Quick, hearty, delicious, and made with a few basic ingredients you probably already have on-hand, you couldn’t ask for an easier (or tastier) way to start the day.
A Pancake for All Occasions
This pancake is versatile. Well-rounded. A jack-of-all-pancakes.
It makes a great lazy Sunday breakfast.
An awesome “large-batch-and-eat-all-week” kind of breakfast.
A perfect “I’ve got picky kids” breakfast.
An ideal “I don’t have time for breakfast but I love a hearty snack” sort of breakfast (or late afternoon munch).
Make them for yourself, your family, or guests. These are perfect for your gluten and dairy-free eaters, as well as your “don’t try to trick me into eating something healthy” eaters. (They will be tricked. It’s good for your body, but also good for your tastebuds.)
Make the pancakes silver dollars, classically sized, or one giant pancake.
They’re wonderful hot, cold, plain, smothered in syrup, slathered with peanut butter, doused in apple sauce, studded with chocolate chips, smattered with banana slices, dotted with blueberries…you name it.
Your only limit is your imagination.
This recipe gives you a clean-slate baseline, but you can experiment with toppings and mix-ins to your heart’s content. I stumbled across it years ago, and I’ve been making it for ages to the delight of my closest friends. (You can find the original recipe post here.)
Breakfast of Champions
Because the base of the pancake is oat and banana, it is naturally gluten-free with inherent sweetness.
It can easily be made dairy-free because it plays well with any milk of your choosing, be it cow, coconut, nut, or soy. (I’ve never tried it with goat’s milk, but give it a shot and let us know what you think!)
To make the recipe vegan, you could certainly swap out the chicken egg for a chia or flax egg. (I sometimes like to add a heap of flaxseed to the blender anyway, just to give the batter some extra body.) The honey can be substituted for maple syrup.
I’ve come to prefer these hearty, flavorful pancakes (or “roundy yums” for the New Girl fans out there) to traditional ones. I love that they are dense, substantial, and completely guilt-free!
I know that I’m starting my day with fiber, iron, protein, and potassium, with no empty flour or refined sugar. These roundy yums are filling, nutritious, and deserving of the name!
Do be warned, though, if you love pancakes for their airy, pillowy nothingness, then these may not be your style. They are neither airy nor pillowy. They are the sturdy, solid cousin of your feather-weight pancake, and they are magnificent to behold.
If that doesn’t sound like your thing, check out these amazing lemon ricotta pancakes. If it does sound like your thing, you may also want to give these sweet and savory almond bacon pancakes a try! Or maybe take a long weekend to try all three for a pancake trifecta!
Easy as 1, 2, Eat!
Whipping up this blender pancake recipe could not be simpler. It is literally as easy as throwing everything into a blender, letting the blades work their magic, then pouring the batter onto a hot griddle, and presto! Pancake perfection.
The batter cooks just like classic pancake batter: you know they’re ready to turn when you see little bubbles forming on the top and the edges turn slightly golden. Whether you’re using a pan, griddle, or cast iron, be sure to generously oil it between each batch for perfect flip action every time.
And that’s it! This is usually where I would give you lots of tips, tricks, and things to keep in mind when you try the recipe. But I’ve got nothing for this one! It really is as simple as that.
Perfect Pairings
Brew up a batch of your favorite black tea or herbal tea to serve with these pancakes. The flavors are flexible enough to match well with a wide variety of teas, especially depending on your mix-ins and toppings.
My favorite topping is applesauce, though they would be so good with this apple reduction syrup or refrigerator elderberry jam!
I love a simple, well-grounded black tea like Mindful Morning or House Blend creamy vanilla breakfast tea.
Lean into the nuttiness of the oats with Porch Sippin’ Pecan black tea, Oregon Breakfast black tea with hazelnut, or Soul Warmer herbal tea with hazelnut, chestnut, and caramel!
Maybe skip the syrup but keep that maple flavor with Maple Pecan tea or Heritage Blend black tea, a Scottish breakfast tea made with real Vermont maple syrup extract.
A nice chai would play up the spice in the cinnamon beautifully! You could even get fancy and infuse your milk with chai spices before you add it to the batter…then brew an extra pot to enjoy with your breakfast.
Whatever tea you choose to drink alongside them, you can’t go wrong with these simple, delicious blender pancakes. Whip up a batch this weekend, and enjoy!
Oatmeal Blender Pancake Recipe
Ingredients:
- 2 cups oats (not steel cut)
- 1 1/4 cups milk of choice
- 1 large ripe banana (the riper the banana, the sweeter it will be.)
- 1 heaping tablespoon honey
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 egg
- Oil of choice for cooking
- *Additional ingredients of choice, e.g. chocolate chips, banana slices, nuts, coconut, fresh or frozen berries, bacon, chai spices, citrus zest, etc.
Directions:
Heat pan, cast iron, or griddle to medium heat. Add all ingredients except egg and oil to the blender. Blend until smooth. Add egg and pulse to combine.
If adding more mix-ins, remove batter from blender and stir in additional ingredients.
Drizzle oil onto the pan. Once hot, pour batter to form pancakes of desired size and shape.
Allow pancakes to cook until golden on each side. You will know they are ready to flip when bubbles form on the top and edges brown slightly.
Add more oil to the pan between each batch of batter so pancakes do not stick.
Serve immediately with desired toppings, or refrigerate and eat throughout the week.
Yield: about 12 medium pancakes
