More pancakes, more barley

I hope you still like pancakes.It’s a rainy Saturday, and since I still had some barley flakes left over from the scone recipe, I decided to try a modification of a favorite pancake recipe from Orangette, which incorporates rolled oats into the batter.

Since the kids (mysteriously) don’t love the oatmeal pancakes as much as I do, I thought I’d try using the same method but with a smaller proportion of barley flakes than in the original oatmeal version. “I like regular pancakes better” was still the refrain at the breakfast table this morning, but I was really happy with how these turned out — and, it should be noted, no one left any behind for the freezer.

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Barley pancakes, adapted from Orangette (in turn adapted from the Inn at Fordhook Farm)

So you do have to plan ahead for these pancakes again, since the barley flakes soak in buttermilk overnight, but the result is fluffy, tender and has just enough bite to be interesting without being heavy.

Ingredients

Makes about 10 medium pancakes

• 1½ cups buttermilk, divided
• ¾ cup barley flakes
• ¾ cup flour
• ¾ tsp baking soda
• 2 Tbs sugar
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 2 eggs
• 3 Tbs butter, melted and cooled slightly, plus more for greasing the pan

Method

• The night before, stir together one cup of the buttermilk with the barley flakes in a small bowl, cover and refrigerate.
• When you are ready to cook, stir together the flour, baking soda, sugar, and salt in a large bowl. In a smaller bowl, whisk the eggs together with the remaining half-cup buttermilk and melted butter (don’t worry if the butter forms lumps), then stir the wet mixture into the dry ingredients. Fold in the soaked barley and mix until everything is combined.
• Heat a large skillet over medium-low heat. Once it warms up, coat the bottom of the pan with a thin layer of butter or oil.
• Using a ladle or muffin scoop, drop about ¼ cup of batter onto the pan. If it’s very thick and doesn’t spread a bit, stir in a little more buttermilk to the batter.
• Cook each pancake about three minutes on the first side, turning when bubbles form on the surface and the edges start to look cooked/dry. Cook about three more minutes, then regrease the pan and ladle out more batter.
• Serve warm with maple syrup, or eat hot from the pan with your fingers!