Ingredients for Banana Pancakes

Mix bananas into pancake batter for pancakes reminiscent of banana bread.

Serve your breakfast fruit inside your pancakes instead of next to them. Banana pancakes combine bananas with batter to create pancakes with a flavor similar to banana bread. Bananas contribute such a sweetness to the recipe that you might not even need syrup for your pancake stack. For a twist, pour the banana pancake batter into a waffle iron to make banana waffles.

Flour

All-purpose flour is best for pancakes.

The flour in the banana pancakes recipe creates the basis for the pancake. Most recipes call for all-purpose flour. Avoid substituting cake flour, whole wheat or bread flour for the all-purpose. Pancakes made with cake flour are too delicate in texture to hold added ingredients such as bananas, and the pancakes fall apart when flipped. Bread flour and whole wheat flour both contain more gluten than all-purpose flour. Gluten makes baked goods chewy. Different varieties of flour contain higher or lower levels of gluten. A standard recipe to make 12 pancakes usually requires 1 cup of all-purpose flour. As the ingredients are mixed, the gluten from the flour creates bonds. Over-mixing will result in tough, chewy pancakes. For lighter pancakes, mix the wet and dry ingredients to just combine them.

Leavening Agents

Leavening agents are added to the pancake batter to make it rise. For each cup of flour, you will need 1 tsp. of baking soda and 1/2 tsp. of baking powder. Baking soda will foam and create carbon dioxide when it comes into contact with an acid. The baking soda foam makes the batter thicker so it does not run when poured onto the griddle. Baking powder reacts during mixing with the acids in the recipe, and it also creates carbon dioxide when the pancake batter is heated. This second step helps the pancakes maintain their light and fluffy texture. If you use self-rising flour instead of all-purpose for your pancake recipe, skip adding the leavening agents.

Butter

Melt unsalted butter before adding it to the batter.

Melted butter added to the pancake batter adds flavor, and the fat in the butter contributes to the tenderness of the finished pancakes. Use 3 tbsp. of unsalted butter and add 1 tsp. of salt to the recipe so that you can control the amount of salt added to the batter.

Buttermilk

Make a buttermilk replacement from regular milk.

Buttermilk is a tangy, acidic milk made by culturing regular milk with beneficial bacteria. The acid in 1 cup of buttermilk in a pancake recipe will react with the baking soda and rise 1 cup of flour. The buttermilk and flour should be the same volume to ensure that the pancake batter has the proper consistency. If you cannot find buttermilk at a store, stir 2 tbsp. of lemon juice or white vinegar into 1 cup of milk and let it sit for 10 minutes.

Eggs

Eggs are vital for binding the ingredients in the pancakes.

Use 2 large eggs for a pancake recipe to make 12 pancakes. Avoid substituting another size of eggs in the recipe. This will keep your recipe properly balanced. Do not skip adding the eggs to your banana pancakes. The proteins contributed by the eggs coagulate when heated, helping the pancakes to keep their shape.

Sugar

Just a little sugar helps the pancakes cook to a golden brown.

Just 1 tbsp. of sugar is all you need to add to your banana pancake recipe for 12 pancakes. The sugar helps the pancakes brown and adds sweetness to the final product. Other sweeteners such as honey or maple syrup can be substituted for the white sugar in a banana pancake recipe without changing the structure of the final product.

Bananas

Bananas give a unique flavor to pancakes.

Perhaps the most important ingredient in banana pancakes is the banana. Use a banana with a brown speckled skin for the best flavor. Though such bananas do not look as perfect as unblemished, bright yellow bananas, the banana inside will have a sweeter flavor and softer texture. Either mash a whole banana into the liquid ingredients for your recipe, or cut it into slices or dices and fold it into the batter after mixing the wet and dry ingredients together.

References

• "Good Eats: The Early Years"; Alton Brown; 2009
• Epicurious: My Kids' Favorite Banana Pancakes
• All Recipes: Banana Pancakes I
• Food Network: Banana Pecan Buttermilk Pancakes
• "The Science of Good Food"; David Joachim; 2008