Pancakes you can feel good about!
When I was four years old, my family got a puppy. She was a Dachshund and I named her Pancake. Pancake was the third generation of Dachshunds we had. The other two were Toto and Baron. Being that my favorite food when I was four were pancakes, it was the start of a loving relationship. I mean who doesn't love pancakes?
So everytime my boyfriend and I go out to brunch, he usually gets a stack of pancakes on the side. And it never fails that after, a nap is necessary. As you know, I am always looking for ways to make healthy substitutions in recipes. Last week I bought some organic steel cut oats, not having a clue what I would do with them. I've never really been an oatmeal-in-the-morning kind of gal, but thought that something would come to me. My uncle, Clayton, raves about steel cut oats.
Last night, while perousing Pinterest, I typed in "steel cut oats recipes." The majority of the posts were slow cooker recipes and ways to eat them like they are in the picture on the package. Then came across "Oatmeal Apple Blender Pancakes (Gluten Free)" from a woman named Allison. Her website is www.nonethewiser.com and she has fabulous photography skills! The recipe looked great and these are the result. I did change a few ingredients to make it egg-free and a little more healthified, and I do not own a large high powered blender, so I made mine in steps with the NutriBullet. They turned out FABULOUS. Nervous that they would be dense, as they didn't look like small clouds of airy goodness, they were light and had a perfect texture with a hint of pear and apple in the background.
Ingredients: (all organic)
2 cups of steel cut oats
2 1/2 cups of almond milk
2 heaping tbsp of black chia seeds
1 cored apple
1 cored, over-ripe pear
1/2 tsp Himilayian sea salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tbsp baking powder
1 tbsp Bragg's Apple Cider Vinegar
1 tsp vanilla
3 tsp coconut oil
Dash of powdered sugar (optional)
Grade B Maple syrup (optional)
Instructions:
1. In a glass bowl, pour the chia seeds and one cup of the almond milk and set aside to gel. Most pancakes call for eggs to bind the batter together. However chia seeds work great.
2. Grind up the steel cut oats in a high powered blender. If you have a Vitamix or high powered blender use it, however I used a NutriBullet.
3. Add the almond milk with chia seeds, the oats and the apple and pear and blend for several minutes.
4. Then add the cinnamon, salt, 2 tsp of coconut oil, the apple cider vinegar, and the vanilla and blend again. Tip: Apple cider vinegar also is a great substitution in baking for eggs. This with the chia seeds will work wonderfully.
5. Lastly add the baking powder and briefly blend again.
6. On a 350 degree hot griddle, use the remaining 1 tsp of coconut oil to coat the griddle. I use a paper towel to rub the entire thing.
7. Then pour 1/3 of a cup of batter to make your pancakes. I've found that leveling them out with the bottom of the measuring cup works great to make sure they are flat.
8. Flip and serve with hot maple syrup and a sprinkle of powdered sugar!
