Easy Banana Pancakes

I took a short cut. I purchased Bob’s Red Mill 10 Grain Pancake & Waffle Whole Grain Mix (woo, mouthful) since I needed flour for the enchilada sauce I was going to make this weekend. The tiny little shop I was at (a specialty store) did not have flour, but I did come across this mix. When Oliver requested pancakes for breakfast, I eagerly obliged, knowing it was now housed in our cottage pantry.

I remembered the bananas that were getting more ripe by the minute. I assumed (rightly so) that I could mash and mix them into the pancake mix.

No photos to entice you, so you’ll have to trust me on this. Fluffy. Moist. Healthy. (Much healthier than the ones I posted on this site before, and just as good too!)

If you are going to buy Bob’s Red Mill 10 Grain Pancake & Waffle Whole Grain Mix (woo, mouthful) and make banana pancakes, please DO NOT FOLLOW THE DIRECTIONS ON THE PACKAGE. Follow mine instead.

Here’s what I used (all ingredients organic except for the mix):

• 1/2 cup pancake mix
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup peach apple sauce (I used Santa Cruz, but any organic apple sauce will do)
• 1/4-1/2 milk (to desired thickness and consistency)
• 1/2 mashed banana

Here’s what I did:

Mixed it all together. And real quick too! Normally when making banana pancakes, I mash the bananas, scramble the egg, mix those together with the apple sauce and milk, then slowly add the pancake mix. That’s really the way to do it.

But I was all like in a hurry. (Not sure why. Could be our tummies were growling because we slept in until 9 am!) Therefore, I piled all ingredients into one bowl and mixed and mashed and stirred until it was thick, but not too thick, and lumpy, but not too lumpy. Make sense?

I heated a pan medium-hot. I like to thinly coat pancake pans with organic cooking spray. But we are on vaca. And I recently watched (reluctantly so because I am NO fan — kind of like a scary movie when you cover your eyes but then you peak out a bit to see if you could possibly really tolerate the unknown) The Pioneer Woman rave rave rave (ungracefully I might add) about butter. It was sickening. Really. All like in love with butter.

Disgusting.

I coated the pan with butter.

Gleefully.

Just like The Pioneer Woman.

Then cooked as usual. For those of you who are new to this, the pan should be med-hot. Coated in butter or cooking spray — organic please.

< digression >

If there’s one thing you need to buy organic, it’s your cooking oils. Olive, corn, canola. Any oil. Just buy organic. Please. Please. Do me this one favor. OK?

Those olives are coated with pesticides to combat a very resilient predator — Bactrocera oleae, aka the olive fly — which can quickly decimate a crop (the handful of organic olive farms are those that can be found in cooler, drier climes where the olive fly is much less of a problem). It lays its eggs within the olive and the growing larva feeds off the fruit’s pulp until it eventually destroys it. When trees are sprayed, the chemicals are absorbed into the fatty part of the olive and are pressed out with the oil. Corn and other oils are the same, and I’m very suspicious of corn / canola oils that are not organic. There’s a way to tell if your vegetables are genetically modified. You can look at the code on the sticker. But there is no way to tell if your corn oils (and such) are made from GMO’S. Don’t take chances. And … if not for your own health, then to support the organic industry. And … if you cannot afford it, stop at Trader Joe’s or even TJ Maxx. You’ll be sure to find reasonable prices at either place.

< /digression >

Cook until bubbly. Flip over and cook until done.

Once you have a stack of pancakes, serve ’em up hot! They will NOT need sugar nor syrup. They are totally great just as is. Of course, if you feel the need …

Yield:

Enough pancakes for a hungry 4-yr old and his mother.




One last suggestion, if you are not too inclined to make my Easy Banana Pancakes, perhaps this will inspire you:



BTW, this video is extra special because Zach Gill is performing with Jack. If you don’t know Zach Gill (and you’re a parent) you absolutely have to see this. If you have children that you still love, grab a tissue.


Ciao!