Happy Hump Day, Friends!

My daughter pooped in the tub this weekend.  Then, as I sat her on her potty seat, she dumped the entire cup of water she was holding from playing in the bath all over the bathroom floor.  So that was fun.  Even more fun was while I was cleaning the bathroom, I walked into the kitchen to find my counter top painted with a lovely mural of applesauce.  (Insert “meh” faced emoji here. Look, I get an instagram account and now I think I’m all cool with my emoji references!)

Anyway…this all leads to the promised Pancakes Recipe because, well, because I can.  If you are squeamish about talking about poop and pancakes in one article, you’re probably not a mom.  And if you’re not a mom you probably aren’t reading this website…so I am assuming we are all fine with this. I tried to write a funny segue having to do with fiber, but it was a stretch.  So anyway, on to the pancakes!

Why Pancakes?

They say “it’s the little things” in life that you remember.  Well, one little thing that made me really happy this weekend was introducing pancakes to my daughter.  A bit of background here: I am a bit of a hippie, as the husband would say, and I am very particular about what Belle eats.  The whys and hows of that can be dissected in another post, but what you need to know is that we eat either eggs, whole wheat toast, oatmeal, yogurt, or fruit for breakfast around here.   My kid has never seen a pancake or a waffle.  Yet.

It all started because of the show “Backyardigans.”  Have you seen this show?  These little animal-ish critters dance and sing about their backyard adventures.  It’s super cute and Belle basically dances through the show so I don’t mind her watching it.  In this particular episode, 2 little alien friends need to find pancakes to fuel their rocket ship in order to return to their home planet.   (It’s a nail-biter for sure, you’ll be on the edge of your seat.)

In short, they sing about pancakes and Belle has been singing about the “pantats” ever since.  She had no idea what they were, but I told her that Saturday morning, we’d make some.

When Saturday came, I pulled her stand up to the table and she watched as I mixed ingredients and poured the batter into the pan.  She was singing about “pantats” the whole time, and when I finally plopped one in front of her, she was delighted.

We had to “blow” on them before digging in because they were deemed “hot!” since everything that comes from the stove is hot and must be spat upon blown off to cool it down.  But, as I made the rest, she dug into the first one.  Baby girl loved it!  Adding to the novelty of this was that fact that she could “dip” them.  Belle loves anything that can be “dipped” into something else.  (Peppers and hummus are a fav for this reason.)  So when I mixed a pumpkin and maple ‘syrup’ together, it sealed the deal.   Pancakes are now the most awesome food ever and we should eat them every day!

Seriously, though, it was so much fun connecting something real to something she had only just heard of in a song.  It was a very simple act but I will remember this weekend for a long time because of it.  Actually, I probably won’t forget it ever because Belle has been talking about pancakes ever since.

To keep my hippie-healthy self happy, I found a recipe for Oat-Flour Pancakes on Pinterest, but made some changes to fit our needs.  Here is the recipe I conjured up.

Enjoy! (Printable version below)

*FYI- Oat Flour is nothing special.  Just put Old Fashioned Oats in a blender and pulverize til it looks like flour.  There you go, oat flour!  I make a lot at one time to keep in a container until needed 🙂

**BONUS TIP!

Store batter in a reusable restaurant-style ketchup/mustard bottle, sealed, in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.  This makes it easy to squirt batter onto the pan, PLUS it allows you to “make” pancakes on those busy weekday mornings!  Just don’t fill it to the top- the batter will thicken, so add a bit more almond milk to thin it out.

 

Ingredients:

This recipe makes about 12 pancakes using the 1/4 cup batter size, (but I always make mine bigger)

• 2 Cups Oat Flour
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 tablespoon Baking Powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 Cup Almond Milk
• 1  1/2 tablespoon coconut oil
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla (optional, but delicious!)

Directions:

1. If using an electric griddle, heat to 375.  (I just use my Curtis Stone DuraPan Nonstick Pan. I seriously LOVE this pan- we use it for everything and it is perfect for pancakes because it’s larger than most (12″) and perfectly flat.)  If using a stove top like me, heat to med-high.
2. Whist dry ingredients together in a large mixing bowl
3. Add the Milk, Oil, Eggs, and Vanilla to the bowl and stir until just combined.
4. Let the batter sit for a minute or two before pouring, it helps to thicken it up a bit.
5. Lightly spray your pan/griddle
6. Use a 1/4 measuring cup to scoop the batter onto the pan, (or just eyeball it as you pour, like I did 🙂 )
7. Cook pancakes about 2 minutes per side.  Once you see the bubbles forming, you know it’s time to flip!

For the “Syrup:”

• 1 cup pumpkin puree
• 3 tablespoons Pure Maple Syrup (or to taste)

Combine together and stir well.  Will keep in fridge for a week.

 

Enjoy!