make this for breakfast this weekend…

… and thank me later.  Connor and I are in San Francisco this morning, with our sweet Marissa. We arrived last night and are ready for a fun-filled, big city, mom and kids, weekend!

Last weekend, I made these pancakes for Connor and Patrick, his Flagstaff roommate, who was down for the weekend. I started us all out with a stack of three each… which was two too many for me. Dang, these babies are rich! Be sure you have a tall glass of ice-cold milk to wash them down.

The inspiration to make them that morning was two-fold. Firstly, I had a bunch of overripe bananas to use (isn’t that always the case?) and secondly, when we were in Wisconsin, Jen’s boys kept pestering her to make her famous banana pancakes. Sadly, we never remembered to buy bananas when we went grocery shopping. Connor has never had Jen’s pancakes, so I felt obliged to serve them up. I make the call to Jen to get her recipe, but since there is a two-hour time difference when she didn’t answer the phone, I figured they were already down at the lake. So, I winged it and they turned out pretty good, although I’d still like to get my hands on her version.

I have a cool website to share with you today. Did you know that you can find out where your milk and other dairy products come from? How cool is that!?

This Website allows you to type in a code from any dairy product. It then tells you where it’s from! Great to know where your milk, yogurt, butter, cheese, etc. are from and how far it had to be shipped to get to you. The code from the gallon of Fry’s brand milk that I typed in showed me that my milk came from the Tolleson Dairy, which is about 21 miles from my home.  Check it out for yourself and see where your milk products are coming from.

Banana Pancakes

Caramelized Banana Topping
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
Juice from half a lemon
3 or 4 overripe bananas, sliced
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
Pancakes
1  3/4 cups flour
3 tablespoons packed brown sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons milk, buttermilk, yogurt, sour cream, or a mix of any (I used about portion 1/3 milk, 1/3 sour cream, and 1/3 honey yogurt)
2 or 3 overripe bananas
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Caramelized Banana Topping:  In a bowl, mix together the brown sugar, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and lemon juice. Gently fold in the sliced bananas to coat.

Set aside until you are ready to begin cooking the pancakes.

Pancakes:  Whisk together the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt in a medium bowl to combine.

Use a fork to mash the bananas with the milk in a  separate large bowl.

Add the eggs, melted butter, and vanilla, mix to combine.

Add dry ingredients and mix until just combined.

The batter will be thick.

Heat a skillet and melt 1 tablespoon of butter with 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil.  Pour in approximately 1/4 cup of batter for each pancake.

Shake the pan slightly to help pancakes spread out. Cook until the tops of pancakes are evenly bubbled and appear slightly dry rather than wet.

When set, flip pancakes using a large spatula and cook on the second side until evenly browned.  Continue baking more pancakes and place cooked pancakes in a low oven to keep warm.

Once you get your first batch of pancakes going in the skillet, prepare the bananas: In a medium saucepan on medium-high heat, melt the butter. Add the banana mixture to the pan and allow to cook and bubble for about 5 to 7 minutes, until the liquid has reduced into a thin caramel consistency.

When ready to serve, arrange caramelized bananas and some of the sauce over pancakes and serve immediately.

Makes about 12 pancakes