We've had this cooked rice (mix of white and brown) lingering in the fridge for almost a week. We've used most of it. But I just couldn't get us to finish off that last 1/2 cup. Instead of freezing it for another time, I decided to use the cooked rice in pancakes. If cooked rice in a pancake sounds unappealing, let me share how I make the rice near undetectable.
Here's the key -- before mixing the dry with the liquid ingredients for a batch of pancakes, I puree the cooked rice with the other liquids, in this case the milk, egg, and oil. In my experience, a batch of pancakes or 12-ct muffins can handle up to 1/2 cup of leftover cooked rice. I used my smoothie blender this time, but I've also used our pitcher blender with success.
I begin with the rice and about half the liquid in the blender and puree until the blender seems to need more liquid, then blend in the rest of the liquid. At this point, I mix the liquids into the dry ingredients and make pancakes or muffins as usual.
Here's a cut pancake. You can see inside the texture looks like a traditional recipe pancake. I came across 1 particle of rice in my pancake, but it wasn't anything that bothered me. And they taste exactly like regular pancakes.
This also works with leftover cooked oatmeal. Leftover oatmeal can be blended and pureed with the liquids for pancakes, waffles, muffins, snack cakes, and quick breads. Oatmeal tends to puree to smooth texture more quickly than cooked rice. But both can be pureed to smooth enough consistency that my family doesn't even notice this added ingredient.
