Oat/Oatmeal Buttermilk Pancakes (Can Be Gluten-Free)

After the run of Japanese food time it's time to hop across the Pacific to the good ol' US of A.

Like many others I took the new year as an excuse to alter my diet, specifically getting some porridge into my morning routine.  I'd heard porridge would stop those 10.30am hunger pangs, not to mention giving me a welcome glut of fibre first thing, and so fought through the wallpaper-paste texture and taste of it plain for a couple of weeks, before giving in and first adding maple syrup and then a banana.  By this point it was actually pretty damn tasty but I then realised it was even worse at keeping my hunger at bay than my previous breakfast of a couple of eggs on toast was, so that was the end of that one.

This left me with some porridge oats that needed using up so first I made a few Staffordshire Oatcakes, absolutely gorgeous things that are deserving of far more accolade, let alone knowledge of their existence, than they have outside of Stoke.  Do yourself a favour and make some, I doubt you'll be disappointed. 

I still had lots of maple syrup too though so thoughts turned to these pancakes, thick and risen like your standard American pancake but with the earthy taste of oats, the buttermilk giving them a slightly sour tang that is balanced by the sweet syrup.  Made for friends at the weekend they were a success all round.

Following this post I made these again, altering slightly to make a gluten-free version suitable for my gf's coeliac mum.  I used gluten-free oats and a presciption gluten-free white bread flour (Glutafin), I also added an extra egg as I was worried about them holding together with the lack of gluten.  They worked out really well and were loved by all, coeliac's and non-coeliacs alike.

Oat/Oatmeal Buttermilk Pancakes

Enough for 4 people

150gr porridge oats/gluten-free oats

500ml buttermilk

80gr plain flour/gluten-free flour

2 med eggs (3 med eggs if going gluten-free)

1/2 TB sugar

1 TB baking powder (gluten-free)

Scant ts salt

Method

When you get up mix the oats and the buttermilk.  It's good to let them soak for an hour or two but you'll get away with less.

Once the oats are softened, mix the dry ingredients together and then mix into the oats, along with the eggs.  Beat well to combine.

Heat a heavy frying pan or griddle over a lowish heat, too hot and they'll burn before they cook through, and grease well - I used vegetable oil and bit of kitchen roll.

Depending on the size you want pour somewhere from 1/3 to 3/4 of a ladeful of batter in.  The larger size gives you around a 10cm pancake, the smaller amount let me put three 6cm pancakes cooking in the same large frying pan.  Once in spread out with the ladle till about 8mm thick.  Cook until dry on top, around 2-3 minutes, but careful not to over do it.

Flip and give a couple more minutes.  They are then ready to serve.  I used two frying pans at once, to halve the cooking time, and kept warm in a 60 C oven inbetween.

I love them with maple syrup, and I imagine golden syrup would be gorgeous too, both of which would sit happily with some sliced banana.

Comments

[The Grubworm]

These look great, and I bet they're better for you than Aunt Jemima's pancake mix... ;) Eaten with streaky bacon cooked crispy and proper maple syrup, you end up in a salty-savoury-sweet heaven. Or at least I do. Perfect for Sunday brunch.

[Leah]

When I go to Canada in April I am coming home with a few litres of dark maple syrup. I will definitely give these a try!

[Joshua Armstrong]

Aaron - definitely, as the photo shows I'm all over the bacon, pancake and maple syrup combination. I got my first taste of it at Denny's in Florida over 20 years ago and it's stuck with me since.

Leah - definitely worth the carry. Maple syrup is getting towards prohibitively expensive over here and doubt it's as nice stuff either.

[Lizzie]

i have a cupboard full of maple syrup straight from Canada (god knows why) so these will definitely be tried out. Mmm bacon and maple syrup. Mmm.

[Michael Toa]

The pancakes look great. I must have bacon with my pancakes. I'll keep this recipe in mind this weekend. Can I substitute the buttermilk with plain yoghurt? It's really difficult to find buttermilk where I live.

[Joshua Armstrong]

Lizzie - oh to have a cupboard full of maple syrup.

Michael - not really sure on yoghurt, it is one of about one thing in the whole world I dislike. Probably be fine, although I'd maybe water it down with milk. You can make a buttermilk substitute out of skimmed milk and lemon too, put 2 TB of lemon juice in 470ml of skimmed milk then wait a few minutes for it to thicken.

[gloria]

Look delicious!! love pancakes! gloria

[Gail]

I have a bad buttermilk pancake addiction - maybe adding the surplus oats I've got (also tried the porridge route, also found it to be utter fallacy) will make me feel like it's healthier :-)

[Joshua Armstrong]

Gloria - pancakes are wonderful things, I should have more in my life really

Gail - I think buttermilk pancakes are reasonably healthy anyway, I only wipe the pan with oil and as long as you don't drown in syrup. The additional oats must help though.

[Brad Fallon]

Looks good and healthy too because it is made of oats. Thanks for sharing the recipe. I love oatmeal and making it into a pancake is a nice idea! I sure would love to give it a try.

[Thea]

These look beautiful. I like the idea of oats in pancakes. Will definitely give these a try. I have been making pancakes with sour cream recently and they turn out beautifully. Useful for when you can't get buttermilk.

[Michael Toa]

Hi Joshua. I just want to tell you I made those pancakes this morning and they were delish! I served them with macerated strawberries and rosewater syrup.
Also thank you for the tip for the buttermilk substitute. Have a great day.
Michael

[Joshua Armstrong]

Glad they went well, the strawberries sound an inspired addition.

[Stevie]

I've actually been looking for a good recipe for oatmeal pancakes for ages. The idea of letting the oats soak in the buttermilk is brilliant! I want to try this sometime soon.

[Jingan]

great recipe! used gluten free oats ; was delicious. And I too, favour the maple syrup.

[Cory Paradis]

Mmm, pancakes.

But sir, I believe that you are missing out on something. 10/10 pancake batches are made better with the addition of blueberries.

Seriously, blueberry pancakes are the gods of starchy discs.