Oatmeal pancakes + raspberry and nectarine sauce

Breakfast time is such a sacred time for me. I really value the quiet time in the morning before the day’s demands take over. It is in this time, when I really pay special attention to feeding myself whatever nourishment I need. These quiet moments set the tone for my day. Sometimes it’s a couple of hours and sometimes it just a few minutes but regardless of the length of time, the value to the rest of my day is undeniable. Because of this, I have kind of fallen in love with breakfast foods. And due to that pesky short attention span I’ve mentioned in previous posts, I really need to get creative with coming up with new and exciting things to eat at the most important meal of the day.

I recently made these oatmeal pancakes with raspberry and nectarine sauce.  And it’s just as healthy as it is delicious. Everyone knows how healthy oats are. They are filling and have a low GI which means they release energy slowly throughout the morning so you don’t get that mid-morning crash.  Served with Greek yoghurt, which is high in protein, and blueberries, which are a great source of vitamin C and antioxidants, this sounds like a winning breakfast to me.

This recipe makes 4-6 pancakes.

Ingredients:

1 cup of plain instant oats

1 egg

1 cup of milk

1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

½ vanilla pod

1 teaspoon of baking powder

½ teaspoon of cinnamon

1 cup of raspberries

1 nectarine

2 tablespoons honey (separated); alternatively you can use any sweetener of choice.

1 cup of Greek yoghurt and ½ cup of blueberries (optional)

How to make it:

To make flour out of the oats, blend them until they form a power. In a bowl, mix the oat flour, baking powder, egg and milk, and whisk until a smooth batter is formed. Mix in the vanilla extract, cinnamon and 1 tablespoon on honey, and let it sit for 20 minutes. This is will allow the batter to thicken.

Heat a non-stick frying pan on a medium low heat and ladle the batter in. When bubbles form on the pancake, you know it’s time to flip it over. Allow the pancake about 2 minutes to cook once flipped over. These pancakes take a little longer to cook than pancakes made with wheat flour.

To make the raspberry and nectarine sauce, scrape out the vanilla seeds from the pod and blend with the raspberries, remaining tablespoon of honey and nectarine until completely puréed. Strain through a sieve. Pour the sauce over the pancakes and serve with blueberries and Greek yoghurt.

Et Voila!