Banana Peanut Butter Pancakes

 

 As pancakes go, I am generally a fan of the plate-sized cake. I find it very comforting to nibble away at a corner and know I still have miles to go before I reach the middle. But somehow, the idea of the silver dollar pancake appealed to me this time. Perhaps it was the idea of stacking the cakes into a tower I could topple.  Perhaps it was the name silver dollar. It puts to mind something valuable, that you can hold in your hand. Which I'd say is a pretty accurate description of these pancakes. Although you're welcome to eat with a fork if you want (I did).

The recipe morphed from a vegan peanut butter banana bread recipe, a staple to my repertoire. The peanut butter supplies all the fat in the batter, providing natural decadence and protein in one go. Chunked bananas and sour soymilk create a delectably soft, moist loaf. So in modifying for pancakes, I added a bit more flour to stiffen the batter. And they retained their luscious flavour, now encapsulated by a thin exterior of crunch. I put buttermilk in the pancakes, but you can keep the pancakes vegan by using soymilk and vegan chocolates chips and substituting butter with oil or margarine. Finally, potential pancake toppings range widely and wildly; syrup would be great, as would sliced bananas and Greek yogurt. Also worth considering: chocolate sauce and pecans, which you could also add to the batter.

  
Adapted from Madhuram's Eggless Cooking's Vegan Peanut Butter Banana Bread Recipe
Banana Peanut Butter Pancakes
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
3/4 cup light brown sugar
1 tsp. baking powder
3/4 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1 cup roughly mashed bananas (about 2 medium)
1/3 cup peanut butter (I used crunchy)
1/2 cup buttermilk (or 1/2 soymilk mixed with 1 tsp. apple cider vinegar)
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 TBSP water
optional: 3/4 cup chocolate chips 

butter for pan

 Directions:
--In a medium bowl, mix together flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In a small bowl, mix together mashed banana, peanut butter, buttermilk, vanilla, and water. Add wet ingredient to dry and stir to combine.
--Heat a medium pan on medium-low heat. When warm, add 1 TBSP butter to pan. The pan is ready when the melted butter forms bubbles and begins to brown.
--Add as many pancakes as will fit without touching each other (3-4). If using chocolate chips, sprinkle on top of pancakes. Cook on one side until you can see air bubbles forming and bursting on top of the pancakes, or about 3 minutes. Flip and cook 2 minutes more.
--Repeat with the rest of the batter, adding more butter as necessary. Makes approximately 14 silver dollar pancakes.