Sunday, December 13, 2009

Maple and Banana Nut Pancakes

It's been a little bit since I've had you over for breakfast, so when I woke up this morning, I decided to make a pancake recipe that caught my eye a short while back.  Now that I have this picture posted, I wish I had sliced up some bananas to pretty up the plate and to show that these really are banana pancakes and not  look like all the other pancakes I've posted on this blog, but hindsight is 20-20.  I'm going to have to ask you to use your imagination here.

Gosh, these were good; Ole Sweetie-Pi and I liked these a lot.  They remind me of  banana bread, so if if you like banana bread, I think you'd like these pancakes.  The maple that is added to the batter adds the right amount of sweetness, sour cream makes them tender, and the banana flavor, while present, is subtle.  I like the addition of the whole wheat flour; to me it revs up the nutrition as well as deepening the flavor. 

These were a little tricky to cook; I ruined the first half dozen I tried (recipe states it makes 14 four-inch pancakes). Even though I had the heat on medium, the first batch burned rather quickly and badly; the second batch didn't burn quite so badly.( I presume it's because of the high sugar content of the maple syrup and the bananas.)  I  reduced the  heat to a medium low, thinned the batter a tad, reduced the size (to the four inches recommended in the recipe, grins)  and it seemed to work much nicer. 

Maple and Banana Nut Pancakes
(Maple Syrup Cookbook by Ken Haedrich)

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

2 eggs
1 1/2 to 1 1/3 cups milk
3/4 cup sour cream
1/4 cup maple syrup
4 tablespoons butter, (one half stick)  melted
1 ripe banana, mashed

In a good-sized mixing bowl, combine all the dry ingredients, stirring to blend.

In a separate bowl, beat the eggs until forthy, then whisk in 1 1/3 cups of the milk, the sour cream, maple syrup, melted butter and mashed banana.  (I used an egg beater here to mix the wet ingredients and to further mush up the bananas.)

Make a well in the dry ingrdients and add the egg mixture.  Stir, just to blend, taking care not to overmix.  You may want to add a little more milk, a drop at a time, to achieve a desired consistency.  The batter will foam up, that's okay, it's supposed to.  Let the batter rest for a couple of minutes.

In the meantime, preheat a large skillet or griddle on medium high heat. (I found this to be too high.)  Butter or oil lightly.  Drop the batter by heating tablespoonfuls and cook until the pancake bottoms are golden and bubbles are popping on the surface, about one minute.  Turn and cook the second side one minute more.  Repeat with remaining batter.

This is best served with warmed maple syrup.  You can heat a small, microwave safe,  pitcher of it in the microwave for about 30 to 60 seconds, or gently in a saucepan on the stove.  Your food will stay warmer longer and taste better with warmed maple syrup.

36 comments:

  1. Sweetie-pi is one lucky fella! These look wonderful. Sorry I missed breakfast! LOL

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  2. YUM! I love pancakes and these look delicious!

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  3. I love banana bread, so I can't wait to try these ones out!! I like to make pancakes on Saturday morning when my husband is off work, so hopefully I have some ripe bananas next Saturday!

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  4. Bananas, maple syrup, and butter...Breakfast does not get much better than that. :) And I love how whole wheat flour adds a lovely richness to everything while stepping over to the healthier side of the line.

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  5. I'm reading this late afternoon but I want those pancakes NOW!!
    Katy, ever since I got my 'plug in' grill I have loved making pancakes, they always bake just right..before that I always ruined many before they were just right. This recipe will be on the breakfast menu this week..my g'daughter is coming for a visit.
    Thank you for sharing!!

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  6. Katy...Betty said she was over here and was so liking those pancakes. I can see why....oh how scrumptious they look!

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  7. Those pancakes look warm and wonderful:-). That is a wonderful combination of ingredients. You have me thinking breakfast for dinner.

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  8. Katy they look pretty just the way they are!! I mean seriously they sound wonderful!!

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  9. We love trying out fun new breakfast foods at our house and these look amazing. We'll be making these soon!

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  10. These remind me of the pancakes I had in Hawaii! Absolutely delicious!

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  11. Soft and fluffy pancakes..Yummy.

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  12. Oh yum yum yum!! We love all types of pancakes in this house..bookmarked and put bananas down on my shopping list!!

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  13. Cooking pancakes is a tricky thing and in my experience the first batch always comes out burned. I think it takes a while for the pan to heat evenly.

    These sound fantastic! I love pancakes, especially as breakfast-for-dinner. And once you said they taste like banana bread - I knew I was sold!

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  14. Pancakes r my fav bfast,nice flavorful pancake,will try by adding pecans soon...yummmm

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  15. oh yum... do you think a slightly going bad unripe banana would work? I always seem to have some of those sitting around, and I love this idea for breakfast

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  16. I always look forward to eating a weekend breakfast of pancakes. These look warm and inviting. I love the maple and banana together.

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  17. mmm, i need to forward this to my mom, whenever we get together we always have a breakfast like this. they look wonderful!

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  18. Hi Katy,
    These sound like the same amazing pancakes I had in Cuba , they were the most tender, the most delicous pancakes I ever tasted.
    AWESOME recipe! Thanks.

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  19. Katy, those sound wonderful. I will have to try them. Love the maple, nuts and bananas. These just sound so special!

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  20. What delicious breakfast treats Katie! I love banana pancakes. I've never seen a recipe for pancakes with sour cream in it. How rich and decadent.

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  21. This looks so tempting! I would like to make this for my afternoon tea by adding ice cream on it :DD

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  22. These pancakes sound amazing with bananas and maple syrup! I've got all the ingredients and would love to make them tomorrow morning!

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  23. Yumm. love bananas and banana bread, Thanks for the visual taste!!

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  24. Oh Katy - I love banana bread and these are truly scumptious. I will have to make it for my sweetie - he will wonder who this strange wife is in the kitchen. (He's our breakfast chef)

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  25. Thank you for another lovely breakfast in your cozy kitchen! Like you, I find that when I add additional ingredients, especially bananas, that I have to "play" with the batter consistency and cook time. I think that these turned out wonderfully!

    I also wanted to thank you for all of your sweet comments on my blog lately. You always bring a smile to my face.

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  26. Dave, I think overripe bananas are the best as they have the most flavor. I've been known to use bananas that are almost black. To me as long as there's no fruit flies involved or if the banana hasn't turned to liquidy mush, it's okay to use.

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  27. Oh these sound fantastic.. Banana pecan is one of my favorite ways to make pancakes.. delicious Katy!

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  28. Total yum Katy! You are so creative and made some perfectly cooked pancakes. i am a fiend for anything banana

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  29. I love bananna bread, I love maple, I love pancakes!
    Homerun with this recipe!

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  30. Sounds delicious! I'm always ruining things on my way to getting it just right :)

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  31. They looks so delicious, beautiful tempting clicks.

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  32. I don't know how I missed this in my google reader, but these sound perfect for a weekend brunch.
    Mimi

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  33. These pancakes would be perfect for Christmas morning!!

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  34. Hmmm. Banana bread in a pancake. SOunds delicious.

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