Plan my Pancake Day
Plan my Pancake Day
Easy

Oat Pancakes

Prep 15 minsCook 20 minsServes 4£0.50/servingAmerican Stack

These oat pancakes start with a bowl of porridge oats soaked in milk for ten minutes, then get plain flour and baking powder stirred through for lift. The oats soften but keep a little bite, so the pancakes come out thick, soft and slightly nutty, with golden edges. There is no banana and no blender, just two bowls and a frying pan. They make a good everyday breakfast, and the oats can soak in the fridge overnight so the batter comes together in a few minutes the next morning.

Oat Pancakes - american stack pancake recipe served on a plate, photographed from above

Ingredients

Method

  1. 1

    Tip the oats into a large bowl, pour over the milk and stir. Leave to soak for 10 minutes, or cover and put in the fridge overnight.

  2. 2

    Meanwhile, melt the butter in a small pan or in the microwave and leave it to cool for a couple of minutes.

  3. 3

    Crack the egg into the soaked oats, add the melted butter and beat with a fork until evenly mixed.

  4. 4

    In a second bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, sugar, cinnamon if using, and salt. Add to the oat mixture and fold together until no dry flour is visible. Leave the batter to rest for 5 minutes.

  5. 5

    Heat a non-stick frying pan over a medium heat and add a small knob of butter. When it foams, add about 3 tablespoons of batter per pancake and spread each one gently into a round roughly 10cm across.

  6. 6

    Cook for 2-3 minutes, until bubbles appear on the surface and the edges look set. Flip and cook for 1-2 minutes more, until golden underneath and springy in the centre.

  7. 7

    Keep the cooked pancakes warm in a low oven while you cook the rest, adding a little butter to the pan between batches.

  8. 8

    Serve warm in stacks of three or four, with your toppings of choice.

Pro Tips

  • →Use rolled (porridge) oats. Jumbo oats stay chewy even after soaking, and instant oats turn the batter thick and pasty.
  • →Do not skip the soak. Ten minutes is the minimum for the oats to soften enough to cook through in the pan.
  • →Fold the flour in gently and stop as soon as it disappears. Overmixing makes the pancakes tough rather than soft.
  • →Cook on a medium heat, not high. The oats need a little longer than a plain batter to heat through, and a hot pan browns the outside first.
  • →If the batter thickens while it stands, stir in a tablespoon of milk at a time. It should drop slowly from a spoon, not sit in a stiff mound.
  • →For an overnight version, soak the oats and milk in the fridge, then add the egg, butter and dry ingredients in the morning. Leave the baking powder until then so it keeps its lift.

Topping Ideas

Fresh blueberries and a drizzle of maple syrupGreek yoghurt, honey and toasted flaked almondsGrated apple warmed with cinnamon and a little butterSliced banana and peanut butterStewed plums or rhubarbGolden syrup and a squeeze of lemon

Learn More

Terms in this recipe

ButtermilkBaking powderHotcakeFlapjack

Defined in the Pancake Day glossary.

Questions & answers

Do I need to blend the oats?⌄
No. Soaking the rolled oats in milk for 10 minutes softens them enough to cook through in the pan, and leaving them whole gives the pancakes a soft, slightly nubbly texture. If you want a smooth, flourless pancake made in a blender, our banana oat pancakes are built that way.
Can I make oat pancakes without banana?⌄
Yes, this recipe has no banana in it at all. The milk-soaked oats give the batter body, the egg binds it and the plain flour and baking powder provide the lift that banana-based versions get from the fruit.
What kind of oats should I use?⌄
Ordinary rolled oats, the kind sold as porridge oats, work best. Jumbo oats are thicker and stay chewy, so soak them for at least 20 minutes if that is all you have. Plain instant oats absorb milk very quickly and make a pasty batter, so avoid them, and never use flavoured sachets.
Can I make them without flour?⌄
Not with this recipe. The flour gives the pancakes their structure, and without it the batter falls apart in the pan. You can swap the plain flour for the same weight of oats blitzed to a fine flour, but the pancakes will be more delicate, so keep them small and flip them carefully.
Can I soak the oats overnight?⌄
Yes. Stir the oats and milk together, cover the bowl and keep it in the fridge overnight. In the morning, loosen the mixture with a splash of milk, then add the egg, melted butter and dry ingredients. Keep the baking powder out until the morning so it does not lose its lift.
Are oat pancakes gluten-free?⌄
Not as written, because they contain plain wheat flour. To make them gluten-free, use certified gluten-free oats, a gluten-free plain flour blend and a gluten-free baking powder. Ordinary oats are often processed alongside wheat, so the certified kind matters if you are cooking for someone with coeliac disease.
Can I make them dairy-free?⌄
Yes. Use oat milk or another unsweetened plant milk in place of the whole milk, and melted dairy-free spread or a neutral oil in place of the butter. The batter may need a splash more milk, as some plant milks are thinner.
Why are my oat pancakes gummy in the middle?⌄
Usually the pan is too hot, so the outside browns before the oaty centre has heated through, or the pancakes are too thick. Turn the heat down to medium, spread each pancake to about 10cm across and wait for bubbles on the surface before flipping.
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