oatmeal pancakes.

Maybe I should have blogged about these on Father's Day, when I made them. About how wonderful my daddy is and how lucky I am to have him as a father. Honestly, he has gotten so far in life by following his two most important principles: working hard and being honest.

For as long as I can remember, he has never lied. Even about something small that doesn't matter, because you know what? It's still a lie. And it can still come back and bite you somewhere unpleasant.

And as long as I remember him telling my brothers and I to always tell the truth, I have memories of the many times he pushed us to never give up. Be it a game of cards or studying for a social studies test given by the strictest teacher in history.

Be honest. Never give up.

Oh and make these pancakes.

(For more pictures, click HERE!)


For events like Father's Day and Mother's Day, my family always has brunch. When I was younger, my mom would prepare pancakes and cut fruit for all of us. The maple syrup bottle would be waiting on the table, and I would set the plates, knives, and forks. It was simple and beautiful.

Now, it is still beautiful, but I take a larger part in making the brunch. For Father's Day, I couldn't sleep because I was too used to waking up at 6 for work. So I slept as late as I could - 8:30 am. And then went down to the kitchen to start preparing the "feast."

The brunch consisted of oatmeal pancakes, cottage cheese & LOTS of fruit I had picked up the day before, and eggs & potatoes a la my mother. Er ... that wasn't the correct usage of a la mode. And I'm too lazy to go on Word to copy and paste the a with an accent. But if it were my last name I would!

Anyway, pancakes. I was originally turned off by the "oatmeal" part. Well, not me. But my dad (and family in general other than my mom) is not a huge fan of "healthy" things. I mean, if I made the fattiest cake ever, and said it was healthy, he would hesistate, and it would take a laborious amount of cajoling for me to get him to try a piece.

But the picture of these looked so good on the smittenkitchen site, where I got the recipe from, and after I read about frying them in a little butter, I figured my dad wouldn't mind.

So I made them. And everyone loved them. My mom was worried my dad wouldn't eat them, and I was worried they would ruin Father's Day. Neither happened.

The pancakes are moist and actually flavorful, and the flavor is not even due to merely the butter. I used only a little butter in making these, and they were still delicious from the molasses and natural flavors of the whole grains. Oh yeah, toasting the oats adds tremendous flavor. It's my new favorite thing - toasting oats to a golden brown so they impart a nutty flavor. If you add blueberries or walnuts, and fry in a tiny bit more butter, syrup becomes completely optional.

Oatmeal Pancakes
from smittenkitchen, with minimal changes.

• 1 cup rolled oats
• 1 cup flour (all-purpose OR a blend of all-purpose & whole wheat OR white whole wheat)
• 2 Tb sugar
• 2 tspns baking powder
• 3/4 tspn salt
• 3 Tb melted butter OR ghee
• 1 1/4 cups milk (I used 2%)
• 1 cup cooked oatmeal
• 1 Tb unsulphered molasses OR honey
• 2 large eggs

1. Toast the rolled oats to a golden brown on a dry pan over medium-low heat. When they look done and smell nutty, transfer to the bowl of a food processor. Let cool. Then grind into oat flour.
2. Mix the oat flour, regular flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.
3. Take the cooked oatmeal and grind it in a food processor or blender. I did this to prevent my family from noticing whole oats in there. This is an optional step, however.
4. Mix the butter and cooked, ground oatmeal. Add egg and molasses. Then add milk.
5. FOLD the dry ingredients into the wet mixture. Be very gentle, and do not overmix. You don't want tight, dense, flat pancakes. Lumps are acceptable.
6. Heat a griddle or large pan. Take a stick of butter and quickly swipe it onto the areas you will place the batter. The butter should foam and sizzle immediately.
7. Ladle out about 1/4 cup's worth of batter onto the buttered areas. Do not touch it! Let it set at medium-low heat for a little while.
8. Once the edges begin to look set, and there are holes on the uncooked side facing you, try slipping your spatula underneath the pancake. If it's ready, flip the pancake gently and quickly. The other side should take but a minute or two. Transfer to a plate and cover with foil to keep warm. Or eat immediately!

TO ADD THINGS INTO YOUR PANCAKE: When you first pour the batter onto the pan, quickly add chopped nuts, berries, or chocolate chips onto the uncooked side facing you. This is a foolproof way of incorporating add-ins into your pancake.