:What’s Cookin’?: Banana Pancakes

My family LOVES pancakes. We also love bananas. So, what better way to enjoy them both than to mix them together?!

Ingredients:

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon white sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• Pinch of cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 cup milk
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 ripe bananas, cut into slices

Directions:

Combine flour, white sugar, baking powder, cinnamon and salt.

In a separate bowl, whisk together vanilla extract, egg, milk and vegetable oil. Put banana slices in bowl. Using a pastry cutter (or fork), mix the banana in to the liquid mixture while finely cutting the banana into small pieces.

Using a sifter (I just use a mesh wire strainer), sift the flour mixture into the banana mixture and gently stir together. Batter will be slightly lumpy. Sifting flour makes the batter come out fluffier,  but if you do not have a sifter or wire mesh strainer, you can stir the flour mixture in to the banana mixture.

Heat a lightly oiled griddle or frying pan over medium-high heat. Once the pan has heated all the way, turn the temperature down to medium-low.

Pour or scoop the batter onto the griddle, using approximately 1/4 cup for each pancake. Cook until pancakes are golden brown on both sides. Serve while hot.

A couple of notes:

• If you feel that your batter is thicker than you would like, you can add a bit more milk until you reach the desired consistency.
• Do not turn the heat up too high, otherwise the edges of the pancakes will burn before the middle of the pancake has cooked.
• Once the middle of the pancake has started to bubble, then flip it over. Otherwise, the batter tends to still be a little runny and harder to work with.

• Pancakes will be slightly mushy in the center, due to the banana – however, they shouldn’t be runny (that means undercooked!).

Yields approximately 12 pancakes. Original recipe can be found here.

Happy Thursday (and happy baking)!

Can I tell you how happy it makes me that you have found your way to my little slice of randomness in this big bloggy world?!