Making Banana Pancakes on the Weekend

The first time I heard of banana pancakes was from a Jack Johnson song. But he only makes them when he wants to pretends it’s the weekend. What about when it's really the weekend? Well, I decided to break the mold and make them last week. I am now a true believer of the putting the banana in the pancake.

The main problem I found was how to add them to not just get the banana flavor but also get some contrasting textures. Most banana pancake recipes I found incorporated banana into the batter by mashing, but that was it. Flavor is great, but only mashed banana and I don't really see eye to eye. I think it's my aversion to banana flavoring. When I worked at a bakery we had this glop called Fruit-O that we added to our banana nut bagels. They tasted alright, but that stuff made my stomach churn it smelled so strange. Not exactly a great food memory, which has in the past caused me to shy away from flavoring anything with banana (and don't even get me started on orange cake).

Turns out by adding banana two ways I was able to get the perfect combination of flavor and texture in my pancakes. I mashed up one banana to put in the batter, but I also sliced a few and placed them on the top of the pancake, pushing it in to the batter. When flipped, the bananas caramelized on the bottom. Em gave it two thumbs up.

The only better thing than a banana pancake is a leftover one smeared with peanut butter, rolled up, and consumed quickly. I don’t know why I did not think of that earlier, I feel like I was really missing out. I think I might just throw peanut butter in the batter next time.

Banana Pancakes

1 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla
1 egg
2 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled slightly
1 cup buttermilk
1 banana, mashed
2 bananas, sliced thin

Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar, salt, and cinnamon in a large bowl. Stir until combined. In a separate bowl combine the egg, buttermilk, vanilla, mashed banana, and butter. Slowly add the wet to the dry and fold using a spatula. Once most of the batter is combined and a few lumps remain, set bowl aside and let rest for 5-10 minutes. If the batter is too thick, add a bit more buttermilk. Batter should be slightly thin but not pourable.

Preheat your griddle or pan to medium-high. Spray with a small amount of cooking spray or butter. Using a scoop or ladle, add small amount of batter to pan. Place sliced bananas in a single layer on the top of each pancake. Cook for 3-4 minutes until bottoms are browned. Flip pancakes over and continue to cook until bottom is browned and pancake is firm, about 2 more minutes. Serve with syrup.

Note- this recipe feeds 2-3 people, so if you have a larger family, you should probably double it.