Banana Oatmeal Pancakes

Does anyone else have that problem when it comes to uber-ripe bananas?  I mean, sure, the classic use for those soft fruits is banana bread.  I like banana bread.  It's good.  It's fine.

It's boring.

So as easy as it is to use up my extra, ripe bananas in some bread, I'm always on the lookout for newer, different recipes.

Recipes like this one!

Banana Oatmeal Pancakes
Recipe from my mom
Prep time: 10 minutes   Cook time: 5ish minutes per pancake

1 medium ripe banana, mashed

1 tablespoon brown sugar

1 cup quick oatmeal

1 cup whole wheat flour

2 tablespoons ground flax seed*

2 teaspoons baking powder

2 tablespoons melted butter

2 eggs

2 cups milk

*If you don't have flax seed you can leave it out but cut down on the amount of milk. You could also substitute some finely chopped walnuts for the flax seed but you would still need to cut the milk - about 1/4 cup.

1.  Combine all ingredients in a large bowl. Whisk briskly until batter is smooth. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

2.  Drop by 1/4 cup measure onto hot griddle. Let cook until golden brown around edges and bubbles form in middle of pancake. Flip and let cook 1-2 minutes more. Makes 12 pancakes.

I. Love. These. Pancakes!!!  They are so tasty, and so easy, and just so good for you it makes me do a happy dance when I notice I have bananas getting a little too brown.  Not only do I love the taste of these golden disks of happiness, I love how much easier they make breakfast, snack time, or dinner.  Mix up a batch Sunday evening and you're set for breakfast for a week (yes, the batter keeps that long in the fridge)!  Use a couple tablespoons of batter to make silver dollar-sized cakes for a quick and simple snack at a play date.  Or make up the batter in the morning before work, and come home to the always popular Breakfast-for-Dinner meal ready and waiting for you!

And, if you've got a pancake pen, your life just got even easier.  Store the batter in this little gem and suddenly you're able to make pancakes in one hand while comforting a whiny but curious 2-year-old who just wants his Mama and to see what she's doing on top of that big, black stove.

Brownie Banana Split Pizza

I'm trying to force myself to work on some other blog posts to put up here for you, and I keep coming back to this one.  I keep daydreaming about this one.  I want to keep eating this one.

So, why fight it?  I think you should share in my current dessert obsession. ;)

Brownie Banana Split Pizza
Recipe adapted from Bobby Deen
Prep time: 20 minutes   Cook time: 20-25 minutes

1/2 cup melted canola oil
1 1/4 cups flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2/3 cup honey
1/2 cup applesauce
3 tbsp chocolate syrup
4 oz whipped cream cheese
1 tbsp sugar
One 8-ounce can crushed pineapple, drained
2-3 fresh strawberries, thinly sliced
1 banana, thinly sliced and tossed in lemon juice to prevent browning
1/4 cup chopped walnuts

1.  For the brownies: Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Grease a 9-inch cake pan with cooking spray; set aside.

I love where this is going.

2.  Whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl. Add the oil, honey, and applesauce directly into the dry ingredients. Stir until the batter is smooth.

Who wants to lick the bowl??

3.  Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake on the center rack until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 20-25 minutes.  Cool completely before assembling the pizza.

Keep checking the middle for done-ness! You don't want it collapsing on you.

4.  For the pizza: Remove the brownie from the cake pan and place in the middle of a cake plate.  Drizzle with chocolate sauce.

*drooooooooooooooooooooooooooool*

5.  Beat the cream cheese, sugar and pineapple together in a bowl with a spatula. Spread the mixture over the cooled brownie crust.

I could eat just this for breakfast.

Creamy. Fluffy. Lovely.

6.  Arrange the strawberry and banana slices over the cream cheese mixture. Sprinkle with the chopped walnuts. Freeze for at least 30 minutes. Slice into wedges for serving.

WARNING! Do not attempt to eat your computer screen!
This is only a picture.

Now, I was a little nervous about this recipe because of the brownie.  Obviously it's a cake-like brownie and there's not a whole lot of sweetness to it.  And it was a little dry.  But as I pulled the whole thing together, it began to make sense.  This not-so-sweet brownie is meant to complement it's sweet and fruiting toppings, not out-do them.  Between the refreshing bananas and strawberries, crunchy walnuts (my fav!!), bright and creamy cream cheese layer, and the chocolate-y base....omg can you see why my brain is still dwelling on this beauty?!

Oatmeal Cookie Pancakes

Those damn mini fruit pizzas are finally out of my house.  AND we're down to only two cupcakes left from Kieran's party.  WOO HOO!!! So what do I go and do today while my boys watch a cartoon?  I bake cookies.  Because I need more sweets in this house?!?!  Oy...

Anyway, speaking of cookies, I realize that I forgot to tell you about the pancakes I made last week.  Cookies as pancakes.  That means we can have cookies for breakfast.  Or dinner. Or lunch.  Or anytime we want!

