Oatmeal Sweet Potato Pancakes

This morning Christian said he wanted some hearty pancakes for breakfast, so I decided I’d make oatmeal pancakes.  But I had two ageing sweet potatoes sitting on the counter above my sink, and thought…why not make oatmeal sweet potato pancakes?  They turned out superb.  Sweet potatoes are so healthy for you.  And as an added bonus, if you’re just cooking for yourself or just one other, you can stop halfway through and just eat a bowl of sweet potato oatmeal.  Mmmmm…

1 large sweet potato (or 2 small ones)

Microwave 3-6 minutes (depending on size) until soft.  Carefully slice in half and let cool.  In a bowl, combine:

1 cup rolled oats (NOT quick-cooking oats)
1 cup milk

Microwave 60 seconds, stir, and set aside.  The milk will begin to absorb into the oatmeal.  When the potato is cool enough, peel off the skin and use a fork to mash the potato well.  Add it to the oatmeal along with:

1/2 cup brown sugar (light or dark), firmly packed
2 teaspoons cinnamon (preferably Saigon cinnamon)
1 teaspoon cardamom
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon kosher salt (or 1/2 teaspoon table salt)

At this point you can stop and eat this as a delicious bowl of sweet potato oatmeal, if you wanted to.  To continue the transformation into pancakes, add:

2 eggs
2 Tablespoons canola oil
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup buttermilk

Stir well.  In a separate bowl, combine:

1 cup all purpose flour
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Stir well, then add to the wet ingredients and stir gently until there is no more visible flour.  Cook on a preheated griddle.  300F is the perfect surface temperature if you have an infrared thermometer gun.  If your griddle is particularly sticky, spray it lightly with cooking spray, then wipe off the spray with a paper towel.

Very, very few pancake recipes actually require you to grease your griddle, though many people do it.  When you grease your griddle, you are, in essence, “frying” your pancakes.  You don’t need to add that extra fat, and the hardened fried surface it creates is gross, in my opinion.  Most nonstick griddles need absolutely NOT fat on them in order to perfectly cook pancakes.  I use a cast iron stovetop griddle by The Lodge…it cost me about $20, I never have to worry about its surface scratching or the potential health hazards of nonstick cookware, and it will last my entire life and the lives of many people after me!  I’ve used it heavily for several years so it is beautifully seasoned, but some pancake recipes with a higher sugar content and lower fat content (like this one) need a little extra help in the form of a micro-thin layer of canola oil, which I get by spraying the griddle and then wiping it off.  I generally only have to do this ONCE, and it lasts for all the pancakes I need to cook.  (But if I’m making blueberry pancakes, which leave clumps of burnt blueberry juice on the griddle, requiring me to wipe the griddle between each batch of pancakes, I will typically re-spray and re-wipe.)