I am calling these pancakes but I guess REALLY they are hotcakes, and oat hotcakes at that. This recipe is so incredibly versatile and these little oaty fluffy bites work well with both savoury and sweet toppings depending on your preference. They happen to be gluten free (if you use GF oats) and really only have 3 main ingredients. These are an absolute staple in our house and when I make a batch, I make quite a few so the boys can snack on them later slathered in nut butter or avo. I refuse point blank to go down the nutritionally empty “box” cereal that seems to be the go-to for a quick morning meal and these babies are one of my favourites in an arsenal of ideas an options that I rotate on a weekly basis.

Pancakes have been around for a VERY long time indeed which when you consider how easy they are to make and how little ingredients you need makes complete sense. Whatever the age we started making pancakes (and there is evidence of this as almost 30,000 years ago) it is clearly something that is not only embedded into our tastebuds as something yummy but plenty of traditions also centre around them. Apparently the Greeks and Romans ate pancakes, sweetened with honey; the Elizabethans ate them flavored with spices, rosewater, sherry, and apples and they were traditionally eaten in quantity on Shrove Tuesday or Pancake Day, a day of feasting and partying before the beginning of Lent.

Anyway this isn’t a history lesson so lets get on with the recipe shall we?

Ingredients

SERVES 2-4 (depending on how hungry you are!)

100g rolled oats (can use gluten free oats here if you need to)

200g cottage cheese plain (creamed or chunky, low fat or full fat)

4 medium eggs

1 teaspoon cinnamon (optional)

Dash Vanilla extract (optional but worth it)

Butter, vegetable or coconut oil for greasing

Method

Blend the ingredients in a food processor.

Pour into a moderately heated pan by the 1/4 cup (you can make them smaller like blinis or larger like a silver dollar size), cooking till you see bubbles come to the surface then flip.

Serve with your favourite toppings 🙂

If you find the batter a bit runny you can just let it stand for a few minutes and you can even make the batter the night before and store in the fridge but then you might find it a bit thick in the morning in which case just loosen it up with some milk (plant based if you prefer). If I am making the pancakes specifically for something savoury I leave the cinnamon and vanilla out – however it doesn’t affect the taste that much if you leave it in.

 

Topping ideas:

• Maple smashed raspberries & almond butter (200g raspberries, 25ml maple syrup – Almond butter)
• Banana, Chia and Honey (slice banana and drizzle Chia seeds and honey on top)
• Salmon & Avo (smoked salmon, 1 avocado, lime juice, salt & pepper, cream cheese)
• Stewed strawberries & Toasted Coconut with Mac Nut Butter.
• Scrambled eggs, chives and avo

The list here is endless 🙂 and I shall leave you with one last quote by a very famous author (NOT)

 “Who, with pancakes, is poor?” —Oscroissant Wilde