Peanut Butter Banana Pancakes

After the success of my banana pancakes, I decided to twist it a little bit by incorporating my favorite banana accompaniment, peanut butter. Honestly, if scientists could make a banana with a slight peanut butter flavor, I'm thinking it would solve 95% of potassium deficiency in the world. Well, I can dream, right? Same process pretty much as before. Since I was adding peanut butter, I removed some of the butter to compensate for that. I also found out I could probably eat my weight in these.
Peanut Butter Banana Pancakes

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

Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar, and salt in a large bowl. Stir until combined. In a separate bowl combine the egg, buttermilk, vanilla, mashed banana, peanut butter, 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.

Read more...

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.

Read more...

Pancakes

I sometimes have a trend of starting a post out with something negative and then turning it on a positive. This is no different :) I'm not a fan of Bisquick. In fact, I have only had it once, and I thought it was pointless. Sure, it's great for the family in a pinch who needs a quick breakfast. Just take said powder, add eggs and milk, and cook. Wait a second...that's not easy, it's just 2 steps more than actually making pancakes. And what else do you get when you use a mix? Chemicals, preservatives, and nasty bits that make pancakes taste like ground up spoons. No thank you.

I love these pancakes, based on the Fanny Farmer version from 50 years ago. They are still that good. I alter them a bit for some more fluff and cook then at a much higher temperature for a crusty outside. You can make these in no more than 20 minutes and I'm certain you have all the ingredients for them. Hopefully this will lead to you wowing the pants off your significant other this weekend when you surprise them with homemade pancakes (extra points if you make them look like hearts).

Buttermilk Pancakes

1 c. flour
2 T butter, melted and slightly cooled
1 egg
1/2 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
2 T sugar
3/4 c buttermilk

Sift flour, sugar, salt, and soda into medium bowl. In separate bowl, combine the egg and buttermilk. Add the butter and stir (it will clump, don't worry). Pour the wet into the dry ingredients and fold in with a spatula until no flour remains. Do not over mix! Heat a griddle or nonstick skillet over medium or medium high heat (depending on how crispy you want them) and lightly coat with cooking spray. Spoon out batter onto hot surface, cook for about 3-4 minutes per side or until each side is golden brown. Serve immediately with warmed syrup.

Alterations
If you want to make these fruit pancakes, fold in ¾ cup of your favorite fruit (I like blueberries) after mixing.

No buttermilk? No problem. Instead, use milk and swap the baking soda with 2 t baking powder.

Read more...