Sunday Morning Treats: Oatmeal Pancakes with Strawberry Syrup

Breakfast in our house is usually a simple affair. Don't get me wrong, I love breakfast. I just tend to prefer easy options: a bowl of cereal, yogurt and granola, something that is quick and easy. Most of my cooking efforts are concentrated on dinner and when breakfast rolls around, I don't want to work that hard. But when Gavin randomly requested bacon for breakfast one morning, I decided I could break my usual habits and make something more exciting for breakfast. I didn't have any bacon on the morning of his request but I promised I would pick some up for him.

 So this morning I got up a bit earlier than usual and got to work. Since I couldn't just serve my new husband bacon for breakfast--not that he would mind--I decided to also make some pancakes. Since I'm eating gluten free, I went with an oatmeal pancake recipe from Gluten Free Girl. The strawberry "syrup" is a great alternative to regular syrup since it only contains a little added sugar and adds some healthy fruit to the breakfast. And if you aren't gluten free and have your own favorite pancake recipe, feel free to just use the strawberry syrup recipe to mix things up a bit.

With some freshly brewed coffee, these pancakes with a side of crisp bacon made for a wonderful Sunday morning treat for Gavin and me, and I didn't even mind the extra work. And, as another bonus, our place has smelled deliciously of bacon all day.

Oatmeal Pancakes (8-10 small pancakes)

• 1/2 cup oat flour
• 1/4 cup white rice flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups cooked oatmeal*
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1-2 tbsp butter or vegetable oil

*I recommend cooking the oatmeal first, or even the night before, to allow it to cool a bit before adding it to the other ingredients.

Mix together oat flour, rice flour, baking powder and salt.
In a separate bowl, whisk eggs.
Add milk to the cooked oatmeal. If the oatmeal is still warm, add a little to the eggs to bring the temperature of the eggs up without scrambling them. Slowly incorporate the remainder of the oatmeal in with the eggs.
Add the oatmeal mixture to the flours, stirring to fully combine.
Heat a large pan over medium-low to medium heat.
Add enough butter or oil to just coat the bottom of the pan.
Pour about 1/3 cup of batter for each pancake, as many as will fit in the pan without touching.
Allow the pancakes to cook until bubbles begin to show on the surface.
Flip over and cook for another minute or two.
Remove pancakes and keep warm. Add a bit more butter to the pan and continue with the remaining pancake batter.
Top with Strawberry Syrup.

Strawberry Syrup

• 12-16 oz strawberries, stems removed and quartered
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 cup orange juice

In a small saucepan, heat the strawberries and sugar over medium heat.
Once they begin to break down a bit, add cinnamon and orange juice.
Simmer for about 5-8 minutes.
Syrup will be runny but soaks into the pancakes perfectly.

For a printable recipe click here