Oatmeal Pancakes
If there were to be battle for the highly coveted title of 'Heidi's favourite meal of the day', there would be a clear winner...
Breakfast and Dinner would easily knock out Lunch in the first round, leaving the morning and evening meals to fight it out until the end. In the past, Dinner would win hands down. Pasta, fish, vegetables, garlic, chilli, olive oil – the culinary possibilities are endless, how could it lose? Yet recently, I have shown Breakfast more love and attention, giving it a real chance to shine. It has since gained more and more strength, so that it now steps up to the plate (or bowl) and knocks Dinner right out of the pan!
From a nutrition point of view, Breakfast is such an important meal. It kick starts your metabolism, helps you to perform better mentally during the day, leaves you less likely to reach for sugary pick-me-ups later on, and is a great way to get in lots of important nutrients.
From a taste perspective, Breakfast is the bomb! There are so many delicious things you can eat. Growing up, pancakes were always a favourite of mine. They were a special occasion kind of meal – birthdays, the occasional Sunday breakfast, trips to the Pancake Parlour with friends…. However once the golden stack disappeared into my belly, I would often be left feeling a bit ill and heavy. These days I avoid pancake regret by making them more nutritious. I might make my pancakes with wholemeal flour and top them with lots of fresh fruit. Or I might make oatmeal pancakes!
I stumbled across this very American recipe about a month ago on Molly Wizenberg's gorgeous blog, orangette, and have been longing to try them out. What better time than this weekend, continuing with my little homage to oats?
These oatmeal pancakes are a perfect example of how special the first meal of the day can be. Note: you do have to start this recipe the night before. The oats in the mixture make it more substantial and filling than your usual pancake, yet they are not dense or heavy. I found them rather light and very moist. The turn a lovely golden colour, and smell heavenly when cooking. Just delicious, especially topped with fresh berries. Ben loved them too. I made a full batch and froze the remaining pancakes, wrapping them individually in glad wrap. One thing I want to try is adding mashed banana to the mixture. I expect I will need to compensate for the extra moisture with some more flour? We'll see how it goes!
If you aren't already a Breakfast lover, I hope you now feel compelled to put a little extra love into your morning meal. And maybe someday soon Breakfast will triumph over your other meals to win the number one spot. Even if that time is not in the near future, I do recommend you try these delicious oatmeal pancakes. They pack a pretty powerful punch...
The recipe is on Molly's blog: link.