Pancakes Part II: Oatmeal

Next pancakes endeavor: oatmeal-based batter.  Recipe courtesy of MyFitnessPal.

Recipe

1/4 c flour
1 c quick-cooking oats
1 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp salt
1 c buttermilk
2 tbsp butter, melted
1 egg

Whisk together dries in a bowl, wets in another bowl, then together.  Get your skillet to medium heat, and add small scoops of batter (three per batch for me).  Cook until tops are bubbly, then flip and finish until bottoms are golden brown.  Repeat as necessary with the rest of the batter.

Notes

This one took a few attempts on my part, so you have the benefit of my trial and error.  The batter comes out pretty moist, watery even.  So I had to be patient and not try to cram too much batter into the skillet to speed up the cooking process.  Make your pancakes small!  Don't let them pool by the edges of the skillet - they won't cook through evenly.  And flip decisively, since they'll still be a little gooey even when the bottom is well done.

Follow these guidelines and you get some tasty pancakes, interesting texture, and the glow of a fitness app-approved healthy breakfast.

Anzac Biscuits

Happy Australia Day!  Anzac biscuits (history, recipe) are a classic Australia Day treat, with their origins (like the day itself) in the WWI era, when there was a need to send a tasty treat on a long sea voyage, and also one that did not require eggs as Australia's typically-bellicose dairy farmers were fightin' round the world.


Recipe

1 c quick cooking oats
1 c flour
1 c sugar
3/4 c coconut flakes
1/2 c butter
1 tbsp golden syrup
1 tsp baking soda
2 tbsp boiling water

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Mix up the dry ingredients (oats, flour, sugar, coconut).  Melt the butter and mix in the syrup.  Mix the baking soda and boiling water, then add to butter, then add all that to the dry ingredients.  Spoon onto a baking sheet and bake for 15-20 minutes.

Notes

I'm not much of a baker, so this first batch was a bit of a learning experience.  Still, not too difficult.  I used honey instead of "golden syrup."  I had to split the batch between two trays, and the one closer to the burner got a little overdone.  In retrospect, I should have pulled them out once they looked done; they were very soft, but toughened up a bit as they cooled.  Overall, plenty of tasty biscuits.  And as another plus, your kitchen will smell like delicious baked goods and/or melted butter.