Pancakes - Breakfast for Dinner

Sometimes you just have to do it.  After being out of town for the weekend, and coming home to a pretty empty fridge we scouted to see what could be on the menu for the week.  The buttermilk was "going bad" magically the next day according to the stamp on the package so we opted for buttermilk pancakes with bacon for dinner.

I've gotten a lot more adventurous with my baking.  I used to follow all recipes, then I gave up on general cooking recipes for the most part but was still devout in following baking recipes.  I have since given up on those as well.  I look at them for general guidelines, but I like to see if I make a tweak here or there what might happen.

So my Buttermilk Pancake recipe is based on a recipe from a Cooking Light Cookbook circa about 1999. 

1 1/4 Cup Buttermilk
1/2 Cup Oats
1 teaspoon vanilla - I never measure, just pour and pray as my motto goes, also - feel free to substitute almond extract every now and then for splash of something different!
2 Tablespoons Maple Syrup

Stir together and let the above soak for about 10 minutes stirring every now and then.

While the oats are soaking, in a separate bowl mix together:
1 1/4 Cup Flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt.

After 10 minutes, add 1 egg lightly beaten and 1 Tablespoon of oil to the oat mixture.  Fold the flour mixture in to the oat mixture.  Drop about 1/4 cup dollops on a hot griddle and cook on one side until you see bubbles forming.  Flip over and cook on the other side until done.

This recipe makes about 10 pancakes.

Note:  The original recipe called for 2 Tablespoons of brown sugar to be added to the dry ingredients.  I;ve started switching the brown sugar out with Maple Syrup to keep my ingredients as local as I can - and you are going to put it on top anyway, so why not also have it inside the pancakes.  The Oats, Flour, Maple Syrup and Egg were all locally sourced.  As of course was the bacon.