You often hear the word “indulgent” to describe pancakes, as if they should just be an occasional treat. That may be true about most pancake recipes, but these Harvest Oat Pancakes are different in the best possible way. While they sure taste indulgent–studded with apple, wafting of pumpkin spice and textured with nuts and raisins– they are good for you too! Besides all those nourishing goodies, they are made with 100% whole grain oats, some of which are whirred into flour in a food processor and the rest stirred into the batter for hearty texture. Bursting with autumn flavor, they are a special treat on a weekend morning.
Harvest Oat Pancakes
Ingredients
1 medium sweet apple, such as honey crisp or gala, unpeeled, cut into ½-inch pieces
2 cups old fashioned oats, divided
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
3/4 cup 1% low-fat milk, plus more as needed
½ cup pumpkin puree
1 tablespoons maple syrup, plus more for serving, to taste
½ cup pecans, chopped
¼ cup raisins
Cooking spray or oil for the pan
Directions
Place the apple in a small microwave safe bowl, cover, and microwave on high for 90 seconds minutes, until the apple has softened. Uncover and allow to cool.
Place 1½ cups of the oats in a food processor and process until it finely ground. (You will wind up with about 1 1/3 cup.) Place the ground oats into a medium bowl with the remaining ½ cup rolled oats, the baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Stir to combine.
Beat the eggs in a large bowl. Then add the milk, pumpkin puree and maple syrup and stir to combine.
Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix to combine. Stir in the apples, pecans and raisins, setting some of each aside for garnish if desired. The batter will thicken as it sits so stir in additional milk by the tablespoonful to loosen if needed.
Coat a large nonstick griddle or skillet with cooking spray or oil and preheat it over a medium to medium-low heat. Ladle a ¼ cup of the batter per pancake onto the griddle or skillet. Flip the pancakes when they are golden brown on the bottom and beginning to dry around the edges, 1 ½ -2 minutes. Cook the other side until golden brown, another 1 ½ minutes. Keep the pancakes warm in a 200°F oven as you finish cooking the remaining ones. Serve garnished with the reserved fruit and nuts, drizzled with maple syrup.
Makes 4 servings
Serving Size: 3 pancakes
Per serving: Calories 390; Total Fat 16g; (Sat Fat 2.5g, Mono Fat 8g, Poly Fat 4.5g); Protein 12g; Carb 56g; Fiber 8g; Cholesterol 95mg; Sodium 210mg, Sugar 21g (Added Sugar 3g)
Excellent source of: calcium & vitamin A
Good source of: iron, potassium, vitamin D
