Experiments

Lately, I have been having so much fun cooking just for me (and for Vivian, but he doesn't really care).  For many years, I've been cooking for other people and loving it, but I had to cook things that I thought that other people would like, and couldn't take many risks.  Now that I have many more hours at home and for the moment, have complete freedom to experiment, I've been pushing the boundaries and having fun.  I  made my first crackers, some pretty (but kind of dry) muffins,

peanut butter muffins                                              olive oil crackers

 and these fabulous pancakes!

I guess you could say that I've been making a lot of carbs lately, including more beautiful bread: 

 The pancakes are based on a recipe I found on another blog and I just added the quinoa/oat mixture (which I had made for breakfast).  Yum!

 

Oatmeal (and quinoa) Pancakes

Makes about 16 pancakes

3/4 cup oat flour (pulse 3/4 cup rolled oats into a blender until finely ground)
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt

.........................
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly 

1 1/4 cups vanilla soy milk
1 cup cooked oatmeal or *oat/quinoa mix
1 tablespoon honey
2 large eggs

1. Whisk the oat flour, flour, sugar, baking powder and salt together in a small bowl. In a large bowl, whisk the butter, milk, cooked oatmeal, honey and eggs together until thoroughly combined. Gently fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Using a light hand is important for tender pancakes; the batter should be slightly thick with a holey surface. Take care not to over-mix.

2. Heat a 10-inch non-stick pan over medium heat until water sizzles when splashed onto the pan. Spray with Pam. Working quickly, dollop 1/4-cup mounds of batter onto the pan, 3 at a time. Once bubbles have begun to form on the top side of the pancake, flip the pancake and cook until the bottom is dark golden-brown, about 5 minutes total. Continue with the rest of the batter.

3. Serve the pancakes hot, straight from the skillet or keep them warm in a low oven.

* Make oat/quinoa mix:  Bring 2 cups of water to a simmer, add 1/2 cup of rolled oats, 1/2 cup quinoa and a pinch of salt to a boil and simmer covered on very low heat for 12 min. Off heat, add 1/2 cup soy milk, 1/4 cup raisins, 1 packet stevia, and 2 tsp. honey.  Let sit a while...