I’ve had a thing for getting up and making Saturday breakfast ever since I was a kid. There’s a bit of a legend about the time my girlhood self tried to cook bacon. It was frying out perfectly. So perfectly in fact that I had to go tell my still in bed parents how perfectly it was cooking. Every two minutes as it cooked, I felt compelled to run into their room and give them an update. Just as that bacon was nigh perfect, I knocked on their door to tell them how perfect it was, and while I was in the process of extolling the perfection of my bacon, the blimey stuff burned.
So much for the bacon.
Over the years I got pretty good a whipping up a weekend breakfast. (And really bless my parents for enduring the burned bacon, the raw on the inside pancakes, the runny scrambled eggs - seriously if you can’t make mistakes, you won’t ever get better, and I definitely got better.) There is something about Saturday morning that just begs for a slightly decadent, make it in your jammies breakfast.
This Saturday, that was oat flour pancakes with a cinnamon apple topping. Oat flour is light and delicate, with a slightly nutty taste. It makes a fluffy lovely pancake, the kind of concoction you really want to call a flap jack. It’s also gluten-free. (As with all health concerns, if you are cooking for someone where gluten is a definite health risk, check the packaging as some oat flour is processed alongside wheat flour and may not be strictly gluten-free.)
I cooked mine up in a non-stick skillet, topped them with some cinnamon apple goodness and we had quite the Saturday morning feast. (It must have been good we stayed in our jammies past noon.)
OAT FLOUR FLAPJACKS
- 1 c. oat flour
- 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
- 1/4 tsp. salt
- 1 egg
- 3/4 c. milk
Pre-heat oven to 200 degrees. Mix all ingredients together in a bowl or measuring cup. Heat a skillet or non-stick pan over medium heat. Grease pan lightly with oil or butter. Pour about 1/4 c. batter into pan for each pancake. Make sure they have room between them, I usually get 2 or 3 to a pan. Let flapjacks cook until bubbles appearing on the surface burst. Flip over and cook until golden on both sides. Place finished pancakes on a plate in oven to keep warm until you have cooked up all the batter.
APPLE TOPPING
- 2 apples
- 1 tsp. sugar
- 1 tbsp. cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp. vanilla
- oil or butter for the pan
Core the apples and cut them into slices. After pancakes have finished cooking add a little oil or butter to the pan. Place the apples in the pan and cook them until they begin to soften but don’t lose their shape. Sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon. Add in vanilla and toss to coat. Serve warm over pancakes.
Extra credit...
If you'd like to add a side to this, try some home made turkey sausage. It is unbelievably easy to make and so much less expensive than ready-made (with none of those pesky additives).
TURKEY SAUSAGE
- 1 lb. ground turkey
- 1 tbsp. olive oil
- 1 1/2 tsp. smoked paprika
- 1 tsp. fresh or 1/2 tsp. dried sage
- 1 finely minced garlic clove
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1/2 tsp. pepper
Combine all ingredients in a bowl or food processor and combine well. Roll into a 2" diameter log and wrap in wax or parchment paper to store. Cut and shape into patties. Fry in non-stick or lightly oiled skillet over medium heat until browned and cooked through.
