oatmeal buttermilk waffles

oatmeal buttermilk waffle topped with a fresh pluot & real maple syrup

I love lazy Sunday mornings, or for that matter, lazy Saturday mornings as well. Sleeping in and making a delicious brunch are the little pleasures in life that I relish. As I am personally getting ready to switch back into the corporate lifestyle of 5:30am start times, 12+ hour days and high stress environments, I am trying to cherish every moment I have left of being a lady of leisure. Because this change might happen as soon as the end of the week, this morning I treated myself to one of my favorite weekend standby brunches. I got this recipe (and modified it a bit, of course) from an old issue of health magazine. In highschool my mom and I would make these pancakes or waffles on Sundays and load them with fresh fruit and maple syrup. When I made these this morning, memories of being at home with my parents flooded back and made me a bit nostalgic to be with my mom, dad and our charming dog, Trixi.
 
For this recipe, make sure and get real oatmeal . I prefer to pick up old-fashioned rolled oats in the bulk section at whole foods. It is usually pretty cheap and very minimally processed. The instant stuff in often highly sweetened and processed, which lowers the vast health benefits of the oats. And what health benefits you ask? Oatmeal is loaded fiber (55/45 soluble to insoluble), has a ton of heart-hearty antioxidants and even stuff that helps out your immune system.
 
Is that enough to sell you on some oatmeal waffles, or did you happen to see that there is buttermilk involved too?? Buttermilk is one of those things that I have in my fridge every so once in awhile. I made some red velvet cupcakes this past weekend that called for it so I was excited to have some leftovers for my beloved waffles. No matter if you want to impress your soon-to-be inlaws or potentially even an overnight date, this is something that is super easy, tastes great and looks beautiful. :P

Oatmeal Buttermilk Waffles (or Pancakes)

1. Combine 1 ½ c of rolled oats with 2 c of low-fat organic buttermilk (I love the organic valley brand, but use what you like best). Let this sit for 20 min and set aside

Pre- 20 min soak.

Post 20-min soak. Notice how the oats soaked up the buttermilk.

2. In another large bowl, sift 2 T brown sugar, ½ t salt, ½ c flour, ¼ t grated nutmeg, and ½ t baking soda. Sometimes the brown sugar will not sift through, but this is not necessary a bad thing. You basically just want it to stick to the flour and not clump with itself. So if it is still sitting in the sifter once everything else has gone through, feel free to just throw it in the bowl as long as it dried out a bit with the flour.

3. Add 2 large eggs, 1 t vanilla, 3 T canola oil. Mix this all together well.



slowly folding in buttermilk & oats

4. Now fold in rolled oats mixture. DO NOT OVER MIX. I have screwed this up before and my pancakes/waffles had no lift in them. I would say it takes no more than 5-6 folds to get the two mixtures combined.
5. Now either use your waffle maker or skillet for pancakes (I prefer a non-stick or even a castiron). I like to spray the pan or waffle maker with a little canola spray to get the crisp on the outside, but I don’t think it is at all necessary if the surface is nonstick.
Makes: about 8 waffles



any waffle iron will do!

I like to top these guys with fresh fruit and real maple syrup. I also love a little greek yogurt on there too with perhaps a little honey and some sliced almonds. In the summer, if you get fresh berries, these are always great, and beautiful to boot. If you are feeling like something for sweet and decadent, nutella and bananas are always a great option, just warm the nutella up a bit and drizzle on some sliced bananas over the waffles or pancakes.


waffles with fresh blueberries

Bon Appétit!

Tastes: Very light and wholesome with a slightly nutty taste from the nutmeg. Yum.

Total Prep/Cooking Time: 30 min, including 20 minutes of the rolled oats sitting when I got the other stuff ready.
Total Cost: Exactly $5.47. As suggested by one of my readers, I have put together an spreadsheet to track the exact expenditure based on ingredients I buy down to the unit of measurement. When I figure out to upload excel files, I will show you the method to my madness. :)