Cinnamon Pecan Banana Pancakes

Now that I’m working a normal 9-5 gig again, and Nick is out the door most days by 0630, weekday breakfasts usually consist of cereal or toast, and an iced coffee hastily packed to go. So, when the weekend finally rolls around we like to get a little more creative and whip up something fun for breakfast. Giant cheesy omlets, pumpkin oatmeal pancakes, homemade pecan banana bread, and my world famous cinnamon almond pear baked oatmeal are some of the favorites.

This week turned out to be pretty busy, so somehow grocery shopping fell by the wayside. When I looked in the fridge Saturday morning, it was a pretty sad sight. The most major problem I saw in there: no eggs! How are you supposed to make weekend breakfast without eggs?

After pondering for a moment, I figured it out. I whipped out my trusty iPhone and Googled “vegan pancake reccipes”. Surprisingly, we had milk, so I wasn’t actually going to make vegan pancakes, (I’m pretty sure my self-proclaimed meat-a-tarian boyfriend would refuse to eat anything titled “vegan” anyways), but I needed some ideas. After looking through a few different recipes and learning that it is in fact possible to make lovely fluffy pancakes without eggs, I pieced together a couple with a few additions and modifications here and there. The result was super easy and super delicious! The pancakes themselves aren’t overly sweet, but that’s how I like them so I can drown them in syrup!

Heat a pan (I used 2 so I could make them faster) or griddle on medium heat. You might have to adjust this, depending on the pan– I had to turn one of my pans up to med-high and turn one down to med-low to get them to cook at the same rate. I’m not sure if this is because the two pans were different, or because like everything else in our little apartment, our stove is a piece of junk.

In a medium sized mixing bowl, combine the dry ingredients. I ended up with a few flour chunks in my pancakes, so if you feel so inclined, you might want to sift. I’m kind of lazy, so I’ll take the flour chunks. Next, add in the wet ingredients and get everything good and mixed.

Use a ladel to pour the batter onto the hot, dry pans. Add a few banana slices and a sprinkling of pecans to each pancake. Now, the whole pancake flipping rule with the bubbles didn’t really work here, because these pancakes didn’t bubble very much (the whole wheat flour, maybe? Or lack of eggs?). So… my only advice is use you best pancake-flipping judgment. If you’re attempting this recipe, you’ve probably made pancakes before.

Lastly… stack ’em, drench ’em in syrup, and enjoy!

I prefer to stick to my New England roots and go with some lovely grade A pure Vermont maple syrup. However, due to price of this stuff in Florida, and the massive quantity of syrup that Nick requires to deem pancakes consumable, he’s only allowed the fake stuff. Luckily, he actually likes the vile high fructose corn syrup and artificial caramel color substance. I blame too many years in the South.

A few notes:

– I don’t think I’ve ever used 2 whole tablespoons of baking powder in one single recipe (especially one that’s only 2 servings). I was a little skeptical, but most of the vegan recipes I looked at included large amounts. I think it’s what created most of the fluffiness in lieu of eggs. Totally worked! The batter will be quite airy once you mix in the wet ingredients– if it’s not, it’s time to buy new baking powder!

– I used the yogurt because I like to pretend to be healthy. (Syrup covered carbs are healthy, duh). If you don’t have yogurt, or just don’t care about a little extra fat, you can use 2 tbsp of oil instead of one of each. Same goes for the flour– you can use all AP and they’ll still be delicious. I wouldn’t suggest all whole wheat though, unless you want super dense flat pancakes. A little refined white flour now and then won’t kill you, I promise.

Moral of the story: Even when you think you have NO food in the house, it’s still possible to whip up a fantastic special weekend breakfast!