Granola-Crusted Banana Pancakes

Hi! This is kind of a random post - and the single afterthought-of/excuse-for a picture is way lame -

and I don't have anything deep, meaningful, clever, or amusing to say about the recipe I'm sharing.

And yet.

It's SO worth sharing.

Picture it. Sunday morning: Whole family's hungry. Lunch plans are in place for noon. It's 9 a.m. I am aching to try out the whole wheat granola waffles recipe from Marion Cunningham's The Breakfast Book. I pull out my ingredients. MC plugs in the waffle iron. I skim the recipe. There is soaking of granola involved - I hadn't noticed that before. My tummy grumbles. MC reminds me of our timeline. My toddler screams: "Pancakes!"

Good idea, little one.

And thus were born some of the tastiest pancakes that have ever graced our kitchen, taste buds, and bellies. Notwithstanding haphazard presentation (see "afterthought" shot above), we're talking oh-dang tasty. With a delectably uncommon crunch. Blog-worthy indeed. Get to it, kids. These are fo-sure crowd-pleasers.

Granola-Crusted Banana Pancakes

Adapted from here

Yield: 3 servings (could be easily doubled or tripled)

1 cup whole wheat pastry flour (spelt, kamut, all-purpose, barley flours would all work here too)

3 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg or ginger or both (optional)

1/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup vanilla soy milk (or any kind of milk + 1 teaspoon vanilla + 2 teaspoons sugar, honey, or maple syrup)

2 tablespoons olive oil or melted, cooled butter

1 egg

1 banana, thinly sliced (grated apples or sliced peaches would prob be good too)

1/3 cup granola (ideally without dried fruit)

1 tablespoon butter or oil for griddle

Whisk together dry ingredients. Add the milk, oil or butter, and egg and stir with a spoon or fork until just combined, a few lumps are okay. (If the mixture is too thick for you, add a tablespoon or two of water or milk. I like thick pancakes.) Heat 2 teaspoons butter in cast iron skillet (or whatever you use to make pancakes) over medium heat. Once bubbling a little, drop 1/4-cup scoops of batter into the pan. Working quickly but carefully, drop 3-4 slices of banana on each pancake and then top with about 2 teaspoons granola. Flip once 12 bubbles form (my mom's tip) (about 2-3 minutes), cook on other side for another 2 minutes. Once finished with first batch, add another teaspoon butter or oil to pan and repeat. Add a third teaspoon of butter if you need a third round.

Serve with maple syrup and more butter. (Or eat plain if you are starving and are on Weight Watchers, like me. Which reminds me: 9 points per serving, counting butter on griddle but not on cooked pancakes.)