Oatmeal Cookie Pancakes

Am I the only crazy person who has been foregoing sleep for the past week to get up and watch the Australian Open before the crack of dawn? I always make a huge effort to catch as much of the major tennis championships as I can – there are only 4 of them each year, and I start looking forward to them weeks in advance! So, even though matches have been starting at 3 or 3:30 am (east coast time) for the past few days, I’ve been up rooting for my favorite players. Who needs sleep, anyway? 🙂 If you happened to catch this morning’s men’s final, it was epic – nearly 6 hours of play between two of the sport’s best in order to determine a winner. So worth the early start to my day!

The other thing that made this morning awesome was these oatmeal cookie pancakes. I’ve made them a few times now, and they’re always a hit. Maybe that’s a given, I mean who doesn’t love an excuse to eat cookies for breakfast? 🙂 Lazy Sunday mornings are meant for pancakes, and this recipe is a cinch, even if you’ve just rolled out of bed. One bowl, one measuring cup and a few pantry staples – easy as that. The batter includes oats, brown sugar and raisins, helping to mimic the flavor of oatmeal cookies in each bite. I usually add a few chocolate chips too, and prefer them that way, but if you’re not in the chocolate for breakfast camp, just skip them. Shane doesn’t eat these, so if I’m making them for myself, I halve the recipe and stick the leftovers in the freezer for a quick and easy breakfast another day.

(PS – One more week until the Super Bowl – who’s excited?! We’ll talk more about that this week, I have a few recipe ideas to share in case you’re hosting/attending a party…)

Oatmeal Cookie Pancakes
from Joy the Baker

2 large eggs
2 cups buttermilk
1 tablespoon pure maple syrup
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
heaping 1/2 cup old fashioned oats
2 tablespoons packed light brown sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
pinch freshly ground nutmeg
1/2 cup raisins
chocolate chips (optional)
oil or cooking spray (for cooking)

{If you aren’t going to serve the pancakes until you’ve cooked all of them, preheat oven to 200 F. Spray a wire rack with cooking spray and set it inside a baking sheet then place the baking sheet in the oven.}

Add the eggs to a medium bowl and whisk to break them up. Combine the buttermilk, maple syrup, melted butter and vanilla in a measuring cup then pour them into the eggs and whisk to incorporate. Add the flour, oats, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg to the bowl and stir just until barely combined (the batter may still be lumpy, that’s fine). Fold in the raisins with a rubber spatula then set the batter aside to rest for about 5 minutes.

Add about l teaspoon of oil to a large skillet (or spray with cooking spray) set over medium-low heat. When the pan is warm, ladle about 2 tablespoons of batter into the pan for each pancake. Spread gently into a circle (if you are using the chocolate chips, sprinkle a few over the surface of the pancake now). Cook on the first side until the edges are set and bubbles form on the surface. Use a spatula to flip the pancakes and cook on the second side until golden brown and cooked through. {If not serving immediately, transfer the pancakes to the wire rack in the oven.} Repeat until you’ve used all the batter.

Makes about 20 pancakes