipe to my gluten-free friend Katelyn, and called to tell my mom about them. I know…totally geeking out over a stack of pancakes, but they were just that good! 

This was also the first time I used my food processor I got for Christmas to make my own flour. If you have one, it is SO much cheaper than buying oat flour from the store. I pulsed the oats for probably two minutes or so. It should work with a good blender, but I haven't tried it. My favorite version is in the photo above, where I topped mine with real maple syrup, sliced bananas, chia seeds, and candied pecans. Truly divine. Whether you're gluten-free or not, give these pancakes a shot!

Oat Flour Pancakes

Ingredients

1 3/4 cup freshly ground oat flour

1 teaspoon sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup milk

1 1/2 tablespoons canola oil

2 large eggs

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Directions

Heat electric griddle to 375 degrees.

Add all the dry ingredients to a mixing bowl and whisk together. Add all wet ingredients to a 2nd mixing bowl and whisk together. Add dry ingredient mix to wet ingredient mixing bowl and whisk until it just comes together. Let the batter sit for about five minutes.

Lightly spray hot griddle with cooking spray. I followed the original recipe exactly, even when it came to cooking time: 1 minute and 45 seconds on the first side and 2 minutes and 15 seconds on the second side. This may vary depending on your griddle.

Recipe source: adapted from The Food Prepper

Pumpkin Pancakes with Cinnamon Syrup

Pumpkin and cinnamon. I think those are my two very favorite fall flavors, and this morning, they came together to create a totally stellar breakfast. When I woke up this morning, my original plan was to attempt a pumpkin spice latte (coming soon!). However, the second that can of pumpkin came open, I changed my mind. I wanted to eat something with pumpkin instead of putting it in my coffee.  The problem though, is that I didn't have maple syrup. Then, it occurred to me that I pinned something on Pinterest a while back about cinnamon syrup, and I was on it. Minutes later, I was scarffing down these beautiful, hearty pancakes, with this incredible syrup. Thankfully the syrup made A LOT, so I'll have some to add to my leftover pancakes, or even ice cream. Doesn't that sound good...mmm.

Pumpkin Pancakes with Cinnamon Syrup

Ingredients

Pancakes

3/4 cup milk

1/2 cup pumpkin puree

1 egg

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar 

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 1/2 tablespoons brown sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground allspice

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

1/4 teaspoon salt

Cinnamon Syrup

1/2 cup white sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

2 tablespoons flour

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup water

Directions

In a bowl, mix together the milk, pumpkin, egg, oil and vinegar. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, allspice, cinnamon and salt. Stir into the pumpkin mixture just enough to combine. 

Heat a lightly oiled griddle or frying pan over medium high heat. Pour or scoop the batter onto the griddle, using approximately 1/4 cup for each pancake. Brown on both sides.

While the pancakes are cooking, prepare the syrup. Stir all ingredients together in a small saucepan. Over medium heat, stir occasionally until boiling. Let it boil for a few minutes while stirring until it thickens. Remove from heat and drizzle over pancakes. NUM.

Yields 6 large pancakes (I made 9 smaller ones).

Recipe Source: Love to Cook

Carrot Cake Pancakes

Cake for breakfast? Um...yes please! These pancakes were incredible. I just devoured a bite that was probably twice as big as it should have been, and I may or may not have spooned on more cream cheese topping en route to my mouth.

Though these are carrot cake pancakes, health-wise I'd say they get a gold star. There are a whole lot of beautiful orange carrots, barely any sugar, not too much flour, only one egg, and zero oil or fat in the batter. You do however, have to watch out for the cream cheese topping, which I could eat by itself with a spoon.

Actually, I'll be right back. It's within arms reach, and I need to move it before it disappears.

Done. There, that's better.

Though the topping is incredibly addicting, I think these would also be excellent with plain old maple syrup, but then maybe they'd just be carrot pancakes? Hmm. Either way, make them. I changed the spices a bit from the original recipe. I reduced the nutmeg by half, doubled the ginger, and added a pinch of ground cloves, just cuz. I also didn't add the nuts or raisins, but would like to try it out next time. I was also thinking it would be fun to try and add some pineapple to the batter. If you try it, let me know how it goes!

I was thinking about my mom the whole time I was making these, and how much I think she'd like them. Most years on her birthday, we have carrot cake, as it's one of her favorites. Her birthday is coming up and if I were home, I would totally make these for her, AND a carrot cake. Overboard? I don't think so.

