Banana Pancakes

This past Saturday, while my husband snoozed a week’s worth of work-related blues away I was up early with nothing but time.  Stomach growling, I knew I couldn’t wait for him to wipe the sleep out of his eyes before chowing down on my own breakfast.  I decided to kill some time by making pancakes.  Rather than turn on my laptop and root around for a pancake recipe waiting in my bookmarks folder, I thought about my resolution to crack the covers of my cookbooks more often.

This little gem is from Williams Sonoma and is one of those cookbooks you savor slowly.  Sure, I hadn’t made a recipe from it after owning it for at least a year, but I read it from cover to cover as soon as I got it, so that counts for something.  And I often pull it down to reread about Maria Helm Sinskey and her family’s endeavors in the kitchen.  If you are someone who enjoys the process of cooking, this book is a must-have. It explains the family traditions steeped in each recipe.  And it has pancakes.

I added bananas.  And yes, I sang the Jack Johnson song to myself the whole time I was whipping these up.

They were fluffy and light, and exactly what I was hoping for on a Saturday morning.  And by the time I finished the batter, my husband was awake.  We drizzled these in pools of syrup and stayed in pajamas for too long.  It was the perfect start to a lazy weekend.

To make 12 pancakes, you will need:

• 1 1/2 C all purpose flour
• 1 T sugar
• 1 T baking powder (that explains the intense fluffiness)
• 3/4 tsp. Kosher salt
• 1 C milk
• 2 large eggs
• 4 T (half a stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 mix-ins (I used bananas, and okay fine, i sprinkled chocolate chips in the last pancake)

In a small bowl, stir together the first 4 ingredients.  In a large bowl, whisk together the next 4.  Add the flour mixture to the liquid and stir just until combined.  Pancake batter always has some small lumps, so don’t sweat it.  Fold in your mix-ins.

Heat a griddle or a large, heavy-bottomed skillet over medium heat and add 1 T butter.  When the butter melts and sizzles, tilt the pan to spread it evenly over the bottom.  Using a 1/4 C measure, pour the batter into the pan to form pancakes, being careful not to crowd the pan.  Cook until the edges are set (they will even curl up a little) and tiny bubbles cover the top, about 2 minutes.  Using a spatula, flip them over and cook until golden on the second side, about 1 minute.  Transfer to warmed plates as they come off the griddle, or keep warm in a 200 degree oven.  Repeat with the remaining batter, adding more butter to the griddle as needed.  I always find that I need to turn the stove down the longer I keep the pancakes going.