These are an update on a family classic. The recipe came to me from my mother-in-law, torn out of an old spiral-bound cookbook from an era when it was in vogue for entire cookbooks to feature cottage cheese and vats of homemade yogurt. These pancakes are the last word in comfort food for my husband’s whole family. We make a double batch most Saturday mornings and the kids eat them as they come off the griddle. The thin batter makes them ideal for pouring into the shape of a certain famous cartoon mouse, which never fails to delight the little ones (and sometimes the grown-ups, too).
Makes about 24 small pancakes
½ cup oat flour (*see below)
4 eggs
1 c cottage cheese
½ tsp fine sea salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
¼ cup melted coconut oil
3 tbsp natural peanut butter
½ c milk (or milk alternative)
strawberry jam and powdered sugar, to serve (optional)
Place all the ingredients, except the jam and powdered sugar, in a blender and blend on high speed until smooth. The batter should be thin like crepe batter, resulting in a thin pancake with a soft, cheesy center.
Heat a small skillet or griddle on medium and pour in about 3 tablespoons of batter per pancake. Cook for 1 minute, or until small bubbles begin to form, then flip and cook for another minute. Serve warm with strawberry jam and a dusting of powdered sugar or any other topping you like.
*OAT FLOUR
Because oat groats are so soft, they can easily be cracked or turned into flour in a blender with no special milling equipment.
To make oat flour, blitz the oat groats for 60 seconds in a blender at high speed. Because oats are naturally very oily, the heat of the blender can cause the flour to gum up, so take care not to let the flour heat up too much. Don’t worry about making a super-fine flour; in fact, a coarse texture will improve most recipes.
