Frozen bananas - not just for banana bread
Counting all the eggs!
I usually let my children know what we’re having for breakfast before they go to bed. Last night I had committed to banana pancakes. My younger daughter is typically the first to wake up, usually bright eyed and bushy tailed. Even though her older sister asks her frequently to wait for her to wake up before coming upstairs, this rarely happens. She often claims she’s too hungry to wait. This morning was no exception. I had planned for this “food emergency” and took a bag of frozen bananas and placed it in the blender to thaw overnight. (I had enough times of a leaking ziplock bag mess on the counter to clean up.)
Important to protect our ears!
A freezer of hidden bananas
I once heard someone else’s tale of cleaning out the freezer. They pulled out one banana after another - over 30 in total. They were everywhere in the freezer. I wouldn’t recommend this approach for a couple of reasons 1) it’s tough to find all the bananas as illustrated by this story and 2) it’s impossible to peel the frozen bananas and 3) extremely gross peeling the thawed brown mush. As a result, I usually have a ziplock in the freezer and just peel and add bananas as they no longer are palatable to eat. It’s just amazing how it seems the nastier the banana looks, the better it tastes in recipes. So remember, frozen bananas aren’t just for banana bread, but banana pancakes. This is also perfect for grabbing to make a quick smoothie (avacodo smoothie recipe here).
It doesn’t get much simpler!
This recipe is so simple - only three ingredients. It doesn’t get much simpler than this - plus only one dish to clean!
First, I add the eggs to the blender (my 2L blender can hold a double batch) then pulse in the flour. I’m not a fan of egg shells in my pancakes, so I have my three year old “help me” by counting the eggs for me, instead of cracking them (even though she assures me she’d do a good job cracking the eggs). I smile because according to her count we’re one short, but then I show here there’s one out of her view.
We have her trained well, as she puts her hands over her ears as soon as I motion to turn on the blender. (My husband and I are both engineers and safety including personal protection equipment such as hearing protection is very important.) She shadows me as I pour the batter. I incentivize her to unload the dishwasher (one of her chores) by telling her the first pancakes will be ready when she’s done with her task. She begins singing as she works which gives me another smile. I tell her when she needs to bring her plate for the first pancakes and she also brings her beautiful smiling face. She gives a little “yea!” when I put them on her plate.
Onto a triple batch
As they eat, the kids show me the moon and swing they create with their pancakes. The artwork doesn’t last long as they come quickly for more pancakes. I see the double batch won’t cut it, even with the venison sausage (click here for the recipe) to supplement our family of five. Luckily we have a couple of fresh bananas, although not overripe but they’ll have to do in a pinch. I get out another dozen eggs since the half dozen in the last carton is now gone.
You can opt to add a little milk if you don’t use thawed bananas to thin the batter as desired. Today I made a triple batch and this is exactly what I did for the last batch with fresh bananas.
Picking out the first pancake!
The rest of the family joins as I make final batch. My husband asks if our youngest son (age 1 1/2) got anything to eat yet since he’s just sitting there without anything on his tray of his high chair. That means he gobbled up his pancake in about 20 seconds!
We all get to enjoy the pancakes, but no surprise, there’s no leftovers! I’ve had others ask if I make leftover pancakes and freeze them. This never occurred to me since if we have any left, they usually get eaten for a snack before I even get them into the fridge. But if you don’t have ravenous children, this may be an option for you!
And healthy too!
Not only is this recipe simple, but healthy. First, you get a serving of fruit and a bit of protein to start the day. Plus no added sugar (most pancake recipes call for added sugar). And the bananas sweeten the pancakes so much, you can eliminate added sugar completely by foregoing the syrup! Also, you can substitute whole wheat flour for white flour to boost the nutrition, which you may find equally tasty!
A few golden pancakes before they disappear!
Banana Pancake Recipe
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
3 eggs, beaten
2 ripe bananas
Puree the bananas and eggs in a blender. Pulse in the flour until combined. Pour batter onto a heated, greased griddle. Flip pancakes after 2 minutes. Allow to cook another 2 minutes then serve.
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