These oat pancakes start with plain rolled oats, blended into a quick flour and mixed with a few baking staples. They cook up fluffy and tender, with a slightly nutty flavor that regular pancakes don’t have.
Oats are one of the cheapest things in the cereal aisle, and a canister makes many batches. Using them in place of most of the flour makes pancakes that are more filling, so a stack keeps everyone going until lunch.
They also freeze well, so a double batch on Sunday covers breakfasts all week.
Ingredients and Swaps
- Oats: Old-fashioned rolled oats or quick oats both blend into flour. Steel-cut oats won’t work. If you already have oat flour, use 1¼ cups.
- Flour: A little all-purpose flour keeps the pancakes light. Whole wheat flour works for a heartier pancake.
- Milk: Any milk, dairy or not. Oat flour soaks up liquid, so you may need a splash more.
- Butter: Melted butter or any neutral oil.
- Sugar: Granulated sugar, brown sugar, honey or maple syrup.
Tips for Fluffy Oat Pancakes
- Blend the oats fine. Run the blender for 30–45 seconds, until the oats look like flour. Coarse oats make gritty pancakes.
- Rest the batter. Five minutes gives the oat flour time to absorb the milk and thickens the batter.
- Keep the heat at medium. Oat pancakes brown quickly. If the outsides darken before the centers set, turn the heat down.
- Flip once. Wait for bubbles across the surface and edges that look dry.
Simple Oat Pancakes
Ingredients
Method
- Blend the oats in a blender for 30–45 seconds, until they form a fine flour.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the oat flour, all-purpose flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.
- In another bowl, whisk the milk, eggs, melted butter and vanilla.
- Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and stir until just combined. Let the batter rest for 5 minutes. If it’s too thick to pour, stir in another tablespoon or two of milk.
- Heat a skillet or griddle over medium heat and grease it lightly. Pour ¼ cup of batter for each pancake.
- Cook for 2–3 minutes, until bubbles form on the surface and the edges look set. Flip and cook for 1–2 minutes more, until golden. Repeat with the remaining batter.
Notes
- Makes about 10 pancakes, 4 inches across.
- Add ½ teaspoon of cinnamon or a pinch of nutmeg to the dry ingredients.
- Fold in ½ cup of blueberries or chocolate chips.
- Replace half of the milk with plain yogurt for extra-tender pancakes.
Topping Ideas
Maple syrup and butter are classic. Sliced bananas, berries, a spoonful of peanut butter or plain yogurt with a drizzle of honey all work too. For a banana version of the batter, see our Fluffy Banana Oat Pancakes.
Storage and Freezing
- Refrigerate: Keep cooked pancakes in an airtight container for up to 4 days.
- Freeze: Cool completely, freeze in a single layer on a sheet pan, then move to a freezer bag for up to 2 months. Freezing them flat first keeps them from sticking together.
- Reheat: Toast straight from the freezer, microwave for 30–45 seconds, or warm in a dry skillet for crisp edges.
You might also like: Fluffy Banana Oat Pancakes and Peanut Butter & Banana Overnight Oats.
Oat Pancake Questions
Can I make these without a blender?
Yes. Use 1¼ cups of store-bought oat flour, or use quick oats as they are and let the batter rest for 10 minutes. The pancakes will have a more rustic texture.
Can I make them gluten-free?
Use certified gluten-free oats and replace the all-purpose flour with more oat flour or a gluten-free flour blend.
Why is my batter so thick?
Oat flour keeps absorbing liquid as it sits. Stir in milk a tablespoon at a time until the batter pours slowly off a spoon.
