Whole-wheat Oatmeal Pancakes

Pancakes are a classic breakfast item but its nutritional value is pretty much nil since it's typically made up of mostly white flour and white sugar; include the butter and syrup people normally slather all over their pancakes and you've got yourself a disastrous start to the day. Well, I wanted to find a way to make pancakes that packed a healthy punch while also being tasty and I think I've found it. I discovered this recipe in Health magazine but even that version still called for white sugar and all-purpose flour so I tweaked it to get rid of those items and lessened the sugar content even more. Served alongside some wild blueberry sauce (blueberries are a powerful antioxidant that help fight cancer), you will not want to go back to eating plain old pancakes ever again.

For the pancakes:

- 1 1/2 cups rolled oats

- 1 1/2 cups low-fat buttermilk

- 1 1/2 cup whole-wheat flour

- 1/8 cup of brown sugar

- 1 tsp. baking soda

- 1 tsp. baking powder

- 1/2 tsp. cinnamon

- 2 large eggs plus 2 large egg whites

- 1 cup low-fat milk

For the wild blueberry sauce:

- 2 cups frozen wild blueberries

- 1 Tbs. brown sugar

- 1 Tbs. fresh lemon juice

- 1/2 tsp. cornstarch mixed with 1 Tbs. water

Soak the oats in 1 cup of the buttermilk in a small bowl for 15 minutes. Combine all the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Whisk the eggs together in a small bowl and then whisk in the remaining 1/2 cup of buttermilk and the regular milk. Add the wet ingredients to the dry - mix until just combined but don't overstir or else the pancakes will be chewy. Cook in a skillet over medium-high heat (I like to turn the oven on to 200 degrees and put the finished pancakes in there on the top rack in a baking dish until I'm all done so that all the pancakes will be nice and warm for serving).

For the sauce, combine the blueberries, brown sugar, and lemon juice in a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Add the cornstarch mixture and stir until slightly thickened.

So good!