Tres Leches Oatmeal

Well, it’s been a bit longer than I had planned, but back when I made Tres Leches Cake, I promised to show you a way to use that leftover milk mixture.  To be honest, it took me a while to come up with something.  I had pretty much settled on a breakfast item, but I didn’t want to go with one of the obvious choices, like pancakes or French toast.  Then I discovered the world of overnight refrigerator oatmeal.  Have you tried it yet?  I've created multiple variations of it, and they are seriously fabulous.  It was definitely the best way I could have come up with to use the leftover tres leches mixture I’ve had in my freezer since I made the cake. 

Here’s what you’ll need: 

• ⅓ cup old fashioned oats
• 1 teaspoon chia seeds
• ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
• ¼ cup tres leches mixture
• ¼ cup milk (I used skim) 

You won’t believe how easy this is to throw together before you go to bed, then you’ll have a delicious breakfast waiting for you when you wake up.  Pour the oats into a small container with a lid.  A half pint mason jar would be great.  Add the chia seeds.  Now, I realize not everyone has chia seeds on hand.  If you’d prefer, you can simply omit them.  I highly recommend picking some up, though.  Not only are they fantastically good for you, they also help to thicken this mixture and add a slight nutty flavor and the occasional little crunch.

Add the cinnamon.

Stir until everything is evenly distributed. 

Mix together the milks and pour them over the top.

Stir, and that’s it.

Now just pop on the lid and put it into the fridge overnight.  In the morning, just give it another stir and enjoy!  The oats will have a nice velvety texture and just the perfect amount of chew. 

I’ll be sharing more overnight oatmeal recipes in the future.  Do you have a favorite, or one you’d like to see made? 

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Pancakes

Ok, so ordinarily you expect the words oatmeal chocolate chip to be followed by the word cookies, but well, I went in a different direction with this one.  Although these pancakes are every bit as delicious as the cookie version, they are actually much healthier.  Where cookies are mostly sugar and butter, these are mostly whole grains, and only a little bit of sugar and fat.  Don’t get me wrong… I’m not trying to sell these as health food.  I’m simply saying it’s not like having cookies for breakfast.  It’s like having cookies for breakfast minus the guilt and the heartburn. 

Here’s what you’ll need: 

• ½ cup flour
• ½ cup whole wheat flour
• ½ cup rolled oats
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 2 Tablespoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon allspice
• ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
• Whatever other spices you like
• ½ cup mini chocolate chips
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1 egg
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 2 Tablespoons oil 

See those flowers in the background on my table?  Hubby had a coworker over for dinner, and he brought those lovely roses for me.  How nice was that? 

Now, back to pancakes.  First up, throw all your dry ingredients into a mixing bowl.  They’re not in the picture, but throw in the oats and chocolate chips, as well.

Stir the together until everything is evenly distributed. 

Set that aside and move to the wet stuff.  Measure the buttermilk, then add the egg, vanilla, and oil. 

Whisk that together and pour it over the dry ingredients. 

Stir just until it all comes together, and you should have a nice, fairly thick, pancake batter. 

Heat a pan over medium heat (or if you’re using a griddle, set it for something like 300-350).  Wipe the pan with just a touch of butter, and pour on the batter. 

You’ll know they’re ready to flip when they’ve kind of puffed up and you have bubbles like this forming, and staying, around the edges. 

And hopefully you’re a better flipper than me, because wow.  Look at that mess.  Oh well, they’re still going to taste fabulous. 

I served mine with homemade coconut syrup.  I’ll share that recipe with you soon, but you can certainly just use maple, or honey, or just go naked. 

Just look at that fluffy, chocolaty goodness!