Kim Boyce's Oatmeal Pancakes

Yes, I know it's Friday and not the weekend, and I know that pancakes are a weekend food, but I've been thinking a lot about living in the moment and gratitude and the fleetingness of life lately and so, when I woke up this morning wishing for pancakes, I decided I should be grateful for the fact that I am currently in a work situation that allows me to make pancakes on a school day (so to speak) and just do it, instead of settling for dryish spelt flakes and skim milk and feeling Grinch-ish about, well, everything.

So I did! I boiled up a quick pot of oatmeal, I used my new orange spice grinder (thrifted by a very resourceful friend of mine) to grind up rolled oats into velvety-soft oat flour and I made us pancakes for breakfast. Max, still sleepy-eyed and soft around the edges, was a little confused when he walked into the kitchen and saw the detritus of flours and pans on the counter, butter melting on the stove. But he's a good sport. He dug right in.

Oatmeal always makes me think of my grandmother in Philadelphia, my father's mother. I still remember the bowls of oatmeal she made me eat as a kid, a pat of butter melting on top of the small hill of creamy oats. I didn't love oatmeal, but I was an obedient child and so I ate it whenever she put it in front of me. It made Grandma so happy to feed people. Whenever we visited, after driving for hours on the highway between Boston and Philadelphia, we'd find their refrigerator swollen and stuffed for our arrival. Pans of freshly made Jell-O, stewed pears and pink applesauce, brisket, tomato soup casserole, fresh bagels and scallion cream cheese, the works. My grandmother would serve us breakfast and ask us what we wanted for lunch. We'd eat lunch and she'd ask, between bites, what we wanted for dinner.

So today, still, when I make oatmeal, I think of her. The kitchen fills with the milky, grassy smell of oats softening on the stove and I remember her mauve nails, her sensible shoes, her golden lipstick case.

Max grew up eating a different kind of oat soup, oats soaked in cold milk and eaten with a mashed banana. Just the thought of it makes me shudder, if I'm honest. The comfort, the smooth slip and tender bite in a bowl of hot cooked oatmeal is nowhere to be seen, just cold, sludgy bananas and soggy oats. But while my oatmeal came from my sweet Grandma, his cold oat soup came from his father and was served up with no less love or affection.

Anyway, I am of the school that believes in not wrinkling one's nose at the table at the other person's beloved meals. There's something sort of unfair about it, like being laughed at when your pants are down. Instead, I decided to try and see if I could get him to embrace oatmeal with some secret ninja stealth moves.

In other words, I cooked him some oatmeal, drizzled milk and maple syrup on top and tucked a few frozen blueberries in and around the steaming oats. Bam! A convert was made. Now Max gets up most mornings and cooks us oatmeal and it just tickles me to pieces, it really does.

I love the whole morning ritual of padding into the kitchen, getting the kettle for tea going, measuring oats and water into a pot and watching the two turn into this lovely, creamy cereal, steam rising reassuringly from various pots on the stove. In Good to the Grain (nominated for both an IACP and James Beard Award, people! Eeeep!), Kim Boyce writes about cooking oatmeal for her daughters most mornings and folding the leftovers, when there are any, into a barely sweet oat-flour pancake batter. And that is what was on my mind when I awoke this morning, little fingers of sunlight creeping across the sky still gray from the night before.

As I'm without both a gas stove and a cast-iron pan, the pancake-cooking situation in my kitchen isn't particularly satisfactory, so, while we're on the subject of gratitude and so forth, I think it would be lovely if you could give your gas stove a cuddle and a loving pat from me. Still, these pancakes are such lovely little things. Soft and tender and as wholesome as pancakes get, they pack a wallop (a gentle, soothing wallop) of pure oat flavor that tastes very nice if, for example, you use them to mop up a puddle of maple syrup in your plate. They don't leave that sort of strange heavy feeling in your belly that many pancakes do and I love that the oat flavor is what really shines here.

And best of all, you don't have to cook all of the batter all at once. We made enough for our breakfast, then put the rest in the fridge for tomorrow morning. Pancakes two days in a row! Scandalous. And wonderful. Lucky me.

Have a good weekend, folks.

Oatmeal Pancakes
Makes about 18 pancakes

3/4 cup oat flour (pulse 3/4 cup rolled oats into a food processor or spice grinder until finely ground)
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly (plus extra for the pan)
1 1/4 cups milk
1 cup cooked oatmeal*
1 tablespoon unsulphured (not blackstrap) molasses or 1 tablespoon honey
2 large eggs

1. Whisk the oat flour, flour, sugar, baking powder and salt together in a large bowl. In a smaller bowl, whisk the butter, milk, cooked oatmeal, honey and eggs together until thoroughly combined. Gently fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Using a light hand is important for tender pancakes; the batter should be slightly thick with a holey surface. Although the batter is best if using immediately, it can sit for up to 1 hour on the counter or overnight in the refrigerator. When you return to the batter, it will be very thick and should be thinned, one tablespoon at a time, with milk. Take care not to overmix.

