These cakes are bananas. B-A-N-A-N-A-S!

Ah breakfast, it's arguably the most important meal of the day yet it's the most overlooked and who can blame it?

The thing about breakfast is that it contends with this thing called sleep. Perhaps you've head of it? That thing university students need and crave, yet rarely get enough of? Yup, we're talking about sleep alright.

The reality is that breakfast takes some effort and effort takes away from time to sleep. Sleep is important but so is food... so what's a student supposed to do?

The answer? Make pancakes!



Chocolate-chip Banana Pancakes
Adapted from the Guy can't Cook, by Cinda Chavich

Ingredients:

-1/2 cup (125 mL) whole wheat flour
-1/2 cup (125 mL) all-purpose flour
-1 1/2 tsp (7 mL) baking powder
-1/2 tsp (2 mL) baking soda
-1/4 tsp (1 mL) grounded cinnamon
-2 Tbsp (30 mL) granulated sugar
-Pinch of salt
-1/4 cup ( 75 mL) bittersweet chocolate chips (you can substitute milk or dark chocolate chips if you'd like)

-1 (one) large egg
-1 cup (250 mL) buttermilk or plain yogurt (you can substitute 2% milk instead)
-2 Tbsp (30 mL) butter
-3/4 cups (175 mL) mashed bananas (About 2 1/2 bananas- save the other half for garnishing)

Makes about 8 pancakes



A Few Tips:

-Use ripe bananas for these pancakes. They pack more flavour as well as sweetness and are far easier to mash. You can still use unripened bananas if you need to, but you'll definitely lose out of flavour.

-Use a potato masher to mash bananas if a fork isn't working out.

-These cakes have been made with self-raising flour before. Self-raising flour already mixes in the baking powder and salt, so it'll shave off a few seconds while you're in the kitchen.



1. If you're working with limited cooking space (ie: a small frying pan) you'll want to set your conventional toaster oven to 200°F (95°C) to keep your first few pancakes nice and warm.

2. In a large mixing bowl, add the two flours, sugar, baking powder, baking soda (if using), cinnamon and chocolate chips together.

3. In another bowl, whisk together the mashed bananas, melted butter, egg, and buttermilk/yogurt/milk together.



4. Making an opening in the bowl of the dry ingredients and then add the banana mixture and stir until evening is moist.



5. Set your frying pan/skillet over a medium-high heat and lightly coat with some butter. Reduce to a low-medium heat and spoon in 3-4 Tbsp of the pancake mixture to make a 4 inch pancake.



6. When bubbles start rising to the top of the pancake you'll be ready to flip them. This generally takes about 2 minutes. A visual cue will be a nice, golden brown side when you give 'em a flip.



7. Move any finished pancakes to the oven while the others cook. When everything's done, transfer the cakes to a plate, garnish with left over bananas, chocolate chips, and a drizzle of maple syrup.



8. Savor.



What's great about this recipe is that the batter can be made the night before. Store it in a container so that it's ready to go in a frying pan the next morning. Also, bananas are a great source of potassium which, anecdotally, help out with hangovers. Give this recipe a try on a lazy Sunday morning after a crazy Saturday night or when you want a nice change from butter and toast.