You know when you’re trying your best to be good and healthy and virtuous and skinny but then like… Saturday morning pancakes are all you can think about from Monday to Friday? THAT.
That feeling. It sucks.
But luckily I have a recipe that addresses such a mood and leaves you still feeling good and healthy and virtuous and… well, skinny is a horrible word, but these pancakes make you feel great.
They’re made with more or less the same ingredients you would use in Overnight Oats… which in essence is considered a healthy breakfast, so why can’t these pancakes be considered in the same league?
Blitzing up oats to make a flour is not unfamiliar territory. I have seen two of my favourite food writers (my queen Nigella and Anna Jones) blitz up jumbo oats to create a gnarly flour that gives fantastic bulk and body to a batter, and these pancakes follow the same concept.
In fact, this is an adapted recipe of Nigella’s ‘Oat Pancakes’ from her book Simply Nigella (my personal fave). I’ve added an earthy and fruit seed twist to the batter as well as opting for coconut milk while just seems to enhance the nuttiness of the seeds.
I’ve also adapted the sauce a little bit with the presence of the lemony peppery sumac, however the recipe it follows the same blueprint with altered measurements. If you want to the original though, I urge you to get the book. It’s fantastic.
And I once read that necessity is the mother of all invention. And I needed these pancakes.
They are flavoured to Hell and back and even though you’d think the oats would give a odd texture to the pancakes, they actually create a voluptuous yet light construction. I love a heavy and buttery pancake (and have a Peanut Butter Pancake recipe which fits this bill if that’s what you’re looking for) but this really delivers on the pancake front when you want to feel slightly lighter.
This recipe is enough for four pancakes. Measly you might say in the grand scheme, but perfect for a breakfast in bed for two. If you’re catering for more people (or fancy more piled on your own plate – as I have done in the past) double up the quantities.
Start by making your batter. Pancake batter is always so much better with time to rest.
In a food processor, blitz up 50g of jumbo porridge oats on a high speed for a good five minutes until it resembles a rough flour. Empty this into a big jug.
Now add a small sprinkle of salt, half a teaspoon of baking powder, a heaped teaspoon of blue poppy seeds, a teaspoon of ground cinnamon, 1 egg and 50ml of coconut milk and a little drizzle of vanilla extract. Whisk everything together to create a smooth but tough batter. Cover and leave to one side.
For the sauce, drop 70g of frozen cherries into a saucepan with a quick drizzle of maple syrup, a little pinch of salt and about a tablespoon of water. Turn on the heat and stir everything together. As the cherries defrost in the heat, they will release some water and everything will amalgamate together.
After a few minutes, the cherries will meld into a thick, runny sauce. Once this gets to the pouring consistency of your dreams, take off the heat, add a teaspoon of sumac, stir through and leave to sit.
Now fry up them cakes. Drizzle a tiny bit of flavourless oil onto a cold pan and using your hand, smear it around so the pan is covered. Put on the heat and get it nice and hot.
Now depending on the size of your pan, you could fit all four pancakes but if not – for safety- just go for two.
Pour about an espresso cups worth of batter for each pancake into the pan and let sit until small bubbles begin to appear on the surface. Carefully flip the pancakes on to the other side for a further 2 minutes before removing to a plate.
Drizzle with some coconut yogurt (if you have some) followed by the Cherry Sauce.
MIKEY AND THE KITCHEN. 