Whole Grain Oatmeal Pancakes: Take 3

The third times a charm, as they say. I've been making these pancakes in one way, shape or form for the last three and a half years making slight adjustments here and there and experimenting with different flavor combinations. My most recent modification to the recipe makes these pancakes completely dairy free. Well I guess they were always dairy free since I usually used hemp milk to make my them, but now I use no milk at all, from a cow or alternative sources like hemp, soy, or almond. That's right, there is NO MILK in these pancakes and they are amazing.

The last time I wrote about these pancakes I shared a tip I learned from watching an episode of Bobby Flay's Throwdown in which they whipped their egg whites to add loft (fluffy airiness) to the pancakes. I still recommend this technique for larger batches of pancakes that include two or more eggs, but I'm usually just making these pancakes for my me and my wife so I just whisk the egg vigorously before incorporating the other wet ingredients.

And now, the newest tip I want to share with you for making amazing, light and delicious pancakes, replace the milk/milk alternative with soda water. Yes, that's right, soda water! The carbonation will add some loft and lightness to the pancake batter and its neutral flavor will allow the other ingredients in this pancake recipe to shine. My favorite add-ins include bananas and chopped walnuts, fresh blueberries, fresh strawberries, and fresh or thawed, frozen peaches and crystallized ginger. I also like to top my pancakes with more fresh berries, like raspberries or blackberries, and a handful of granola along with real butter and 100% Vermont maple syrup.

I've also tried the recipe with rolled oats and all whole wheat flour. They came out great this way too if you want to skip the all-purpose flour but you'll likely need to add a little more soda water. The recipe below is the one I use when I'm cooking just for me and J but it can easily be doubled, tripled, quadrupled, whatever. If you double or triple the recipe, I highly recommend separating the eggs and whipping the egg whites before incorporating all the wet ingredients. You can also adjust the add-in proportions to suit your tastes, or skip them all together. Enjoy!

Whole Grain Oatmeal Pancakes
Serves 2 (makes approximately six 4.5" pancakes)
Base ingredients:

• 1/2 cup rolled oats (Quaker Old Fashioned oats)
  
• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/2 cup all purpose flour
• 1 tbsp. baking powder
• 1/4 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp. ground ginger
• 1/4 tsp. nutmeg (optional)
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1 large egg
• 2 tbsp. vegetable oil
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1-2 tbsp. honey or agave syrup
• 1 cup soda water 

Add-in suggestions:

• 1 to 1 1/2 bananas, sliced
• 1/2 cup walnuts, toasted and chopped

OR

• 1/2 to 1 cup strawberries, cored and roughly chopped

OR

• 1 cup blueberries

OR

• 1/2 cup peaches, roughly chopped
• 1/4 cup crystallized ginger, finely chopped

 
Directions

1. Preheat a griddle over medium heat
2. Whisk together the oats, flours, baking powder, cinnamon, ground ginger and salt
3. Using the same whisk in a second bowl, whisk together the egg, oil, , oil, egg yolks, vanilla, and honey
4. Pour the wet into the dry mixture and stir until just combined
5. Mix in any add-ins like bananas and walnuts, or blueberries, or any other fruit you like
6. Pour batter into skillet using about 1/3 cup of batter per pancake, the batter will be thick
   
7. Once bubbles form on the outside of the pancake and do not fill in again - it is time to flip them over
   
8. Flip once, finish cooking, then serve with butter and pure Vermont maple syrup

Whole Grain Oatmeal Pancakes

These are the best pancakes I can remember having in years, and I made them from scratch! These are the kind of pancakes that you could eat every weekend. J and I used to make pancakes using the whole grain mixes from Arrowhead Mills but after making these pancakes from scratch, we'll never go back to mix. It's almost as easy to mix up this pancake batter from scratch than it is to go to the pantry and measure out some pre-made mix. The little extra work pays dividends in delicious pancakes that you can tell your family or friends you made completely from scratch!

