Perfect Pairs

I love peanut butter and banana together. As I child I would have them in a sandwich for lunch and it continued through to university. Why not? It tastes good, is healthy and cheap. I still make it to this day and I love it just as much as when I was a kid. I may get an odd look from my students, but I always tell them to try it before they knock it.

Why bring this up? Well, quite a while ago I met my sisters in Syracuse for a girls shopping weekend and we weren’t too impressed with the hotel breakfast the day before. The front desk clerks finally told us about a place called the Eggplant (I say finally because they initially told us there wasn’t anywhere else to go for breakfast; many were found later in the day) and stressed that it wasn’t that great. Upon arriving the three of us began laughing because the restaurant was packed. And I mean packed! It was obviously the place to be. Looking at the menu one thing caught J’s eye: peanut butter and banana pancakes. She had to get it to try it out and she loved it. Ever since, I’ve been meaning to try it out myself. That day finally came Labour Day weekend.

The verdict? Need you ask? To die for!

This is going to become my special weekend treat.  And really, if you can make pancakes, you can make these, or add anything else for that matter. Make a regular pancake recipe (I used up a mix that was hanging around in the cupboard), added 2 thawed bananas and some peanut butter and mixed it thoroughly. It was a little too thick so I added some more rice milk until it had the consistency I wanted – still thick, but not globular. As they were cooking up the excitement built and finally, with some maple syrup, they were what I expected: fabulousness on a fork.

I’ve mentioned before that I don’t make pancakes often because they don’t often turn out. Well, I finally figured it out (Sadly, I’m sure if I had asked someone, I would’ve learnt sooner). So if you’re like me, here’s how:

Make your batter before heating your pan. It seems silly, but trust me.

Heat your pan on high and when hot, turn it down to medium.

Add butter (a tsp or so) to the pan and melt it.

Pour some batter into the pan and wait. It really doesn’t matter what size, they’re your pancakes afterall.

Do not leave the stove! It’s tempting I know, but don’t do it.

When a lot of tiny bubbles appear in the pancake, flip it over. If there aren’t any bubbles, or only a few, wait.

After flipping, the pancakes won’t take long. After half a minute or so take a peak. If it isn’t ready, leave it for another 30 seconds. If it is, put it onto a plate.

Taadaa!!!

Enjoy with real maple syrup. And I say real because anything else is crap. Support your farmers/syrup producers and buy the real thing. You’ll never go back.