Whole Wheat Oatmeal Pancakes

A few months back, I posted a recipe for Whole Wheat Buttermilk Pancakes that are absolutely delicious - light, fluffy, and sweet.  The only problem is that they achieve this by including half all-purpose flour along with the whole wheat.  I tried remedying this by using all whole wheat pastry flour in the same recipe, but this led to a completely flat pancake that was not particularly exciting.  I decided the next time around I'd find a new recipe, and in looking for something with 100% whole grains I came across Whole-Wheat Oatmeal Pancakes on Epicurious.  The recipe was originally in Gourmet, which is not a publication I would have generally thought of for healthy versions of classic foods, but the reviews were amazing: out of 90 reviews, 100% would make these again, and the average rating was a full 4 forks!  I had to give them a try.

I made a few minor changes (of course!).  I substituted whole wheat pastry flour for the whole wheat flour, used 2 eggs instead of 1 (some reviewers suggested this but I'm not convinced it was necessary), used regular sugar instead of brown (because my brown sugar is still hard as a rock), and oil instead of melted butter (because I find melting butter to be an annoying step; I compensated for this by buttering my skillet instead of brushing with oil so we'd still have the buttery taste - yum!).  Apparently this is a flexible recipe, though - reviewers also used regular milk or a yogurt milk/combo instead of buttermilk, all purpose flour instead of whole wheat, all kinds of oats (the original recipe said quick oats; I used rolled). 

The resulting pancakes were really yummy - not as fluffy as the ones with some white flour, but I'm not convinced fluffy is possible in an all whole-grain recipe.  I'm also not convinced that pancakes need to be fluffy - I find thinner ones are often more moist and I really enjoy the texture.  The oats made these hardy but not heavy, and the flavor from the cinnamon and nutmeg almost made me like them better without syrup.  Plus, they freeze and reheat in the toaster beautifully, maintaining the buttery crunchiness on the edges.  I highly recommend giving these a try next time you're looking for a weekend treat!

Whole Wheat Oatmeal Pancakes
adapted from Epicurious

3/4 cup oats (quick is best, but I have used rolled successfully too)
1 1/2 cups well-shaken buttermilk, divided (or 3/4 cup milk + 3/4 cup yogurt)
3/4 cup whole-wheat pastry flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon grated nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
2 tablespoons canola oil
1 tablespoon sugar

Soak oats in 3/4 cup buttermilk (or milk) 10-15 minutes (my rolled oats soaked about 15 which was fine).
 
Meanwhile, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt in a large bowl.

In a separate bowl, whisk together egg, oil, sugar, and remaining 3/4 cup buttermilk (or yogurt).  Add this and oat mixture to dry ingredients and stir until just combined.

Heat a griddle/large skillet over medium heat until hot and lightly butter (I run the end of a stick of butter quickly over the pan).  Working in batches, pour batter onto griddle and cook until bubbles appear on surface and undersides are golden-brown. Flip with a spatula and cook other side, about 1 minute more. (Lightly grease griddle between batches.)
 
Freeze leftover pancakes in a zip top bag separated by wax/parchment paper or plastic wrap and reheat in toaster oven.
 
Makes 20 pancakes using a 2 tablespoon scoop