Oatmeal Pancakes with Rhubarb Sauce

Whenever I have extra time in the morning I love a good pancake breakfast. Now, since those mornings are rare, I usually make a big batch and then freeze them in individual servings so I can enjoy them for the rest of the week without all the prep. Pancake weeks are the best! No matter how busy my mornings are I feel like I got to enjoy a lavish breakfast but all I had to do was defrost some pancakes, throw on chopped fruit and sour cream, and boom! Breakfast of champions!

I love experimenting with pancakes and toppings. My oatmeal pancake recipe is a tried and true recipe I’ve been making for ages so I wanted to have fun with the topping. Since I’ve never had rhubarb outside of a store-bought bakery pie (best pie of my life btw) I thought why not get creative with it. I used my usual blueberry sauce recipe and replaced the blueberries with frozen rhubarb. And that was when I discovered I’m a genius. Because it is delicious! A perfect balance of sweet and tangy.

Let’s talk about rhubarb a minute, though.  Rhubarb is actually a vegetable. It’s really sour in it’s raw form so it is usually eaten cooked and mostly found in desserts like pies. It is an excellent source of vitamin K which is important for bone health and blood coagulation – a fancy word for saying it plays a role in making sure your blood clots properly. If your blood doesn’t clot properly  you would basically bleed out anytime you got a cut. It is also a good source of fiber.

You can enjoy this Rhubarb sauce as I did, on pancakes. Or mix some into your yogurt or on some toast. Whichever way you have decide to eat it,  you’ll be sure to enjoy it!

Ingredients:

Rhubarb Sauce

• 14 oz. frozen rhubarb, defrosted
• 1 cup water
• ¼ cup lemon juice
• Lemon zest from one lemon
• ½ cup sugar
• Dash of cinnamon
• 2 tbsp. cornstarch
• ¼ cup cold water

Oatmeal Pancake

• ½ cup oat flour *
• ½ cup white whole wheat flour
• ½ tsp. baking soda
• ⅛ tsp. cinnamon
• ¾ cup milk
• 1 egg
• 1 tbsp. oil
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions:

For Sauce:

• Place rhubarb, lemon juice, lemon zest, water, sugar, and cinnamon in a small saucepan over medium heat. Allow it to come to a boil, stirring occasionally.
• Mix together cornstarch and ¼ cup water in a separate bowl until well combined and there are no lumps. Pour into saucepan and mix until mixture thickens.
• Remove from heat and allow it to cool 10 minutes.
• Blend sauce mixture using a hand immersion blender until sauce is a smooth consistency.
• Set aside and make pancakes.

For pancakes:

• In a bowl: blend together oat flour, white whole wheat flour, baking soda, and cinnamon.
• In a separate bowl: whisk together milk, egg, oil, and vanilla extract.
• Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients and mix until just blended. Let it sit 10 minutes.
• Heat a small pan over medium heat and coat with cooking spray or butter (coat between each pancake). Pour batter, ¼ cup at a time, into heated pan. Cook 1 minute. Flip pancake and cook additional 30 seconds or until cooked through.
• Enjoy pancakes with rhubarb sauce and sour cream or greek yogurt. Drizzle with maple syrup.

*you can make your own oat flour by placing rolled oats into a food processor or blender and pulsing until it turns into flour-like consistency.