2. Heat a 10-inch cast-iron pan or griddle over medium heat until water sizzles when splashed onto the pan. Rub the pan generously with butter. Working quickly, dollop 1/4-cup mounds of batter onto the pan, 2 or 3 at a time. Once bubbles have begun to form on the top side of the pancake, flip the pancake and cook until the bottom is dark golden-brown, about 5 minutes total. Wipe the pan with a cloth before griddling the next pancake. Continue with the rest of the batter.

3. Serve the pancakes hot, straight from the skillet or keep them warm in a low oven.

* Make oatmeal, if you don’t have any leftover: Bring 2 cups of water, 1 cup of rolled oats and a pinch of salt to a boil and simmer on low for 5 minutes. Let cool. You’ll have some extra oatmeal, which you can eat while you’re cooking.

Comments

[Jim Dixon]

I'm lucky enough to live in Portland so I can get Kim's baked stuff at my local coffee shop. But I'd tweak the pancakes just a bit by separating the eggs and beating the whites to soft peaks, then folding them into the batter. I do it for all the various pancakes I make, and it provides more airy bubble to keep them light.

And I'll give my Griswold skillets and old Wedgewood range a gentle pat for you.

[Cristin]

Yum! Around here, we love oatmeal and we love pancakes. Seems like the perfect marriage, if you ask me!

[Sara]

My sister and I made this: but more chatting and catching up (she lives in NY, me in Boston) we dumped the whole batch of oatmeal we cooked up for the pancakes in (rather than measuring out one cup). They did not hold together all that well and it took us a little while to figure out what we had done. They were still good enough, just not exactly a pancake. Too many cooks, right?

[Jill]

Sounds lovely. I can't wait to make this for the oatmeal lovers in my life!

[Tracy]

My Italian did not grow up eating oatmeal, so I introduced him. We often eat it with maple syrup and milk with a slice of toasted bread slathered with salted butter. It's heaven. It's how I ate it growing up. In fact, I often took a spoonful of oats and spread it on the toast. Double heaven.

[Gabby / Gypsy*Diaries]

This looks heavenly! Definitely must try pronto!!! Happy weekend darling! I hope the weather will be nicer than too day... boooooo German spring! :)
xxx

http://gypsy-diaries.blogspot.com/

[Agnes]

Thank you for your beautiful posts - you always make me wish to live a fulfilled life. I, too, love pancakes in the morning, and fresh bread, and...this morning I got up and made a barley soda bread which I ate still warm from the oven...I try to make the best of not currently having to rush out the door, and when I remember to appreciate my mornings they are indeed warm and comforting hours. These pancakes come next.
Happy weekend to you!

[Agnes]

...and by the way, I got my first gas stove ever a few months ago and still cannot believe the joy of it! I'll hug it from you also ;-)

[Michelle]

You are too sweet. I love breakfast together, there is something so humbling starting the day with a loved one.

[Stefan]

A lovingly written post, it made me smile and toasted up my heart.

It's funny you should be making oatmeal pancakes because a few weeks ago, my friend Tess and I decided to ditch the milk and cue in the oat milk.

Substituting for milk (along with orange juice), oat milk imparted a delicate flavour to our pancakes and such a lovely texture.

I wrote up the recipe here: http://stefanzr.blogspot.com/2011/04/perfecting-pancakes.html

[Jennifer Jo]

What's tomato soup casserole?

[Sasa]

So...the very opposite of my morning then. Rudely woken by yelps of "fuck, shit, oh fuck" and a man in the room hopping about on one foot tugging pants on. Within 20 seconds of awakening I was making coffee and putting it, and a lot of sugar, into a thermos for Flo who had overslept the alarm and was 20 minutes late for work. Not that I'm complaining - I don't want to be told it's a grand idea when I next resolve to complain less ;P

[tara]

Hip, hip for the Beard nomination for this outstanding book. It's became a fast favourite around here. And an extra hooray for you and this post, Luisa - it's a gorgeous one.

[Sense of Home]

Beautiful post! Love the memories of your grandmother, made me think of mine. I recently discovered the joy of oatmeal pancakes, made mine with bananas, mmm.

Brenda

[Suzy]

I make Layla oatmeal every morning, with milk instead of water, raisins (that plump up while the oats cook) and then fold in some frozen blueberries and sprinkle with brown sugar. Oh, and Stephen taught me to add a pinch of salt, it somehow makes all the difference.
These pancakes sound very very good indeed.

[Abby]

Lovely post. You've expressed exactly the way I feel about weekend mornings (not being blessed to work from home...) and the rituals that surround breakfast. This recipe sounds delicious; oatmeal seems to lend such a delicate crunch and texture to pancakes. Definitely making these this weekend.

