Fluffy whole wheat oatmeal pancakes with honey butter syrup. Perfectly sized to share with a friend for breakfast or brunch.
I’ve been taking baby steps towards getting back in the kitchen.
Most days I fail miserably, but this past weekend I was able to whip up the tastiest brunch with a little help from my partner in crime.
Of course by “a little help” I mean that Paul totally took over the pouring and flipping of the pancakes. Pancakes desperately needed to happen in this kitchen and we were so excited to dive in!
Come to think of it… I think it’s been a good two years since I’ve made them!
Not because I didn’t want pancakes, mind you, but because I didn’t want to buy a boxed mix. I guess I should also confess that I have never made pancakes without a mix.
I know, I know! I’m beyond embarrassed. I just never had the baking confidence to pull it off. But this weekend I grew a pair and set off to try something new.
Whole Wheat Oatmeal Pancakes
I did a little research to familiarize myself the whole pancake measurement situation and came across two recipes that had a few interesting ideas. One relied on oats (yum!) and another had a rather unique ingredient: vinegar. (Um… what!?) In theory, adding vinegar (or sometimes lemon juice) to the milk thickens the batter and leads to fluffier, more substantial pancakes.
Since I wanted to use whole wheat flour along with my oats, I figured I could use any extra help I could get, consider neither of them get quite as fluffy as conventional white flour on their own.
These exceeded my expectations and I adored them!
so… how were they?
These whole wheat oatmeal pancakes were delicious! When I decided to use the white whole wheat flour and ground oat flour instead of typical all-purpose I was expecting a possible fail on the texture front.
The cinnamon and vanilla were a perfect compliment to the oats and wheat and I’m proud to say I tried to eat the entire stack without sharing with Paul. Emphasis on tried. I felt bad and let him have half. He knows I only joke about not sharing.
Except for bagels.
I do *not* share bagels!
Whole Wheat Oatmeal Pancakes
Ingredients
- ½ cup ground oats (I blended whole, non-instant oats in my food processor)
- ½ cup unbleached white whole wheat flour
- 1 TBSP sugar
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- ¼ tsp salt
- ¾ cup milk
- 1 large egg
- 2 TBSP melted unsalted butter or oil
- 2 TBSP white vinegar
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- ⅛-¼ tsp ground cinnamon to taste
Instructions
- First mix your milk with your vinegar, stir, and set aside for 10 minutes. This results in an easy homemade alternative to buttermilk but if you have buttermilk on hand – by all means go for it! In place of white vinegar you can use lemon juice if needed since both will acidify the milk.
- Grab a medium to large bowl and add your dry ingredients and mix.
- In a separate bowl, mix all of your wet ingredients: soured milk, egg, vanilla, and butter (or oil).
- Slowly pour the wet ingredients into the dry, stirring with a fork to incorporate. Don't beat/whisk or overwork the batter since that will cause the pancakes to fall flat. The batter should be thick with a few lumps in it.
- Allow to sit for 10 minutes at room temperature before making your cakes. Don't stir the batter again.
- Preheat your non-stick griddle, skillet, or a frying pan and grease to medium heat with a little bit of coconut oil or spray olive oil.
- Use a ladle or measuring cup to scoop out about half a cup of batter per pancake.
- Cook until you see bubbles on the top side of the pancake and flip to brown the other side. Repeat for each cake, careful not to ever press the pancake down with a spatula since it will flatten your pancakes. If you’re working on a small surface, you also may need to reapply oil in-between each cake if making them one by one. I do mine individually since I only have a teeny pan to work with. To those of you with a proper griddle: I’m way jealous!
- Top with maple syrup and fresh fruit and dig in while they're hot and fluffy!
Notes
Nutrition
If you get a chance to try these whole wheat oatmeal pancakes, let me know!
You can leave me a comment here (LOVE checking those daily!) or tag @PEASandCRAYONS on Instagram so I can happy dance over your creations. I can’t wait to see what you whip up!
Bored with plain old syrup? The breakfast gurus at one of my favorite brunch spots, Baker’s Kitchen, make their own buttery maple syrup to serve with their pancakes and french toast.
It’s rich and sweet and insanely delicious. A little bit goes a long way so you don’t need to use a metric ton to jazz up your pancakes! I whipped up my own at home when the craving struck:
Buttery Honey-Maple Syrup
- 2 TBSP slightly melted/softened butter
- 2-3 TBSP pure maple syrup (chilled if possible, it’s thicker that way)
- 1 TBSP honey
- a sprinkle of ground cinnamon
Whisk, taste, and increase any of the above ingredients to suit your tastebuds!
thoughts on the vinegar:
I was really glad I tried this out! Thanks to Colleen for the faux-buttermilk inspiration! You couldn’t taste the vinegar in the pancakes whatsoever and they still yielded pancakes with good fluff factor and a soft texture!
I’m curious to try these with all oatmeal or all purpose flour to see if there’s a difference in how much the vinegar can fluff these babies up.
