You can never have too many pancakes recipes, right?  I find it’s always best to adapt based off a recipe that you know works well, and add and subtract ingredients from there.  You might remember my Fluffy Buttermilk Pancakes with Sautéed Apples.  They are adapted from my absolute favorite pancakes recipe from Nigella Lawson.  This recipe never fails me, and I always enjoy throwing in new ingredients, depending on what I have in the kitchen.  I happened to have a bunch of bananas in my kitchen which I never got around to eating.  

They sat there waiting, turning brown, then black and just beckoning me to whip up some banana bread or banana nut muffins.  But this week has been hectic, and I barely had enough time to eat take-out dinner, much less bake.  So Saturday morning, when I finally had a free minute, I felt absolutely compelled to use these bananas before they turned from “just right” black and ripe, to over the edge and wasted .

Pancakes are so easy to whip up, I decided to mash up the beautiful back bananas and throw them into my buttermilk pancake recipe.  The result is a delicious and fluffy pancakes, with the warm and inviting taste of bananas.  Truly the best way to spend a lazy Saturday morning.

Fluffy Buttermilk Banana Pancakes

Adapted from How to Be a Domestic Goddess, by Nigella Lawson 

Serves 4

Note: Don’t be deterred by your bananas turning as brown/black as possible.  The more ripe, the better in this recipe.   If your bananas aren’t super ripe, you might need to add a bit more buttermilk, a tablespoon at a time, until the batter is easy to pour. 

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• pinch of salt
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 3 very ripe bananas, 2 mashed and 1 cut into slices for presentation
• 2 large eggs, beaten
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled
• 1 1/2 cups buttermilk
• butter for cooking

Recipe

Whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar in a medium bowl.

In a separate bowl, mash 2 very ripe bananas until very little lumps remain.  Mix in the eggs, melted butter and buttermilk.

Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients and pour the wet ingredients into the well.  Stir the mixture with a wooden spoon until the wet ingredients are incorporated with the dry. Your batter may be lumpy but don’t worry about it, it will even out when cooking.

Pour the mixture into a liquid measuring cup to make for easy pouring into the pan.  Heat a slab of butter in a large non-stick frying pan (or spray with non-stick spray).  Pour a dollop of the batter into the pan until the pancakes are your desired size. Cook on medium-high heat until the upper side of the pancake is blistering and bubbling, and then flip the pancakes to the other side.  Cook for about a minute or until the bottom side is browned and then transfer to a plate.

If you’re cooking for a large crowd, pre-heat the oven to 200 degrees Fahrenheit,  and transfer the cooked pancakes to a cookie sheet in the oven so they stay warm.

To serve, place pancakes on a plate and pile the sliced bananas on top.  Drizzle maple syrup on top and enjoy!

To get you inspired, here’s some cooking music to enjoy: