Oatmeal Applesauce Pancakes - A Healthy Toddler Friendly Breakfast

Last week, I shared all sorts of yummy healthy recipes I've been enjoying lately.  This week, I want to share some healthy toddler food recipes.

For the most part, we have the philosophy that our kids eat what we eat.  I'm not a short-order cook, and while one of my twins is a picky eater, that doesn't change my "food philosophy" in our home.  When my twin boys transitioned from purees to table food around nine months of age, realistically, there were and still are some things that my husband and I eat that my toddlers just can't eat .  There are also times when I prefer my toddlers to have finger foods, so I don't have to spoon feed them all of the time. 

Breakfast is a perfect example of this.  I often start my day with a cup of coffee, oatmeal with berries, and/or an egg.  I wanted my kids to have a healthy breakfast as well, but I didn't want to spoon feed them oatmeal every morning.  And that's where oatmeal pancakes came in.  I saw several versions of these on Pinterest and adapted a recipe that works for us.  

These little pancakes are perfect for toddlers!  I love that I can make a batch on the weekend, and grab them from the fridge or freezer throughout the week.  My twins started eating these pancakes at nine months, and still eat them at fifteen months!  They love them!  Of course, they eat more of them now that they are bigger.  At nine months, they shared one pancake and often didn't finish it.  Now they each scarf down their own pancake every morning, along with a helping of scrambled eggs, a few cut strawberries and cup of milk.

Overall, this recipe is a win for my toddlers, and is my most used toddler recipe I will be sharing this week.  I've made these so many times I can make them in my sleep.  If you're hoping these taste just like buttermilk pancakes, I'm sorry to tell you that they don't don't.  They taste like....well, they taste like what they are....an oatmeal applesauce pancake.  They aren't too sweet, but they are tasty enough that as an adult, I would eat them.

INGREDIENTS:
1/2 c. oats
1/2 c. unsweetened apple sauce
1 tbs. chia seeds
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 egg

DIRECTIONS:
Mix ingredients together until smooth. Scoop out batter into desired pancake size onto a lightly buttered griddle.  Cook just like you would regular pancakes.

NOTES:

** To get the consistency of pancake batter, I turn my oats into a fine powder using my Nutribullet.  I then add the rest of my ingredients and finish mixing in the Nutribullet.  This is not necessary.  They will taste just fine without this step.  This just makes the texture turn out more like a pancake, and less like an oatmeal cake.

**I use 1/4 c. measuring cup to scoop out my batter into desired sizes.

** These keep in the fridge for a few days.  They also freeze well.

** When my twins were nine months old, one batch made enough for a few days, since they were sharing a pancake.  Now that they each get their own pancake everyday, I quadruple this recipe, and freeze the leftover pancakes.