{Banana Oat Blender Pancakes}

Two and a half years into this gluten free thing and I haven't found a really great pancake recipe...until now. That sounds so dramatic, but I've tried several and they just aren't the nice, easy to cook item that I'm looking for. Nomi was completely baffled by the answer to his perpetual question of "What you feed me now?" (The older kids tend to get the generic response of "A big plate of wait and see, with a side of eat it or starve!", thankfully they appreciate a little sassing and have started declaring that to be their favorite meal.) But back to Nomi... Pancakes? What on earth is a pancake? Have you tried describing that to an almost three year old? Who doesn't eat bread?? There are no comparisons to draw. You make me a cake? Not exactly. You make me oatmeal? Not quite... You make me cooked banana? (oh so doubtfully) Needless to say he didn't budge from his perch on the hearth, where he can see but not quite touch everything happening on the stove. The first bite sold him and he began spouting all of his lovey words, declaring them to be "'licious", and yours truly to be "so 'dorable"...so clearly these are pretty good pancakes. So how about a recipe? Seriously give them a shot, whether you're gluten free or not!

2 cups gluten free oats

1 1/2 cups milk (cow/almond/coconut etc)

1 large ripe banana 

1 tsp cinnamon

1-2 heaping Tbsp honey (preferably raw and local) or maple syrup

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp vanilla extract

1-1/2 tsp baking powder

1 egg

coconut oil for cooking

(I was working with smaller bananas so I used 1.5)

Add first eight ingredients to your blender and blend away until everything is mixed in. Try to make sure your honey and powders are towards the center so you don't have to try to scrape them off of the sides...it's such a pain! Once everything is well blended add the egg and blend just until combined. This batter tends to be stiffer than regular pancakes, but if you think it's too stiff to pour easily, now is the time to add a bit more milk (1-2 Tbsp should do it). Scrape the batter into a mixing bowl now because it's much easier to get all of it now while you don't have a hot skillet and pancakes burning. Ahem. 

Heat your skillet with a few tsp of coconut oil or butter, and when it's hot pour about 1/4 cup of batter for each pancake. Brown on both sides, about 2 minutes per side on medium/medium low heat. These don't bubble as much as normal pancakes so watch them! These are great plain or with your favorite toppings. Some ideas would be maple syrup (of course), a dollop of creamed honey, butter, peanut butter...Nutella if you're looking for something glorious. One recipe makes about 12-14, 1/4 cup sized pancakes, I will certainly be doubling the recipe for my hungry eaters, tripling if I wanted to think about leftovers!