Oatmeal Applesauce Pancakes

The girls and I have been eating oatmeal every day for breakfast for at least the past year. I might vary the toppings I put on it or the amount of cinnamon I sprinkle on top (sometimes I go a bit crazy with the cinnamon), but it's still basically the same oatmeal. I like oatmeal, otherwise I wouldn't eat it every morning, but recently I've been wanting to have something else, something different. However, I didn't want to turn away from oats themselves -- what breakfast food could be more filling, inexpensive, and good for you? So I've been trying out other ways of serving oats for breakfast besides just cooking them in a pot on the stove. After several attempts, I am finally ready to reveal my first success: oatmeal applesauce pancakes. If a pancake can be good for you and taste good, too, then this is it.

These pancakes are also easy to make, which is a requirement for me in the mornings since I'm not a morning person. At first I didn't want to try making pancakes because I wasn't sure if I could manage flipping the pancakes over in the pan without destroying the pancakes and making a complete mess. I'm not all that coordinated, and especially not in the morning. When we have pancakes for dinner, Michael handles the pancake flipping, but he's definitely not up and interested in cooking when the rest of us want to eat breakfast. Fortunately, these pancakes are thick enough and sturdy enough for me to flip, as long as I remember to let them cook long enough on the first side. Sabrina likes the pancakes so much that she could eat them every morning -- maybe when she's older and can make them herself. In the mean time, they are a special treat that we've been eating about once a week.

Oatmeal Applesauce Pancakes
serves 2 adults, or 1 adult and 2 small children

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup old-fashioned oats
• 1/2 cup almond milk
• 1 large egg
• 1/4 cup Bob's Red Mill Gluten-free flour
• 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 1 Tbsp. canola oil
• 1 1/2 tsp. granulated white sugar
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/8 tsp. sea salt
  
• 1 Tbsp. water

Note: If you want to make these for Michael, you need to use Bob's Red Mill gluten-free rolled oats (or another brand of oats that are certified gluten-free), and Lactaid milk instead of almond milk.

Instructions:

The night before you want to make the pancakes, heat the milk in the microwave until it is warm. In a small bowl mix together the milk and oats. Cover with a plate or plastic wrap and let sit overnight at room temperature.

In the morning, set your blender on the counter and make sure that the bottom of the glass jar is screwed on tight. Then pour into the blender jar the oat and milk mixture, egg, flour, applesauce, canola oil, sugar, baking soda, salt, and water. Blend on high until all of the ingredients are thoroughly combined and you don't see anymore bits of dry flour. Let the batter sit in the blender for 5 minutes.

While the batter is resting, place a large non-stick frying pan over medium heat to let the pan heat up. Then, using a 1/4 cup measuring cup, pour 1/4 cup of batter into the frying pan. (I always do just one pancake first, to test whether the pan is hot enough.) Let the pancake cook on the first side for 3 minutes. Then flip the pancake and let it cook on the other side for 3 minutes. The pancake should be golden brown on both sides. If it isn't, cook it a little longer. Then repeat with the rest of the batter.

Serve with maple syrup, or a mixture of 1 cup of heated blueberries and 2 tablespoons of maple syrup. The recipe makes 5 pancakes. If I did my calculations correctly, each pancake is only 105 calories.