Mystery Lovers' Kitchen: The Best Oatmeal Pancakes (with #dairyfree option) for #NationalPancakeDay from author Cleo Coyle

Tuesday, September 26, 2017

The Best Oatmeal Pancakes (with #dairyfree option) for #NationalPancakeDay from author Cleo Coyle

Happy National Pancake Day!

In honor of this foodie holiday,

I'm sharing one of my favorite recipes...

☕

The Best Oatmeal Pancakes

A diner near my home in Queens, New York, serves fantastic oatmeal pancakes. While they didn't give me their recipe, they did mention soaking their oats in milk, and (after some experimenting), I knew this was the secret to getting great results.

Cleo Coyle has a partner in

crime-writing—her husband.

Learn about their books

by clicking here or here.

True, many other recipes out there instruct you to simply mix the batter and cook (or even use a food processor, which will grind the oats and over-work the batter), but I knew what I wanted in an oatmeal pancake, and those recipes didn't produce it for me.

Since I knew what was possible, given the diner's delicious cakes, I set to work playing with my own version of the recipe until I created something very close. Follow the steps and you should have the same results. Now let's make some pancakes!

~ Cleo, author of
The Coffeehouse Mysteries

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Cleo Coyle's
Oatmeal Pancakes

Oatmeal is a whole grain that brings nutrition and fiber to recipes, along with hearty and heartwarming flavor, but not all oatmeal pancake recipes are created equal. In this recipe, I share a few tricks I learned to give you tender, fluffy, oatmeal pancakes (as opposed to rubbery disks). Because I always want you to...eat with joy. Happy Pancake Day! Love, Cleo

Makes about 6 pancakes

(4- to 5-inches in diameter)

Ingredients:

1/2 cup quick-cooking oats (not instant)
3/4 cup whole or 2% cow's milk
(*or dairy-free milk) mixed with…
1 teaspoon lemon juice or white vinegar
1 Tablespoon honey (I use local raw honey)
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt (or 1/8 tsp. table salt)
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 Tablespoons vegetable or canola oil (*see dairy-free note below)
1 large egg
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup + 2 Tablespoons flour (all-purpose white or spelt flour)

Directions: Soak the oats in the milk (that you have already mixed with the lemon or vinegar) for about 15 minutes, no longer. You’re watching for the oats to plump up and the mixture to thicken (see my photo below). Whisk in all the other ingredients except the flour. Be sure the mixture is well blended. Now stir in the flour until it is completely incorporated, but do not over-mix. Allow this mixture to sit for 5 minutes. It will thicken up into a nice batter. Grease a non-stick pan or griddle with butter, oil, or coat with non-stick spray. Ladle on the batter, forming cakes of 4 to 5 inches in diameter. See cooking tip below.

*Dairy-free variation: Replace cow’s milk with almond milk (or another nut milk) or soy milk and because these milks are lower in fat than cow’s milk, increase the vegetable oil by 1 teaspoon.

After 15 minutes, the oats will plump up and
the mixture will thicken. Don't skip this step
because it's one secret to getting great results.

Local, raw honey is delicious in this batter.
You can also substitute white or brown sugar
in the same amount.

After the flour goes in, allow the batter
to sit for just five more minutes before cooking,
another secret to getting the best results.

Cooking tip: Oatmeal pancake batter cooks a little differently than standard pancake batter. Watch for the edges to appear cooked and crinkles to form across the cake surface with a few bubbles (you will not see as many bubbles as you would in a standard pancake). When you flip the cake should be golden brown. Cook until golden brown on the other side and serve warm.