Oat pancakes

I came across this recipe on Molly Wizenberg's blog Orangette. Since I'm always on the lookout for something oaty, I couldn't wait to give it a go.

You'll need to start the night before by soaking 1 cup of oats in 1 cup of buttermilk (you really should have buttermilk on hand -- how else can you make good biscuits?!). Leave the buttermilk and oats in the fridge overnight. The next morning, you'll also need 1/4 cup of flour, 1 tbsp of sugar, 1/2 tsp baking soda, 1/2 tsp baking powder, 1/4 tsp salt, 1 egg, and 1/4 cup of butter. (This is half of the Orangette recipe, and yields 8 pancakes.)

The first step is to melt the butter. While this is going on you can start heating your cast iron implements over medium heat: a skillet for bacon, and a griddle for the pancakes. You could use a couple of pans or even one pan instead of the griddle, but I like it because you can cook all your pancakes at once (if you're making 8 of them) and, because it has no sides, it is much easier to get under the pancakes if they're a little reluctant to let go of the pan for flipping.

Once the butter has been melted and then cooled down, you can start mixing. Combine the dry ingredients in a small bowl. Then whisk the egg and butter, and add this to the soaked oats in a larger bowl. Gently mix the oats, butter, and eggs, and then stir in the dry ingredients. Let this sit for a minute while you grease the griddle (and get a pot of coffee on to perk!). I used lard for greasing the griddle (that's just the kind of guy I am), but oil will work -- butter is a bit riskier, since it can burn at proper pancake heat (between medium and 6 on my stove), but it can be done if you monitor the heat carefully. (You really should have lard on hand, though -- how else can you make good biscuits?!)

Plop the batter on the griddle. The recipe calls for 1/4 cup per pancake. The batter is pretty thick, so you might have a challenge measuring 1/4 cup -- I found a heaped wooden spoon gave the right amount.

If you want to add blueberries (and I highly recommned you do -- there is something perfect about oats and blueberries) put them on once the bottoms have start to set. Molly recommends this as a way to avoid purple streaks in the batter, but is also has the advantage of allowing you to put the same amount of berries in each pancake (or to skip some of them if you're cooking for someone who, for some strange reason, doesn't like them), and avoids the burning problem that sometimes comes up if berries hit the pan right at the start of the cooking time.

Flip 'em when they seem to be set on the edges (these don't bubble like regular pancakes, so they're a little trickier to read).

Cook the second side, and then serve up with some butter, maple syrup, a side order of bacon, and a nice hot perked coffee! These are wonderful; crispy on the outside, and like soft moist cake in the centre. What are you waiting for?

p.s. I won't sugar coat it. The kitchen will be a disaster of pancake crumbs, dirty bowls, and bacon grease splatters, but you won't care -- you just ate the best pancakes ever!