breakfast has always been my favorite meal of the day. probably because no one looks crosswise at you for having a full plate of sweets and calling it a meal. oh, and bacon too. gotta have bacon.
one of my most memorable plates of pancakes came from a very cool cafe in atlanta. thirteen years ago, i got to call atlanta home for a short while and discovered the flying biscuit cafe. while known for their namesake biscuits, i couldn’t ever pass up on their organic oatmeal pancakes with warm peach compote. and they were organic before organic was cool.
these were served just the way i like a pancake. thick and hearty, not too sweet, piled high and smothered with warm, cinnamon-sweet fresh peaches. and a side of real maple syrup.
i’m so grateful for the many fruit orchards and patches around us, and the opportunity to take my son to learn how things are grown. recently my little guy and i went to a nearby orchard to pick fresh peaches with friends. it was a great day of finding the perfectly ripe peach, climbing ladders to pick them, tripping over the fallen peaches rotting on the ground and rewarding ourselves with delicious, homemade peach milkshakes.
the excitement of picking fresh fruit always results in a heavy bag-full, certainly more than we’d normally buy, so creativity has to enter to find ways to use our bounty. the flying biscuit cafe cookbook has long sat on my shelf, though i frequently flip through and drool over many of the recipes inside. but these pancakes have always called to me. so finally, here they are… gluten-free, of course. surprisingly, they left out the peach compote recipe, so that was left to me. it’s all just as i remember…
Oatmeal Pancakes with Warm Peach Compote
2 cups gluten-free rolled oats
2 cups buttermilk
3 peaches, peeled and coarsely chopped (about 2 cups)
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons water
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
4 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon vanilla
65 grams (about 1/2 cup) kumquat all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
Cooking spray
1. Combine oats and buttermilk in a large bowl; cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours or overnight.
2. Combine peaches and next 4 ingredients in a medium saucepan. Bring mixture to a boil; reduce heat and simmer until mixture is thickened, about 8 minutes. Set aside and keep warm.
3. Add eggs, butter and vanilla to oats mixture. Combine flour and next 5 ingredients in a medium bowl. Stir flour mixture into oat mixture to combine.
4. Preheat griddle over medium-low heat. Spray lightly with cooking spray and ladle pancake batter onto griddle with 1/4-cup measuring cup. Flip pancakes with bubbles begin to appear on the surface and cook until golden brown, about 4 minutes on each side. Serve warm with peach compote mixture and warm, pure maple syrup.
Yield: 4-6 servings.
(final photo credit to my friend, shannon)
