banana oat pancakes

We love pancakes in our house.  They are a great, easy to make, healthy, whole grain breakfast.  Throw in some fresh fruit and maybe a little homemade Greek yogurt and it's the perfect meal to start your day...filling, nutritious, blood-sugar balancing, and, most importantly, delicious.

I love it when I find a recipe that is so perfect it doesn't need anything else.  This recipe is one of them.  From my King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Baking book it's a recipe that is a consistent favorite.  I love the fact that it's made from whole grains.  Although I make my own oat flour by grinding oat groats you can easily make it at home by placing old fashioned oats in the food processor or blender and blending it until it reaches a fine consistency.  If that's more than you are willing to do you can also just buy it, both Arrowhead Mills and Bob's Red Mill sell oat flour or you can get certified gluten-free oat flour from Legacy Valley or Cream Hill Estates.

As a quick side note, oats do not have gluten in them.  However they tend to be grown near, stored with or transported with other glutinous grains, most specifically wheat.  Certified producers grow and process only oats, guaranteeing that there is no cross-contamination.

One of the things that my family likes so much about this recipe is that it is very fluffy.  You don't realize that these are whole grain oat pancakes they are that light and airy.  The bananas combined with the cinnamon and nutmeg make it a delicious way to start your day.  I also like having another great recipe that allows me to use up any almost over-ripe bananas.

King Arthur Flour's Banana-Oat Pancakes

3 small bananas mashed
2 T. unsalted butter melted (use organic)
1 T. lemon juice
1 T. sugar (I reduce this to 1 t. as the bananas when they are this ripe have a lot of natural sugars)
2 eggs
1 C. oat flour
1/2 t. baking soda
1/2 t. salt
1/2 t. ground cinnamon
1/2 t. ground nutmeg

Stir together the mashed bananas, butter, lemon juice and sugar in a medium bowl.
Beat in the eggs.
Whisk together the oat flour, baking soda, salt and spices in a small bowl.
Form a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour in the wet ingredients.
Stir the batter just until the dry ingredients are thoroughly moistened.
Check to be sure the batter is thin enough for your pancakes; you may need to add a touch of milk or water (I never do)
Let the batter sit 10 minutes before using.

Heat a nonstick griddle or heavy skillet.
If your surface is not non-stick brush it lightly with vegetable oil.
When the surface is ready spoon batter 1/4 C. at a time into the pan.
Let the pancakes cook on the first side until bubbles begin to for around the edges, 3-4 minutes.
When the pancakes are just beginning to set flip then and let them cook on the second side, about 1 1/2 minutes more.

KA suggests you can sprinkle toasted walnuts over the batter just before cooking as an extra treat.

Sources for oat flour: