Whole Wheat Buttermilk-Banana Pancakes

19/10/2011 21 Comments

This is it. My last hurrah… of cakes, pastries, and sweets for the next few weeks. A few posts ago, I mentioned that we’d booked a trip up north. Well, we’re headed to the Whitsunday Islands, and it’s only 4 weeks away! What better a time to get in shape and make room for all the sinful things that make holidays, holidays?

I concede there may be a slip-up or two before we go. A month is, after all, a long time to go without a treat. But I figured we’d go out in style, and celebrate our nearing vaca with something really worth it.

So, we made pancakes. Big, fluffy American pancakes. With buttermilk and golden, caramelized bananas. Lots of honey. Nuts. Cinnamon. Piled into giant stacks, 2 forks at the ready.

The batter will be thick, almost like a tea cake’s, so dollop the it onto the pan then into circles with the back of a spoon. Let them cook for 1 minute or so, then top with the sliced bananas. I usually find that whole wheat flour gets a bit stodgy when cooked. Not so here. The pancakes were perfectly fluffy and light, with a slight nuttiness from the wheat. 

The measurements may seem a bit weird, but it’s because I cut the original recipe in half. Unless you’re feeding a pack of bloodthirsty zombies this halved recipe is more than enough for 2-3 very hungry people.

Looking back I guess they’re not hugely unhealthy – whole wheat, fruit, nuts and honey aren’t exactly bad for you. The number that we ate? Questionable. I have a feeling you’ll have a hard time holding back on these, too.

WHOLE WHEAT BUTTERMILK-BANANA PANCAKES
Plain buttermilk pancakes recipe adapted from Allrecipes.com; Makes 12 big pancakes

Provisions:
1 1/2 cups wholemeal flour

1 tbsp + 1 tsp raw sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp baking soda/bicarb
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
1/4 cup milk
1 egg + 1 egg white
2 tbsp + 2 tsp melted butter
2 bananas, sliced thinly
Honey and walnuts, to garnish
Method:
In a large bowl, mix the buttermilk, milk, eggs and melted butter. Let the buttermilk mixture sit for 15 minutes while you prepare the dry ingredients and heat up the pan – you’ll get fluffier pancakes.
In a separate bowl, combine the flour, sugar, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Keep the two mixtures separate until ready to cook.
Heat a pan over medium heat. Spray or butter it lightly. Mix the dry and wet ingredients until just combined – do not overmix. Dollop 2-3 spoonfuls of pancake batter in the pan, and smooth into circles. 
Let pancakes cook 30 sec-1 min. When bubbles start forming on the surface, place 4-5 banana slices on each pancake, then carefully flip over to continue cooking on the other side 1-2 minutes, until golden.
Stack high on a plate. Sprinkle with gently toasted walnuts and drizzle generously with honey.
Audio pairing: SBTRKT, “Pharaohs”

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  • http://www.blogger.com/profile/14183993346428249697 Fatbooo

    Nice to see that pancakes can look so yummy, and still be healthy. :)

    Have a good trip!

  • http://www.blogger.com/profile/15672028229439942434 JaninaCakes

    These look amazing, might have to give this recipe a try.

  • http://wholesomecook.wordpress.com/ Martyna@WholesomeCook

    They look great Yasmeen and the ingredients sound perfect for my liking!
    Good luck with your quest to steer away from all the delicious food that tempts us everyday! I had a smiliar plan for the month of October, then the jelly challenge happened! :-)

  • http://www.blogger.com/profile/07366703419148959445 Sue/the view from great island

    Yummmmmmm…whole wheat and buttermilk sounds so good to me right now. I love the photo.

  • http://www.blogger.com/profile/07536704297054335614 Winston

    Buttermilk pancakes! This looks SO yum. Love how you drizzled the honey so artistically around the plate. I do think that pancakes taste better when they’re stacked mile high like you’ve done here heheheh… Nice one, Yas! =D

  • http://www.blogger.com/profile/04130051839810091958 Rosa’s Yummy Yums

    Lovely pancakes, mmmhhh!

    Cheers,

    Rosa

  • http://www.blogger.com/profile/00267762026583525273 Foodness Gracious

    Great looking breakfast, I love using buttermilk lately. It really kicks some stuff up. Have a great trip!!
    Take care..

  • http://mideats.com/ Heba @ midEATS

    This looks so super yummy! Love that you’re making it from scratch using real ingredients – i.e. real buttermilk and real eggs. Healthy and delicious!

  • http://www.blogger.com/profile/16949599141577685866 Nuha

    Aghh pancakes are one of my favorite breakfast foods :-) your recipe doesn’t seem that bad… And knowing you, your body is already killer!!

    P.s. Have you ever had pumpkin pancakes? They’re kind of healthy-ish

  • http://bamskitchen.com/ Bam’s Kitchen

    I love your comment “Unless you’re feeding a pack of bloodthirsty zombies this halved recipe is more than enough for 2-3 very hungry people” Well I guess what you mean by bloodthirsty zombies is hungry teenage boys so I best double the recipe as this one looks like a keeper! Take Care

  • http://wayfaringchocolate.com/ Hannah

    Oh my gosh, I’m in awe at your commitment! Nothing could make me give up desserts for a month… :P These look fabulous!

  • http://www.blogger.com/profile/12371458068011998525 Tina

    I am a sucker when it comes to pancakes made with various grain flours. I love buckwheat and regular whole wheat as well. These do look tasty and I love the inclusion of the bananas-yum. Great post.

  • http://www.blogger.com/profile/07875842622986658756 Ashley

    I remember getting pancakes in NYC last year and there were 3 of them, and they were the size of dinner plates. I could only eat half of the lot!

    I love how the bananas look in you pancakes…so yummy looking!

  • http://www.blogger.com/profile/17091286576114972885 sarah nicole

    Mmmmm, I’m normally not a pancake lover, but these look so good.

    xo,

    Sarah

  • http://www.ledelicieux.com/ Jennifer (Delicieux)

    I love the healthy spin you’ve given buttermilk pancakes. They look fabulous!!! I certainly couldn’t give up desserts for a month, I admire your will power!

  • http://www.blogger.com/profile/12757275668773313823 Blithely Unaware

    Hellooooooooooo!!!

    Thank you so much for the comments on my blog.

    Totally LOVING these pancakes, I always use normal flour but next time I’m going to swap it for wholemeal. Yum! Yum!

    xox

  • http://www.blogger.com/profile/15759117599389197234 Ashley

    These sound delicious!! Love it…

    http://wishesanddishes.blogspot.com/

  • http://www.blogger.com/profile/18082798717699003150 Amy

    Your photos are beautiful.

    Found you through BasilMomma.

    Amy @ A Little Nosh

  • http://www.aperfectpantry.com.au/ Cassandra @aperfectpantry

    I am loving pancakes at the moment. Carb loading for summer.. the opposite of what I need to be doing!

  • http://www.blogger.com/profile/11954476128240930588 Susy

    I loveeeee the banana in the pancake!! I always do it at home!! add this sweetness yumm!!!
    Your pancakes look delish!!

  • http://www.blogger.com/profile/16327344027557036250 Candace

    What a beautiful stack of pancakes!