These pancakes came to be when we found ourselves with a handful of bananas that were bordering on too-brown-to-eat and with a powerful hankering for pancakes.

Full disclosure: the hankering might have been more powerful for one of us than for the other. But I digress.

The pancakes are fluffy and delicious and they’re a great way to use up those sad bananas when you don’t have it in you to fire up the oven and bake a banana bread. We didn’t have any chocolate chips on hand, but I bet they would be a delicious addition. Blueberries, too. Endless possibilitie!

You can even freeze them to eat later – just allow the cooked pancakes to cool completely, line them on a baking sheet, and pop the whole thing in the freezer. Once they’re frozen, you can stack them, wrap them in saran wrap or in a Ziplock bag, and stick them back in the freezer. When you’re ready to eat them, preheat your oven to 350 degrees, spread the pancakes out on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet, and bake for about 10 minutes (or until heated through). Easy as that!

Banana Bread Pancakes
makes: 12-15 pancakes / prep time: 5 minutes / cook time: 10 minutes
recipe adapted from this one

• 1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons white sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 egg, beaten
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 3 ripe banans, mashed

Spray a griddle with non-stick baking spray and heat on the stovetop over medium heat. Combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon in a large bowl and set aside. Stir the egg, vegetable oil, milk, vanilla extract, and mashed bananas together until combined. Stir the banana mixture into the flour mixture until just combined. Pour the batter onto the heated griddle, using about 1/3 cup of batter at a time, and cook until bubbles start to form on the top of the pancake. Flip the pancake over and cook until both sides are lightly browned.