[R @ Learning As I Chop]

I love oatmeal pancakes too. Heck, any kind of pancake. And I agree about the morning ritual. It's my favorite time of day.

[Brettne]

Thanks so much for this beautiful reminder that a meal really does have the power to connect us to the ones we love. I'm going to make this for my daughters, and think of you! xoxo

[nicole]

Lovely. My fiance also often makes oatmeal in the morning, and has converted me to enjoying it with berries, maple syrup and cinnamon (previously I was very Plain-Jane about it, eating it just with soy milk and a little salt. Which I still do just - not all the time.). But it's so nice to have it made for me -- I wonder if that's much of the pleasure of these morning meals?

[Christine]

I need oats. That is what I need.

I'll hug my Philadelphian gas stove for you, but really, if you want me to smuggle a nice cast iron pan for you to Italy where I can send it to Germany for a lot less; lemme know. I go to Italy in May.

[Amy]

Oh my this post made me so incredibly happy! Thanks so much for it.

[Marguerite]

You somehow made typically mundane things (oatmeal, pancakes, weekday mornings) sound alluring. And you also somehow achieved the perfect golden brown on your pancake. I am dually impressed.

[Alex]

YUM! I made these a while back from the book - the only tweek I made was to brown the butter (since you're melting it anyways)..soo delicious. I want to re-make these in the fall and serve them with some apple butter.

[joycee]

I am sending this link to my daughter, her 4 year old refuses to eat anything healthy. I think this just might bring him over to the other side! Loving your great recipes and Friday Link Love is right up my alley!

[Qulinaristi]

Wau!Wau! Perfect work!

[Ethan]

There is something comforting about "weekend" breakfast on a weekday if you're not running late to work.
Happy Weekend!

[sewa mobil]

Very nice, thanks for the information.

[Ellie @ Kitchen Wench]

This is fantastic! I feel a little bad making pancakes so the incorporation of oatmeal would help alleviate the guilt!

[Ashley]

Combine Kim Boyce's beautifully hearty and satisfying recipes with your perfectly illustrated stories and you've got a perfect post.
We are a lucky family who gets to enjoy weekday pancakes. One of the many perks.

[the twice bitten]

what a great post as always. Always love reading your blog, especially when it is about pancakes.

[Laya]

Hey luisa, you have a wonderful flair for writing, that makes your work really endearing, and takes them beyond recipes. A new post on your blog instantly brightens up my usually dull moment, thank you :)

Im from india , and not sure if we get steel cut oats here. Can i make this whole recipe with quaker oats ?( Instant , rolled oats )?
It would be of great help to have your clarification as id love to try this recipe :)

[heather @ chiknpastry]

ah... LOVE the Boyce cookbook. And I love that you converted your bf to the good kind of oatmeal. so many people loathe oatmeal, and i just can't figure out why :). glad he came around!

[Luisa]

Jennifer - o-HO! Tomato soup casserole is a concoction involving spaghetti cooked to gumminess and multiple cans of condensed tomato soup, plus cheese (I think? Not sure), baked in the oven. Yow.

Sasa - ha! Indeed.

Suzy - yes, the salt is very important!

Christine - thank you so much for the very generous offer! But I'll actually be in NYC myself in May and I'm planning on bringing back a skillet with me then. :)

Amy - you're welcome! Your comment made me happy.

Ashley, the twice bitten - thank you!

Laya - the recipe specifies rolled oats, not steel-cut. (Don't use instant.)

[Molly]

Luisa, I had to giggle when I spied this. I've never thought of spring as pancake season, but if our mutual praises these past weeks are any indication, perhaps they're JUST the thing to chase off spring's chill.

We are smitten, also, with a hodgepodge of Kim's and Molly's. Just two days until pancake day, oh goodness me...

[Dawn (KitchenTravels)]

The lovely descriptive details of the small, significant moments. This is why I love your blog. Well, that, and oatmeal pancakes. I wonder how this recipe would work with steel-cut oats? I'll just have to try and see.

[Stephanie]

Danke for finally convincing me to make this recipe!

I saw this recipe in Good to the Grain, but decided not to make it since I already have a go-to banana oatmeal pancake recipe.

However.

However, I read your post on Friday and I couldn't stop thinking about them all Saturday . . . Which led to oatmeal pancakes for breakfast Sunday, Monday and Tuesday! (Pancakes on a work day -- just the thing to chase away the spring rain.)

These are completely different and wonderful than my other favourite recipe -- I love the way the oats give them a subtle sweetness. Thank you!

[jm]

who uses a butter knife to eat pancakes? GET IN THERE AND EAT THOSE MUGS

[Jesse]

a true oatmeal lover's breakfast.