Pancakes turned out amazing! Fluffy and tasty. I used olive oil instead of butter. Also used 2 tbsp maple syrup instead of sugar. Didn’t add maple syrup on top. Just had some blueberries. I ground my own oatmeal. And I added a tsp of ground flax seed to the batter.
Followed directions exactly. Used olive oil instead of butter. They were amazing! So fluffy and tasty. New favorite. Freezing extras for breakfast during work week.
Followed directions exactly. Used olive oil instead of butter. They were amazing! So fluffy and tasty. New favorite. Freezing extras for breakfast during work week.
Very tasty. Mine turned out much darker on the outside and more rustic looking than your photos but the texture was perfect. I’m not a fan of cinnamon so I substituted cardamom. Yum!
I know this is an older post but I just found it. Why is milk and vinegar healthier than buttermilk?
So super embarrassing (and great question BTW!) – I was always under the impression that buttermilk was fattier and thicker than regular milk but it’s actually lower fat than regular milk. Using the faux buttermilk is by all means an convenience if you don’t have buttermilk on hand but that’s about it. #facepalm
Made these this morning and it turned out really well! 🙂
Whoo!!!! So glad! <3
The vinegar activates the baking soda, which needs acid to make things rise. That’s why you often see buttermilk in recipes that call for baking soda.
Good to know! I love learnig the science behind baking and the how the ingredients work with each other — thank you! =)
I reeeeeally want to try these, especially since your “announcement” post I’ve been only eating bagels with cream cheese–thanks for the tip 😉 (also pregnant, though I’m still in the beginning stages). By the way, congratulations! Having children is such a blessing!
I’ve been making my guys homemade pancakes for YEARS (just recently switched to whole wheat) and you know why?! Cause one week night, years ago… we were so broke we couldn’t afford to pay attention (recession just hit, hubby was out of work) and I googled up a pancake recipe! Haven’t bought a box since! 🙂
Now, I’ll be adding vinegar to see if I can REALLY win em over! Cause, truth be told, they still slightly snarl when they see me bust out the bag of whole wheat… yet they still cram their faces (I WIN!) 😉
I just made some oatcakes on my snow day a couple weeks ago! So yummy! http://www.semihealthyblog.com/2013/02/almond-oatcakes.html
The vinegar sounds interesting…I don’t understand the science behind fluffing it up, but it would be worth a try! 🙂
Actually it looks like (from a comment above) that’s homemade buttermilk? Nice!
These look delic! I love making “oatcakes” as I call them but never have ground up the oats – always have kept them whole which gives the ‘cakes a great texture! I also use 1 tsp baking soda per serving which may seem like a lot but it gives them a great fluffy consistency… I’m interested in trying vinegar sometime!
It’s like you can read my mind. I eat oatmeal probably six out of seven mornings a week, but lately I’ve been wanting pancakes and thought, “What about oatmeal pancakes?” Yours look delish. Maybe I can get the husband to make these. He’s the pancake king in our house.
Adding the Vinegar to the milk mixture and letting it sit for 10-15 minutes is basically homemade buttermilk (it starts to curdle) =) It’s usually 1 Tablespoon vinegar or citrus juice to 3/4 Cup of Milk. I ran out of buttermilk recently and had to look up a homemade version. Who knew it could be that easy!
Can I be a blog-reading jerk and ask where on earth you got that beautiful plate?! So. Pretty!
I’m terrible at making pancakes from scratch – not sure if I’ve ever been successful. I’ll have to try the vinegar, though, and see if it helps the texture!! I’m optimistic.
Those look so good! I haven’t been in the cooking mood much either, lucky my husband is goo at it 😉
Your pancakes look divine. I make pancakes almost every weekend and I have it down pat. No need for vinegar to get them fluffy. I use extra baking powder… here is my recipe: http://meadowscooks.blogspot.com/2012/12/apple-pie-pancakes.html
I have never made pancakes from scratch..this makes me want to try it out!
These pancakes look amazing!!! Now I want to make them!
The use of vinegar totally through me off at first, but it sounds like it was a great addition!
I love making pancakes. I usually add protein powder to mine!
These look delicious! And your picture is great! I am going to try these this weekend hopefully! I am in the mood!
Now that you mention it…I’ve been using lemon juice in my pancakes for years, though never consciously as an ingredient in its own right. I much prefer buttermilk pancakes to other varieties and never seem to have any on hand. So in a pinch, I’d add lemon juice to milk, let is sit and viola. Same technique, different thought process.
I just may have to cook these up this morning.
I’ve actually never made pancakes from scratch either! Your recipe seems totally idiot-proof. Can’t wait to try it : )
They look yummy. I love pancakes. Can’t believe you haven’t made them for two years. They are a staple in my house.
I’ve made oat pancakes before and wholemeal ones before but not put the two together. Think I will have to try that.
My friend puts vinegar on pancakes, I personally think that is a little odd.