Oat Flour Pancakes

Oat flour behaves differently than regular wheat flour, so a few small adjustments can make the difference between thick, fluffy pancakes and ones that are flat or crumbly.
1. The batter is too thick (or too thin).
The batter should be thick but still easy to pour. If it's too thick, the pancakes can turn out dry and crumbly. Too thin, and they'll spread too much and cook up flat instead of fluffy.
2. Cooking over the wrong heat.
Cook the pancakes over medium to medium-high heat. If the heat is too low, they won't rise well and can end up flat. Too high, and the outside browns before the center has a chance to cook through.
3. Not thinning the batter between batches.
Oat flour continues to absorb liquid as it sits, so the batter naturally thickens over time. Before cooking each new batch, stir in a small splash of buttermilk to bring it back to a thick, pourable consistency.
4. Not grinding the oats finely enough.
If you're making homemade oat flour, blend the rolled oats until they're very fine. Coarsely ground oats can make the pancakes grainy and more likely to fall apart when flipped.

Yes! These oat flour pancakes are made with simple, wholesome ingredients like whole grain oats, eggs, buttermilk, and just 2 tablespoons of butter for the entire batch. If you'd like to make them even lighter, you can easily swap the butter for coconut oil.
Compared to all-purpose flour, oats are higher in fiber, which helps keep you fuller for longer. They're also made from a whole grain and are naturally gluten-free when using certified gluten-free oats. Best of all, they're proof that healthy pancakes can still be soft, fluffy, and delicious.

Not exactly. While both are made with oats, the texture of the oats makes a big difference in how the pancakes turn out.
Oat flour pancakes are made with oats that have been ground into a fine flour, giving them a soft, light, and fluffy texture that's very similar to traditional pancakes made with all-purpose flour.
Oatmeal pancakes, on the other hand, are usually made with whole rolled oats or quick oats, so they tend to be heartier, denser, and a little chewier.
That said, some oatmeal pancake recipes blend the oats into the batter before cooking. In that case, they end up very similar to oat flour pancakes since the oats are essentially turned into oat flour during blending.

If your oat flour pancakes are falling apart, it's usually due to one of these two reasons:
1. The batter is too thick.
Oat flour naturally absorbs liquid as it sits, so the batter thickens over time. It should be thick but still easy to pour. If it becomes too thick, stir in a splash of buttermilk before cooking the next batch to loosen it back up.
2. The oat flour is too coarse.
If you're making homemade oat flour, blend the oats until they're very fine. Coarsely ground oats create a grainy batter that doesn't hold together as well, making the pancakes more likely to crumble when flipped.

Oat flour pancake batter naturally thickens as it rests because oats are very absorbent. They slowly soak up the liquid in the batter, almost like tiny sponges, making it thicker over time. That's why I like to stir in a small splash of buttermilk before cooking each batch to keep the batter thick but easily pourable.