Introduction: Oatmeal Pancakes

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About: Tired, and retired.

This recipe is neither quick nor easy. It is not gluten free, or vegetarian, or vegan - food fetishists should look elsewhere. However, it produces what I consider the best pancakes on the planet. It is the result of some 20 years of experimentation with the basic ingredients. Note: Instructables required an image. I filched one off the Internet. I don't feel like cooking pancakes now.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup old fashioned rolled oats

1 cup water

1/2 cup unbleached flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 tablespoon baking powder

1 large egg
1 1/2 oz oil (3 tablespoons)

3 ounces milk - I use whole (4% butter fat)

sugar to taste - I use about 1/4 cup (2 ounces or 4 tablespoons)

salt to taste - I use about 1 teaspoon in 2 portions

butter in which to fry the batter

Preparation:

Put the oatmeal, water and 1/2 tsp salt in a microwave-safe vessel. Cook until ready to eat. I use a 2 cup Pyrex measuring cup. I usually move the cooked oatmeal to a cool vessel and add ice to cool it to room temperature or below, removing any un-melted ice . It can be set aside to cool naturally, or even soaked overnight instead of cooking, cook's choice. Set aside.

Once the oatmeal is cooked, set the frying pan on stove to heat. I prefer an 8 inch cast iron skillet, but cook's choice. Since every stove and pan combination is different a little experimentation is in order.

Mix the dry ingredients - flours, sugar, baking powder, remaining 1/2 tsp salt - thoroughly. Set aside.

Mix the egg, oil, and milk thoroughly.

Mix the liquid ingredients with the cooled oatmeal. It is important that the oatmeal be cooled or in the next step the baking powder will fizz and the resulting pancakes will be flat.

Add the mixed oatmeal - liquid mixture to the dry ingredients. Mix thoroughly. Depending on the consistency of the oatmeal, getting the right consistency of the batter usually requires adding more liquid, either milk or water. Too viscous a batter will result in pancakes that are too thick, too fluid a batter will result in pancakes that are too flat. Again, some experimentation is required.

Cook the batter in your frying pan. My method is to put about a tablespoon of butter on a fork, touch the butter to the hot frying pan to melt enough to cover an area a bit larger than the desired pancake size, add 2 large cooking spoons of batter to the pan, cook until bubbles form, turn the pancake over, cook the second side until brown. Please feel free to use other fat for frying, but using butter eliminates the need for additional butter on the pancake prior to eating.

Add topping as desired. I usually use molasses or table sugar sprinkled on top.

I sometimes do variations, putting raisins or banana slices on top of the pancake before turning it over so that the raisins or banana cooks.