Oatmeal-Blackberry Pancakes with Grated Orange Zest and Greek Yogurt

Mariel here. There’s been a spring in this winter’s step, so where I’d normally be elbow-deep in bowls of White Chicken Chili, Roasted Veggie Lasagna and Cassoulet, I have yet to make one of these cold-weather comforts. Instead, I’ve been living on fresh fruit, Egg Salad Sammies and super-sized dinner salads, which is what I typically gravitate to only after Punxsutawney Phil officially declares an end to the season of S.A.D. Incidentally, he predicted another 6 weeks of winter, but I don’t much trust the predictive ability of rodents.

Anyhoo…since I freelance from home, I make just about every meal myself, which saves a lot of dosh, but can be tough when you run out of ideas. On Tuesday, faced with bright sunshine and 50-degree weather, I decided to forgo the usual soup route and whip up something new. What I really wanted to eat was an entire bag of kettle corn, but instead I opted for a slightly more nutritious sweet fix: pancakes. While I normally find them somewhat unfulfilling – as in I’m stuffed immediately post-short-stack and starving an hour later – I crammed in a whole mess of oatmeal, berries, and Greek yogurt to boost the protein and fiber content.

We’ve been making a lot of bold calls here on Feast, but I will tell you that these are the best pancakes I’ve ever tasted. The batter is much thicker than the usual drippy stuff, so henceforth you end up with a thicker pancake, but the berries and yogurt keep everything doughy and moist (your favorite word, I know). They’re not cloyingly dense or heavy, they somehow manage to retain a degree of fluffiness despite their considerable nutritional load. Anyway, I highly suggest giving them a whirl one weekend morning…Valentine’s Day is right around the corner after all.

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Oatmeal-Blackberry Pancakes with Grated Orange Zest and Greek Yogurt
Makes about 16 3-inch pancakes

Ingredients:
¾-cup old fashioned oats – $3.79
½-cup + ~¼-cup milk – stock
¾-cup whole wheat flour – stock
1½ teaspoons baking powder – stock
¾ teaspoon baking soda – stock
½-teaspoon salt – stock
1 cup Greek yogurt – $1.69
1 egg, lightly beaten – stock
½-teaspoon vanilla extract – stock
1 Tablespoon packed brown sugar – stock
1 generous teaspoon of orange zest – $0.66
1 cup of frozen blackberries (they hold their shape better than fresh) – $3.99
Butter for greasing the skillet – stock
Grand total assuming well-stocked kitchen: $10.43
Cost per pancake: $0.65

Directions:
1. In a medium bowl, soak the oats in ½-cup of milk for 10 minutes.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

3. Add the lightly-beaten egg, brown sugar, vanilla extract, yogurt, remaining ¼-cup of milk, zest, berries, and soaked oats to the dry ingredients. Stir until just combined.

5. Heat a large skillet or griddle over a med-high flame and brush with butter. Once piping hot, reduce the flame to medium and parcel out batter by the tablespoon-full (aim for a diameter of about 2½-3 inches) Cook each pancake for about 2 minutes or it’s golden, then flip and cook the other side. Press down and flatten the pancake to ensure it cooks through. To make sure the outside doesn’t burn, you may need to turn heat down to medium-low. Repeat until all batter is cooked.

Tagged as: breakfast, brunch, cooking, family, food, pancakes, recipes, Recipes Under $10, Valentine's Day, vegetarian