Carrot Cake Pancakes

Ingredients

1 cup all purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon table salt

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

Pinch of ground cloves (optional)

2 tablespoons chopped walnuts (optional)

2 tablespoons golden raisins (optional)

1 large egg

2 tablespoons packed brown sugar

1 cup buttermilk*

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups finely grated carrots (about 3/4 pound carrots)

Butter for the griddle

Cream cheese topping

4 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature

1/4 cup powdered sugar, sifted

2 tablespoons milk, more if you want it to be thinner

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Dash of ground cinnamon

Directions

Place a rack in the upper third of your oven, and preheat to 200F. This will keep your pancakes warmed as they're fried in batches.

In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, spices, and if using, nuts and raisins. In a large bowl, whisk together the egg, sugar, buttermilk, and vanilla. Stir in carrots. Add flour mixture to the carrot mixture, stirring just until incorporated. Let rest for five minutes, while you make the cream cheese topping.

To make the cream cheese topping: In a small bowl, beat the cream cheese until fluffy and lump free. Whisk in the powdered sugar, milk, vanilla, and cinnamon. You may be able to see in the photo, but mine came out ever so slightly lumpy. I have no idea why. This was obviously not an issue.

Over medium heat, melt the butter in a cast iron skillet or a griddle. Spoon 1/8 cup batter into the pan. This may seem like a small amount, but the batter is a bit jiggly, and the smaller pancakes are much easier to cook. Cook pancakes until golden brown, about 2 minutes per side. Transfer pancakes to a serving dish or tray, and keep warm in the oven, while repeating the process with the remaining batter, adding more butter as needed.

Serve warm with cream cheese topping. 

*If you don't have buttermilk, you can make your own sour milk by adding 1 tablespoon white vinegar to 1 cup of milk. Let it sit for 5 minutes, and it's ready to go!

Recipe Source: seen here, originally from Joy the Baker Cookbook

Melt-In-Your-Mouth Low Fat Yogurt Pancakes

In a couple of days we're heading out of town to play a few concerts. We're off to Chang Chun which is north of Beijing (there are cities north of Beijing? You lie.) Needless to say, it's going to be freakin cold...ugh. Since we'll be gone about five days, there are some things in the fridge that need to get used before we leave. One such thing is a tub of plain yogurt. I often use yogurt in baked goods in place of oil, so I almost always have some on hand. Having a hankering for pancakes, I Google searched 'yogurt pancakes' and this recipe was one of the first I found. After reading through over 60 comments, where many of which referred to these as "pancracks" (because they're so addicting), I decided I had to try them.

I was not at all disappointed, as these pancakes were seriously SERIOUSLY delicious. The only change I made to the original recipe was the amount of salt. There were several comments stating that the original teaspoon of salt made them incredibly salty. I reduced the amount to 1/4 teaspoon. They were light and delicate, and not anywhere near as heavy as your typical pancake. It took me all of 60 seconds (okay...maaaybe 90) to devour my plate of three. I felt perfectly satisfied with my breakfast, and not at all weighed down. 

I must say though, cooking these pancakes wasn't as enjoyable. The pancakes didn't stick to the pan at all, but they did however, stick to the spatula, making it difficult to flip them. Reading through the comments from the original post, no one else seemed to have had this problem, so it may just be me. If you experience this, I found that lightly greasing the spatula helped. Weird problem to have right? This minor setback will not keep me from making them again. They were just too scrumptious! 

Melt-in-Your-Mouth Low Fat Yogurt Pancakes 

Adapted from One Green Generation

Ingredients

1/2 cup all-purpose flour (slightly more if you like thicker pancakes)

1 1/2 tablespoons sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

2 large eggs

1 cup plain yogurt

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2-1 cup fresh or frozen fruit (I used frozen blueberries, but the fruit is optional)

Butter or cooking spray for the pan

Directions

In a medium sized bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, salt, baking soda, and baking powder. Make a hole in the middle. Add wet ingredients into the hole, and whisk until just barely combined, leaving it lumpy.

Allow mixture to sit for at least 5 minutes, more it you can. It will almost double in size, and bubbles will form from the baking soda reacting with the yogurt. 

Heat skillet or electric griddle to medium low. Coat the pan with a thin layer of butter or cooking spray. Use a 1/4 cup measuring cup to pour the batter. Dot the top of the pancakes with fruit (I used about 6 blueberries per pancake). Pancakes are ready to be flipped when little bubbles form on top. The other side will take less then half the cooking time as the first. Serve with warm syrup, jam, fruit compote..whatever you want! Devour.

FYI: The original recipe said this yields 8 pancakes using 1/3 cup measuring cup. I used 1/4 cup measuring cup and ended up with 7.