1. Stock up on butter
2. stay away from the scale
I have a love/ hate relationship with her. I love that her food tastes good and her recipes are pretty easy to understand. I hate that her food is horrible for you and the recipes, while easy to understand, are not always easy to execute.
I was in the mood for BFD (Breakfast For Dinner) this week so I scheduled in a recipe that I had ripped from a magazine in January of 2010. It's from the "Jack's Corner" page of the magazine...it's usually a recipe that is very kid friendly.
The Recipe: Banana Split Pancakes
Ingredients
Pancakes:
2 C all-purpose flour
2 T sugar
1 T baking powder
1/4 t salt
1 C whole milk
2 lg. eggs, separated
1/4 C butter, melted
1 C banana, mashed
1/2 C miniature semi-sweet chocolate chips
whipped cream
maraschino cherries
Hot Pineapple Syrup:
1 (20 oz) can pineapple chunks
1 T cornstarch
2 T butter
1/4 C packed brown sugar
1/2 C pancake syrup
1 t vanilla extract
Preparation
1. In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.
2. In a medium bowl, combine milk, egg yolks, and melted butter.
3. Add milk mixture to flour mixture, stirring just until combined.
4. Stir in mashed banana.
5. In a medium bowl, beat egg whites at high speed with a mixer until stiff peaks form. Gently fold egg whites into batter.
6. Add chocolate chips, stirring gently to combine.
7. Spoon about 1/4 C batter for each pancake onto hot griddle or in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Cook pancakes for 1 minute. turn pancakes, and cook for 1 minute.
8. Repeat procedure with remaining batter. Serve immediately with Hot Pineapple Syrup. Garnish with whipped cream and cherries, if desired.
Hot Pineapple Syrup:
1. In a small bowl, combine 3 T of pineapple juice and cornstarch, stirring to combine; set aside.
2. In a medium skillet, melt butter over medium heat; add drained pineapple, remaining juice and brown sugar.
3. Bring to a boil; reduce heat, and simmer for 2 minutes.
4. Add cornstarch mixture, stirring constantly, and simmer for 1 minute, or until thickened.
5. Remove from heat; stir in pancake syrup and vanilla. Serve immediately.
The Verdict
These are yummy. They are a pain in the but to make...this recipe creates a lot of dishes and it seems like everything needs to be done at once. I am comfortable in my kitchen but I don't have 4 hands so it was a bit of a challenge.
The highlight of the recipe is DEFINITELY the Pineapple Syrup...seriously, it's so good that you just want to drink it. I find it refreshing to have a syrup that is so flavorful that you don't need to put a speck of butter on the pancakes and this syrup definitely does that!
I used just under a cup of banana...any more and it would have over-powered the pancakes.
Word of caution...be VERY careful in the actual cooking of the pancakes. Keep the griddle closer to 300 otherwise they will singe on the outside and the inside won't get cooked. Also...the batter will be VERY thick...you only need about 1/4 C to make a 4"-6" pancake. And as you put it on the griddle try to spread it around as thin as you can...Don't worry, it will fluff up. If you put in on thick, the insides will not cook.
Lastly...these are fun.