One of the key ingredients in making these pancakes so great is the ground nutmeg.

One note about these pancakes, I used hemp milk instead regular milk, and you must absolutely make sure the dry ingredients are fresh. Old baking powder won't activate and you'll be left with lifeless, fluff-less pancakes. It's important that the nutmeg is fresh too, if you have a grinder for whole nutmeg that's even better, you'll get the best flavor from freshly ground nutmeg.

Whole Grain Oatmeal Pancakes
Ingredients

• 1 Cup Quaker Old Fashioned Oats
• 1 Cup All Purpose flour
• 1 Cup Whole-wheat flour
• 2 Tbsp. Baking powder
• 1/2 Tsp. Nutmeg
• 1/2 Tsp. Salt
• 1 1/2 Cup Milk
• 1/4 Cup Vegetable oil
• 2 Eggs
• 1 Tsp. Vanilla
• Tbsp. Honey

Directions

1. Preheat a large skillet over medium to 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, eggs, vanilla and honey.
4. Pour the wet into the dry mixture and stir until just combined.
5. Pour batter into skillet using about 1/3 cup of batter per pancake
   
6. Once bubbles form on the outside of the pancake and do not fill in again - it is time to flip them over.
7. Flip just once - plate them up.
8. Enjoy!

A Breakfast Tailgate

Thanks to Hurricane/Tropical Storm Hannah, the Jimmy Buffett concert at Great Woods was moved up from 8pm to 3pm to avoid some of the heavy rains. This means that me and my friends would be tailgating for breakfast and an early lunch instead of lunch and dinner. This meant that our menu had to change!

We decided to start off our tailgate with some bloody marys and ham and egg sandwiches. In addition to my Weber charcoal grill, I brought along my favorite non-stick frying pan to cook the eggs. We grilled up some ham steak, fried up some eggs, added some muenster cheese and grilled buns (not pictured) and we had ourselves a delicious tailgate breakfast.

We ended up drinking our lunch - captain morgan and coke - and saved the marinated rib eyes, teriyaki vegetables, and grilled potatoes for another day. Speaking of which - hey Mike, how were the steaks? Hows the hangover?

Thanks for another great show at Great Woods, Jimmy Buffett! Had a blast in the rain!

Be the Pig!

On my drive to work this morning I heard something in a commercial that I want share with you. I guess the commercial failed since I don't remember what product it was for but I like what NFL coach Brian Billick had to say about commitment...

"In a bacon and egg breakfast, the chicken is involved, but the pig is committed! Be that pig!"

And in other news, Chinese are confused by Fortune Cookies!

Mangoes and Bananas for Breakfast

I love summer in New England for fresh fruit and produce, warm, sunny days, and shorts and flip-flops. I also love summer in New England because the weather is just right for fruit smoothies! I make smoothies for breakfast at least a few days a week. I am always mixing up the fruit combinations but three ingredients always remain constant - plain non-fat yogurt, orange juice, and a banana. When I use Greek yogurt, which I did today, I always add in some honey to balance the tang of the Greek yogurt. The different fruits that I use include mangoes, strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, and peaches. Occasionally I'll add some protein powder to the mix but it changes the consistency of the smoothie and my wife Jeanine doesn't like it.

This morning I made a couple mango banana smoothies, one for me and one for Jeanine. A picture of a smoothie isn't all that sexy so I'm not including one, but here is the recipe I used for the smoothies this morning. So here is how to make mango banana smoothies:

Mango Banana Smoothie
1 cup non-fat, Greek yogurt
1 cup orange juice
1 banana, broken into a few pieces
2 tablespoons honey
1 1/2 cups frozen mango

Put everything into a blender and blend until smooth. The consistency should be perfect for sipping through a straw and the balance of protein and carbohydrate should keep you going for a while.

Do you like piña coladas? Try this smoothie instead - replace the orange juice with coconut milk and the mango with frozen pineapple! Have the day off? Add some rum!