oatmeal pancakes

The night before: In a medium sized bowl, mix together the 1 cup oats and the 1 cup buttermilk. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and set in the refrigerator overnight.I also like to make the dry mixture the night before as well, as it saves me an extra step or two in the morning. Get out a small jar or glass container (I love using my 16oz ball mason jars for this) and add to it the ¼ cup flour, ½ teaspoon baking powder, ½ teaspoon baking soda and the ¼ teaspoon salt.Quickly whisk the dry ingredients together, or put the lid on jar and give it a few shakes to mix everything together. Put the lid on the jar and store at room temperature.That's all there is to it, now you can hit the hay and get a good nights rest! Good night!The next morning: Melt the ½ stick of butter in a microwave safe bowl. Let it cool for about 5 minutes.Crack the egg into a small bowl and lightly whisk it.Take out the bowl of buttermilk and oats from the refrigerator and give it a quick stir.Add the beaten egg and melted butter to the oat mixture, and stir/whisk well.Add the flour mixture to the oat mixture and whisk to combine. The batter will be pretty thick.Lightly oil a saute pan or non-stick griddle and turn the heat up to medium-low or to medium. I turned my heat up to medium.Here's a great tip for testing your griddle. Sprinkle some water on the griddle, if it’s hot enough the water will crackle, if it’s too hot the droplets will immediately evaporate and smoke. Easy right?When the pan or griddle is hot, take a ¼ measuring cup and pour your pancake batter onto the griddle. Make sure to leave ample space between the pancakes to allow the batter to spread.Flip the pancakes when the bottom is nicely browned and the tops looks set around the edges. Cook until the second side has browned.Re-grease the skillet, (if needed) and repeat with more batter. If you find that the pancakes are browning too quickly, turn down the heat.That’s all there is to it! When they are browned the way you like them, just take them off the griddle and top them with your favorite toppings.Eli loves slathering them with warmed maple syrup and fresh berries. To warm the maple syrup, I just pour a bit of syrup into a small bowl or ramekin and then microwave it for about 12-15 seconds. Warm maple syrup is the best. I mean who wants to top warm pancakes with cold syrup? Not me!Zoe and I love topping our pancakes with some homemade blackberry chia jam (recipe later this week) and fresh berries, or we love just eating them plain kind of taco style with some fresh berries in-between! You don't need to top them with too much sweet, as they have a flavor all their own.