Start your day with super easy to make healthy oat pancakes topped with berry sauce! Each pancake is packed with oatmeal, flaxseed, oat bran and Greek yogurt. Yum!
It’s a fresh, sparkly new year which means it’s time to start your day off right with something healthy and satisfying. Yes, those two things can coexist, and they come as gorgeous golden brown oat pancakes with the most irresistible berry sauce poured on top!
Homemade pancakes can seem like an indulgent morning meal, but I’ve made just the right swaps to provide the nutrition your body needs without sacrificing on flavor. Sounds good, right? Each bite of these tender oat pancakes is loaded with protein, fiber, and fruit. If you’re ready to flip, let’s go!
I wanted to create a recipe that would have a similar taste as hot cakes, but not have a carbohydrate overload leaving you wanting to crawl back into bed for a nap after breakfast. These healthy oat pancakes with berry compote sauce are just what you need for a healthy and satisfying start to your day!
How to Make Healthy Pancakes
- Make Your Own Flour– Instead of using wheat flour, you can make your own gluten-free oat flour from rolled oats. You just add it to a blender or food processor until it has the texture of whole wheat flour. You can buy pre-ground oat flour if you don’t have the equipment to make your own.
- Add Protein– The ultimate combination of feeling satisfied and leveling your blood glucose levels is to have a balanced meal of protein, fiber, and carbohydrates. I learned this when I had gestational diabetes when I was pregnant with baby James. For added protein, this recipe has a generous amount of nonfat plain greek yogurt and eggs.
- Add fiber– The oat flour, oat bran, ground flaxseed, and fruit adds a healthy amount of additional fiber and omega-3 fatty acids for digestive health.
- Phyto Power- Adding phytonutrients, plant-based nutrients is easy and essential to your diet. Instead of loading these oat cakes with syrup, a fresh fruit sauce and chunks of fruit act as a natural sweetener.
Homemade berry sauce is going to be your new jam, literally! Haha. All you need is a blender or hand immersion blender to puree the strawberries, blueberries, and raspberries. To add more texture, I add whole berries and chopped strawberries to create a richer compote.
With just a little bit of time to simmer, the sauce is vibrant and pourable with just the right amount of sweetness. If the berries are very sweet, you can reduce the amount of honey, or add stevia to reduce the calories even more.
I consider this pancake batter to be my secret nutritional powerhouse! The oats, bran and flax seed meal, provides extra fiber, Omega-3 fatty acids, and lignans. Don’t worry. You can barely taste it!
The combination of protein, probiotics, and fiber will leave you feeling satisfied and energized, just what you need to take on the day.
I love topping my pancakes with fresh fruit! The warm, sweet berries are the perfect compliment to the healthy oat pancakes. Your family will love them and not even notice the missing flour, and they are getting more wholesome nourishment at the beginning of the day!
These golden oat pancakes are tender in texture, with a delightful chew from the whole rolled oats. Now that you have no excuses to skip a healthy breakfast, it’s time to get cooking! What are your favorite ways to incorporate healthy ingredients into the most important meal of the day?
What are some benefits of eating Oatmeal?
Oatmeal is an excellent ingredient or breakfast option (traditional ground porridge) because it contains insoluble and soluble fibers. These fibers stay in your stomach longer, giving you the feeling of satiety for extended periods of time. Since this plant-based fiber is more difficult for humans to digest, it helps to maintain gastrointestinal health by adding bulk (insoluble fiber) and promotes regularity (soluble fiber absorbs water, becomes a gel to help move through the GI tract). There are many other benefits of oatmeal that include lowering cholesterol and decrease risk for high blood pressure, so it’s an excellent ingredient to add to part of your daily diet. As a general rule, the less processed the oats, the more fiber they contain and more health benefits. (Source: Dairy Council of California: Health Benefits of Oatmeal)
Healthy Oat Pancakes with Berry Sauce
Ingredients
Oat Pancakes-
- 2 cups rolled oats, divided
- 4 teaspoons ground flaxseed meal
- 4 teaspoons oat bran, (optional)
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, ground
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 1/2 cups plain greek yogurt
- 1/2 cup milk
- 4 large eggs
- 1/4 cup honey, or maple syrup
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- cooking spray, (for greasing pan)
Berry Compote Sauce-
- 1 cup blueberries
- 1 cup raspberries
- 1 1/2 cups strawberries, sliced
- 2 tablespoons honey, or maple syrup
Instructions
Berry Compote Sauce-
- In a blender, puree a ½ cup of blueberries, ½ cup raspberries, and 1 cup sliced strawberries.
- Strain through a fine mesh strainer to remove seeds, and transfer puree to a medium-sized saucepan.
- Add 2 tablespoons of honey to the puree.
- Turn heat to medium, and bring puree to a boil, stir, then reduce to low heat and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Add the remainder of the blueberries, raspberries and sliced strawberries to the cooked puree.
- Stir to combine and cook over low heat for 5 minutes.
- Turn off heat, reserve and keep at room temperature.
Oat Pancakes-
- In a blender or food processor, pulse 1 1/2 cup oats until finely ground, about 1 minute.
- Add the flaxseed meal, oat bran, cinnamon, salt and baking powder to the blender.
- Blend to combine the dry ingredients for about 30 seconds.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the yogurt, milk, eggs, honey and vanilla extract until combined.
- Whisk in the dry oat mixture, plus 1/2 cup whole rolled oats until combined, and smooth.
- Allow batter to sit five minutes, and then stir before cooking each pancake.
- Set a large nonstick pan over medium heat for 1 minute, then lightly coat the pan with nonstick cooking spray.
- Working in batches, add ¼ cup of pancake batter to the pan for each pancake.
- Cook until golden brown, 2-3 minutes on one side, and 1-2 minutes on the other side. Spray the pan with cooking spray in between each batch if needed.
Recipe Video
