Leftover Oatmeal Blender Pancakes
Got leftover oatmeal you don’t want to go to waste? Use it in these easy leftover oatmeal blender pancakes for a delicious and nutritious, and cost-saving, easy breakfast option!
Leftover Oatmeal Blender Pancakes
This recipe for Leftover Oatmeal Blender Pancakes was born out of a need to stop having to throw out all the leftover Instant Pot Steel Cut Oatmeal that doesn’t get eaten for breakfast. No one likes reheated oatmeal around here. So it sits for days in the fridge until someone finally gets around to throwing it out. Which is a real shame. So I wanted to see if I could do something about that.
One thing that my kids have missed while on gluten restriction has been pancakes. I can do them dairy-free, I can do them soy-free, but doing them gluten-free has been harder. I thought that maybe I could use the leftover oatmeal to make gluten-free pancakes, but alas, oatmeal by virtue of its no-gluten-ness, lacks the structure to make decent pancakes. Trust me on this one. Now, that’s not to say that you can’t use oatmeal flour, because I’ve done a couple of those, but cooked oatmeal just isn’t up to the task.
We have since added gluten back into our diet now that the elimination period is over, and it doesn’t seem to be negatively affecting anyone. So I think we’re okay on that front. This means that I can use some regular flour in recipes, and that opens a lot more possibilities now! And so my attempts at Leftover Oatmeal Blender Pancakes were finally successful!!
I don’t know if you could use gluten-free baking mix for this, but I suspect that you can if you still need to keep them gluten-free. I’ll try some next time. For right now, I’ve been using regular flour, or even better, freshly ground wheat flour.
You will need to cook these just a little longer than your normal pancakes, as the oatmeal can tend to make them a little mushy and doughy on the inside. So just be aware.
And you’ll want to do these in a high-powered blender, like a Blendtec or Vitamix. (I have not tried them in a Ninja – I have a Blendtec – so someone give a shoutout if they try them in the Ninja and let us know if they work.) It’s just to get the steel-cut oats blended down to a puree consistency so you can sneak them into the pancakes. If you don’t mind chunky pancakes, I suppose you could try just mixing the oatmeal in without a blender.
Now, you’ll have to excuse the odd color on these – this particular batch was made with blueberry banana oatmeal, so the pancakes were very blue-green! But despite the slightly odd color, they taste terrific! If your kiddos would be put off by the color, use plain oatmeal or use a batch that has other fruit (or pick the fruit out). However, strawberries will give these a great pink color which can be kinda fun!
I’m just happy to have a way to use up my leftover oatmeal, and the kids have gone nuts for these, so I think it is a win-win! Hope you enjoy them too!!
Leftover Oatmeal Blender Pancakes
INGREDIENTS
- 1 egg
- 1 cup milk*
- 1 tablespoon real maple syrup**
- 2 tablespoons avocado coconut (melted) or canola oil
- 1 cup leftover prepared steel cut oatmeal
- 1 cup flour all-purpose or wheat
- 3 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
INSTRUCTIONS
- Preheat skillet, griddle or griddle pan over medium to medium-high heat. ( I use a large stand-alone griddle set at 350F.)
- Place all ingredients in high-powered blender in the order listed.
- Pulse on high, or blend on batter setting (if your blender has one), until mixture is combined and smooth. (You may need to scrape the corners a little.) If your batter is a little thick, you can add another tablespoon or two of milk until you reach your desired consistency.
- Pour batter into skillet or onto griddle, about 1/4 cup per pancake. This will make pancakes that are approximately 4 inches in diameter.
- Cook pancakes until they are bubbly and the sides are firm. Turn and cook on other side until golden brown.
- Serve with butter and additional syrup, or top with fruit spread.
To freeze:
- Lay pancakes in a single layer on a large sheet pan and freeze for 2-4 hours (or overnight) before later placing in ziptop freezer bag(s). This helps keep them from sticking to each other and makes it easier to pull just a couple out of the bag when needed while leaving the rest in the freezer.
To reheat:
- Remove frozen pancakes from freezer bag. Place on microwave-safe plate, and heat in microwave for 45-60 seconds for 3 pancakes. Or toss them in your toaster for a fun toasty treat!
Funny enough every time I make oatmeal for the fam we have a bunch of leftovers, so this recipe is like a blessing to me! what a fab idea, and the pancakes truly look so fluffly and tasty!
I can never seem to make the right amount of oatmeal, either too little or too much – and my kiddos will NOT eat reheated oatmeal. So I thought maybe I could disguise it in pancakes! 😉 It does make the pancakes a little strangely colored sometimes, depending on what fruit I used in the oatmeal, but the kids don’t seem to mind. 🙂
I don”t have a griddle. WOuld these work as pancakes?
Yes! You can cook them just like regular pancakes. If you don’t have a griddle, you can use a skillet or frying pan.
Hi, so I found that using gluten-free flour they never firm up inside and still seem like uncooked dough… I ended up adding two more eggs and still would not from up inside?… So just a warning to anyone else out there that you may not get a firm cooked “inside” to this pancake. Thanks.
Unfortunately, gluten-free flour doesn’t have the gluten protein needed to make the insides of the pancake “firm” up like a normal gluten-containing flour would. It is most likely cooked and not raw, but the structure will be different and it won’t look like what you might we used to. This is an interesting angle to pursue, and I’ll do some additional research and testing to see if we can come up with a recipe that incorporates the leftover oatmeal while also being gluten free because I think it is definitely an idea worth pursuing! It might just be something simple like adding some additional baking powder to give it some rise to get a better “cook” inside.
Thanks so much for your response I appreciate it!
Going to try making them with the Einkorn flour which is a less offensive gluten for me.. I’ll let you know how it turns out thank you again! Jeannie
Curious if you ever found a completely GF version of these – I’m eager to try but can’t do any gluten! Love the idea 🙂
I think that is exactly what I will work on this weekend! I’ve got some GF flours to test out and we’ll see how they do!
Any luck with trying GF flours? Was thinking GF oat might work? Or my go-to substitute for these sorts of things, cassava? Thank you for a great recipe!
On my list to try a couple! Things sorta got thrown out of whack with the pandemic and doing virtual schooling this year. BUT I’m setting up my editorial calendar for next year and will move testing the GF flour options up closer to the top!
These are interesting pancakes – the flavor is fine but the texture inside reminds me of mashed potatoes. After taking the first batch off the griddle, I learned they need to cook much longer than a traditional pancake. Worth a try if you have a cup of leftover steel cut oats, but I much prefer the results of leftover oatmeal muffins.
I appreciate your feedback Mimi! Those are good things to note. I will try to address some of that, especially the need to cook longer than normal pancakes, and rework the post a bit. I would love your recipe for leftover oatmeal muffins – those sound terrific!