Pancake Breakthrough!

Back in January I wrote about these incredible pancakes. They are and continue to be some of the best pancakes I've ever had. They are so good, in fact, that I make them almost every weekend mixing in different fruit to prevent pancake boredom. As good as these pancakes are, I always felt they could be better, lighter, fluffier.

Fast forward to last week - I was trying to free up some space on my DVR and decided to watch an episode of Throwdown with Bobby Flay that I recorded about a month or so ago; Chef Flay challenged the owners of Clinton Street Baking Company in NY, Neil Kleinberg and DeDe Lahman, to a Blueberry Pancakes throwdown. Both Flay and Neil Kleinberg whipped their egg whites to soft peaks before incorporating them into their batters; they said this would give the pancakes the light fluffy texture and a light went off in my head.

I made my own blueberry pancakes this morning but this time I modified the recipe. I separated the eggs in the recipe and whipped the egg whites to soft peaks before incorporating them into the batter. Wow, what a difference this small modification made. I'm talking seriously good, light, fluffy, delicious, good for you blueberry pancakes. I say good for you because unlike many pancake recipes there is absolutely NO sugar, well no refined sugar anyway; the recipe also uses whole wheat flour and whole oats. I have also been adding in ground cinnamon and sometimes pumpkin pie spice just to mix things up a little. Bon apetit!

Oatmeal Pancakes
Serves 4 (makes approximately 12 pancakes)
Ingredients

• 1 Cup Oats (Quaker Old Fashioned Oats)
  
• 1 Cup Whole-Wheat flour
• 1 Cup All Purpose flour
• 2 Tbsp. Baking powder
• 1/2 Tsp. Nutmeg
• 1/2 Tsp. Salt
• 1/2 Tsp. Cinnamon (optional)
• 1/2 Tsp. Pumpkin Pie spice (optional)
  
• 1 1/2 Cup Milk or Milk Alternative like Hemp Milk
  
• 1/4 Cup Vegetable oil
• 2 Eggs (separated)
  
• 1 Tsp. Vanilla
• Tbsp. Honey or Agave Syrup

Directions

1. Preheat a large skillet over medium heat
2. Whisk together the oats, flours, baking powder, nutmeg and salt
3. Using the same whisk in a second bowl, whisk together the milk, oil, egg yolks, vanilla, and honey
4. In a third bowl, preferably of a stand mixer, whip the egg whites to soft peaks
   
5. Pour the wet into the dry mixture and stir until just combined
6. Mix in blueberries, sliced bananas, or any other fruit you like
7. Gently fold in the egg whites until incorporated and let the batter rest a few minutes
   
8. Pour batter into skillet using about 1/3 cup of batter per pancake, the batter will be thick
   
9. Once bubbles form on the outside of the pancake and do not fill in again - it is time to flip them over
   
10. Flip once, finish cooking, then serve with butter and pure Vermont maple syrup
    

Just look how much fluffier these beautiful pancakes are!