Banana Berry Pancakes

The Best Pancakes in the WORLD.

Well, ok, the best pancakes in Owen's world- and I figure that since he doesn't eat much, he must have a very delicate palate.  Or something like that.

Perfect for a Sunday morning- or in our case, every morning of the week and sometimes twice on Sundays.

The thing that I like best about them is that they aren't just flour. Eggs, buttermilk, bananas and blueberries, cleverly disguised.

Because in this house, every bite has to count.

Best advice we've been given so far by the dietitian- if your child only eats a few solid foods, vary your ingredients as much as you can. So switch up fat source, use different oils. The flour can be switched on a rotating basis- sometimes I use half white, half whole wheat, sometimes I use whole grain spelt, or I may use buckwheat.  Looking for a protein and kcal boost?  Replace some of the flour with ground pecans (pecan flour) or almond (almond flour)-  I change flours like some people change hair colour.

Banana Blueberry Pancakes

• 3 large bananas, mashed (they don't have to be over ripe- anything will do!)
• 4-6 eggs
• 3 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil (or your favourite- mix it up!)
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 cups flour (again, variety is the spice of life- 1/2 white 1/2 ww, or whole grain spelt, or buckwheat)
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 cup buttermilk
• a handful of fresh (or frozen) blueberries **I spread the berries on top after they go on the griddle to make sure the batter doesn't turn all funky purple**

So if you know me well, you know I like to save time.  Toss three large bananas in a bowl- grab your electric mixer and whack the heck out of them.  Add the eggs, oil and vanilla.  Beat it well.  

In a separate bowl, mix your dry ingredients.  Dump on top of banana mixture. Mix with electric mixer on low speed, and slowly pour in the buttermilk.  My mom always said that it was best for your pancake batter to be a bit lumpy- but these seem nice and tender and fluffy even though I use the mixer.

Heat up your griddle- 350 degrees seems to be the magic number.  Using 1/4 cup measure for small pancakes, 1/3 cup measure for larger, scoop batter out of bowl. From about 3” above griddle, pour batter in solid stream onto griddle. If it is a little thick you can add a bit more buttermilk.  Top each pancake with some blueberries. When bubbles appear, flip.

Serve with butter and syrup.  Makes approximately 10 pancakes, depending how big you like to make them.  If you use 5 eggs, and eat 2 pancakes every morning, you end up with one egg/day, cleverly disguised as pancakes.   Batter keeps in fridge for 3-4 days.