Flourless Oat, Banana and Flax Pancakes

How great are Sunday mornings? In all seriousness, if I had to name a favourite window of the week, they would be it.

Sunday mornings are when The Hungry One takes Will. I then retreat back to bed with the papers and a cup of Earl Grey. Oh, the  novelty of  finally having a home where the weekend paper can be lobbed onto the driveway by a 14 year old on a bike at 7 am. The convenience of it all floors me.  For 45 glorious minutes it’s me, the news, tea and the duvet, while the sun slants through the Venetian blinds, leaving a decal of jaunty stripes on the bed.

Then it’s breakfast. We’ve reached the stage where Will and cafes are no longer in in tune. A quick midweek pit stop for a latte is fine- he can be distracted by a snack and a red wooden car that’s tethered to his pram. But breakfast? Ha. He’s no longer content to stare up at the ceiling while we trundle through baked eggs and pancakes. He wants his own spoon. He wants to cruise around all the chairs, tables and window sills. He preferably wants to cruise around, while holding his spoon.  So breakfast at home it is.

Which is how the following were born. These pancakes are so good, that I may have just made them two days in a row.

I’ve extolled the virtues of blueberry pancakes here before; back in 40 Weeks of Feasting, when Will was the size of a small marble and a hushed secret that made me smile and rollick with nausea in equal measure. Those pancakes are stunning, but they’re strong with flour and involve one too many bowls for washing up for me these days.

In ‘Cut the Carbs’ there’s another version, made smart with almond meal.

But these may be the new staple. They’re earthy and grounded with rolled oats and banana and full of protein from the eggs. They’re also dairy free, if that’s something you need. I whizz them in the thermomix, because I need to justify the expense and bench space monopoly as often as I can, but you could also whip them up in a blender or food processor. There’s ground flax because it does good things (extra fibre, Omega 3, all of that), but also because I love the nutty flavour it offers. And there’s cinnamon, because it tastes like how a cosy morning lolling about in your pyjamas feels.

These are an all round winner. Eat them with warmed berries, sliced banana, yoghurt, or maple syrup. Make them in novelty shapes if you’re in that sort of mood. If you don’t have the inclination to stand at the stove, then portion a tablespoon of the batter into greased muffin holes and bake for 10 minutes at 150C/300F. Soon you’ll find yourself with a glut of pikelets. Just be sure to leave some left over. They make for excellent slow carb snacks for busy little hands when Monday rolls around and you’re  feeling brave enough to give cafe society one more go.

Flourless Oat, Banana and Flax Pancakes

Serves 2, makes 6-8 pancakes

These have all the merits of a small bowl of porridge, sliced banana and a side of scrambled eggs. Winner.

Shopping/foraging

4 eggs
2 bananas
1/2 cup oats/50 grams
2 tbsp ground flax
1 tsp ground cinnamon

To serve: defrosted frozen berries (or fresh berries) and Greek yoghurt.  Optional; diced banana, flaked almonds (and maple syrup, if you feel like pushing the boat out). For the pikelets, serve them as is, or sandwich together with a little cream cheese or ricotta for a pikelet sandwich.

Here’s how we roll

1) Blend together all the ingredients until you have a smooth batter.

2) Put one or two (if you feel like being doubly efficient) shallow sided fry pans over a medium heat. Grease with a little butter, then pour in four tablespoons of batter and swirl it around. Cook until you see bubbles coming through the centre and you can easily lift the pancake with a heat proof spatula. Flip and cook on the other side until lightly brown.

3) Either eat immediately, or transfer to a low oven on a plate and keep warm.  Repeat until all the batter is finished. It should make 6-8 pancakes.

Nb, to cook them as pikelets preheat the oven to 150C/300F. Lightly butter the bottom of two-three muffin trays. Pour in 1-2 tbsp of batter and bake for 10 minutes, until lightly brown and firm to touch. It should yield around 30 ( I freeze them in portions of three in small sandwich bags, then grab one or two when we walk out the door- one for Will, one for me- which also helps stop me from buying a muffin or cupcake to go with my morning latte.).

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