Before I begin, I have a first item of business. Today I am 33.
I won’t go into details about what I want from this year of life, since I tend to do plenty of that in January. And I can’t tell you how I’m celebrating yet (though Brent promised me this year it won’t involve kicking me out of the car alone in the middle of a city).
But I will say that my birthday fun started yesterday.
Because, holy moly, I was eating up (ahem) all your comments about recipes you’ve brought home as souvenirs. There are few things I enjoy more than reading a good story about food, and,
happy birthday to me!,
stories about pineapple fried rice inspired by Singapore, Creme Brulee French Toast from San Marino, San Juan Islands dressing, and even a quiche story that made me a little teary eyed. Okay a lot teary eyed.
(if you haven’t told me about a great recipe you brought back a souvenir, it’s not too late.)
So after all those incredible exotic souvenirs, I hope you’ll accept my humble oatmeal pancake recipe. Once you taste it, I think you will.
What I love and adore about these pancakes:
They melt right on your tongue, wow oh wow.
They are an amazing recipe for making for a crowd. Keep them piled up warming in the oven and they come out still tasting amazing. so amazing.
They are easy.
Did I mention they melt on your tongue?
How they’re a souvenir:
When we walked into the Stanley Baking Co. at the foot of the Sawtooths, half of my family came rushing up to tell me I had to try the oatmeal pancakes. Really? Their entire menu looked amazing, but I took a leap of faith. I ordered the pancakes.
And after experiencing them, I knew I had to have these pancakes again. I had to have them in my life. I came home all ready to deconstruct the recipe, as I’ve tried after other life-altering eating experiences, then ran across this. Crossing all my fingers, I tried it, and eureka!
So, without further ado, here is a souvenir for the summer I’d like to share with you.
Melt-in-Your-Mouth Oatmeal Buttermilk Pancakes
Adapted from Food & Wine.
As Tina Ujlaki says, These are not “your usual fluffy, light buttermilk pancakes; they’re very thin, tender and oaty in the center.” Tender. Oh so tender.
ingredients
2 1/4 cups buttermilk
1 cup rolled oats, not instant or quick cooking
2 large eggs, beaten
1/2 cup whole-wheat flour (I use 1/4 cup wheat and 1/4 cup oat flour, see below)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
Pinch of salt
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, plus more for the griddle
method
the night before:
—If you’d like to replace half of the wheat flour with oat flour, dump some rolled oats (the old-fashioned kind, not the partially cooked quick oats) into a food processer and give them a whirl until they resemble flour.
—Dump rolled oats and oat flour (if using) and buttermilk into a medium bowl. Let those oaks soak overnight.
the morning of:
—Preheat your griddle. I find medium to medium-low heat is about right. You want to find that sweet spot where your pancakes brown beautifully, but still bubble and cook much of the way through before you need to flip.
—Whisk the eggs into the buttermilk mixture. Add dry ingredients and mix them in. Add the melted butter and fold it in.
—Melt a little of remaining butter onto the griddle, then scoop the batter on, 1/4 cup to 1/2 cup at a time, and cook away.
—These pancakes are fantastic for feeding a crowd. Set your oven to warm and keep them all stacked inside until everyone’s ready for breakfast.
—Serve with a pat of butter and maple syrup. Homemade applesauce is also a pretty good idea for a topping. Pure heaven.
Be sure to use old fashioned rolled oats, not instant
I like to keep powdered buttermilk on hand, so if I want to whip up these pancakes on a whim, I don’t have to panic if I don’t have buttermilk.
I like to whirl up a little oat flour to replace part of the wheat flour. It takes only a few seconds in my food processor, and I add it along with my rolled oats to soak overnight.
These brown up so beautifully. If I’m cooking for a group, I get one pan going on the stove top and my griddle going right along side of it at around 375 F (if you don’t have an electric griddle, go get one, what are you waiting for? mine was just $15).
Check out my latest impulse buy for my kitchen. It is quite the weapon spatula. I like to whip it out when I’m cooking on the griddle to show I’m serious. I also wave it threateningly when anyone gets in my way. Seriously, people. This is what you get when you’re up too late browsing amazon.
And the end result. Bite in and experience the in-your-mouth melting.
I had a moment last night to look over my calendar. I wanted to survey what is coming up for next month or two now that it feels like fall here. I pulled out my clip board (I have an online calendar too, but at heart I am a paper girl, and have to have a calendar I can leaf through) and
