Buttermilk Oatmeal Pancakes

With school back in session and Liv's dance season heating up, a balanced diet filled with nutrients and fuel has moved to the forefront of my kitchen.  Neither of my kids are particularly fond of veggies, and since they were babies I've worked hard to find ways to sneak greens and other healthy additions into their diets through pancakes.

As babies they had carrot pancakes, zucchini pancakes, banana pancakes, sweet potato pancakes and pumpkin pancakes.  The addition of whole grains (whole wheat flour, spelt flour, ground flax meal, wheat germ, etc) helped bulk up the nutrition and  eggs and milk served to boost proteins and calcium.  Basically, the pancake was a meal in and of itself and they were happy.

To this day I try to start their day off with a good pancake in the morning and this week Vegetarian Times served up another hit.  Filled with heart healthy oatmeal, these Buttermilk Oatmeal Pancakes filled the kids up and set them off with a balanced start to their day.  The fact that they asked for seconds was a true bonus.

Prepping the night before, oatmeal is stirred with buttermilk and milk and allowed to sit in the fridge overnight.  In the morning the remaining ingredients are stirred into the batter and then dolloped onto a hot griddle.  Before their showers were even finished I had aromas of cinnamon wafting up the steps drawing my sleepy kids down for breakfast.

Buttermilk Oatmeal Pancakes
Vegetarian Times
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With the main ingredient of oatmeal, these pancakes don't cook up quite as fluffy as an all white flour pancake, but no one here seemed to notice.  Filled with heart healthy oatmeal and protein rich eggs and then topped with sliced bananas and chopped walnuts, these cakes are a veritable powerhouse of nutrition, filling your body with the fuel it needs to get through the day.

2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats

1 1/2 cups fat-free buttermilk

1 1/2 cups fat-free milk

3 large eggs

1/2 cup unbleached flour

3 Tbs. honey

2 tsp. vanilla extract

2 tsp. ground cinnamon

1 1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

sliced bananas

chopped walnuts

Mix oats with buttermilk and milk in large bowl. Cover, and refrigerate 8 hours, or overnight. 

Whisk eggs, flour, honey, vanilla, cinnamon, baking powder, and salt into oatmeal mixture - just until combined.

Heat skillet or griddle over medium heat. Spray with cooking spray, or brush with melted butter or cooking oil. Pour 1/3 cup batter onto skillet for each pancake, spreading into 4-inch circle. Cook 3 to 4 minutes, or until bubbles start to appear on surface. Flip pancakes with spatula, and cook 1 to 2 minutes longer. Serve hot, topped with fruit compote, maple syrup, bananas and walnuts, or peanut butter, if desired.