Gloriousness :)

Oatmeal Cookie Pancakes
Recipe slightly adapted from Rachael Ray

1 cup old fashioned oats
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 cup, chopped walnuts
3/4 cup plain yogurt
3/4 cup milk
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 really ripe bananas, mashed up
3/4 cup raisins
1/2 stick butter melted

1.  Mix dry ingredients, the first 7, in a bowl.

The cinnamon totally makes these.

2.  In a another bowl, mix the wet ingredients, the next 4. Whisk the wet ingredients into the dry until just combined, then fold in the mashed up bananas and the raisins. Stir in the melted butter.

Another great way to use up ripe bananas!

3.  Heat a non-stick griddle over medium heat. Cook pancakes, each about 1/4 cup, until bubbles form on the top, then turn. (WARNING: these do not set up firmly as they cook, which makes flipping a trick.  Use a thin flipper/turner/spatula/whateveryoucallthosethings and slide it under the cake quickly.)  Cakes will cook in about 2 minutes on each side. Keep pancakes tented with foil as they come off the griddle to keep them hot. Serve with drizzled honey or maple syrup over the top.

See? Even I had some issues in flipping a couple of these.

Now, some of you out there may be wondering why, out of all the fantastic cookies out there, I chose to keep this recipe as oatmeal cookie pancakes instead of making it chocolate chip. Or peanut butter. Or snickerdoodle.  Why the oft-maligned oatmeal cookie?  Well, because they're my favorite.

No really!  It's true!!  Much as I love chocolate, I actually can fairly easily resist most other cookies.  When offered a soft oatmeal raisin cookie (because it HAS to have raisins in it), I pretty much turn into this puddle of goo.  I cannot resist a good oatmeal raisin cookie.

Bonus with these though... despite having the flavor of an oatmeal raisin cookie, these are quite good for you.  The oats, yogurt, raisins, and bananas all help me to feel much better about drowning my stack of pancakes in butter and syrup. ;)  Oh and they're also REALLY YUMMY with a healthy schmear of peanut butter and folded over, just in case you need to eat on the run. 

Banana Bread

Am I right in thinking that pretty much every household has their own banana bread recipe?  Perhaps it's a Traditional Family Recipe... one that's been passed down generation to generation, and Godhavemercyonyou if you even dare think of tweaking it.  Or maybe it's one you just stumbled across one day.

I had one, not a family recipe, but one I've been making several years.  It was fine, my family ate it joyfully, but there wasn't anything about it that got me super excited.  And then I saw this in my new birthday cookbook (Thanks Mom!!!!!)... I think I have a new banana bread recipe!!

Banana Bread
Recipe from Ellie Krieger

1/3 cup chopped walnuts or pecans
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup canola oil
1/4 cup plain yogurt
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 large, ripe bananas, peeled and mashed (about 1 1/2 cups)

1.  Preheat oven to 350.  Spray a 9x5-inch loaf pan with cooking spray.  Spread the nuts out on a baking sheet and toast in the oven until fragrant, about 8 minutes.  Set aside to cool.

I love walnuts!!

2.  In a large bowl, whisk together the flours, sugars, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.

The usual baking suspects

3.  In a medium bowl, whisk together the oil, yogurt, eggs, and vanilla.  Whisk in the bananas.  Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, just until combined.  Stir in the toasted nuts.

Looks a little curdled after adding the bananas.  That's ok.

4.  Pour the batter into the prepared pan.  Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 50-55 minutes.  Allow to cool in the pan for 15 minutes, then transfer the bread to a wire rack to cool completely before slicing.

Mmm... I kinda want to dip graham crackers into this.

One of my favorite ways to eat banana bread is with a healthy smear of peanut butter on it.  Yeah, it's kind of a nod to Elvis.  I keep thinking about taking it one step further and sprinkling on some chocolate chunks, adding another piece of bread to make a sandwich, and dipping it french toast batter for uber-ific stuffed french toast.  I've had pointed out to me that Nutella would also make for an unbelievably decadent filling.  If you happen to beat me to this crazy breakfast, would you please let me know if it's as awesome as I think it would be?  Thanks!

Oh!  And if you notice you have bananas heading toward Crazy Ripeness Land but no time to do any baking, no worries.  Go ahead and mash them up, put in a quart-sized freezer bag and freeze until you do have the time.  I do this so much, I couldn't tell you the last time I made banana bread using freshly mashed bananas.

Vegan Mango Banana Bread

We pretty much have to have bananas in our house at all times.  It's a fruit, so guaranteed that Gavin wants it.  It's good for you so I should have them around for just that reason.  And they come in their own natural packaging, which makes them travel-able.  Gotta love something you can just grab & go, right?  Right.

The problem with bananas though is the Ripe Factor.  Once the spots appear, I swear by the next day they're almost completely brown.  And once they're brown, forget it...no one touches them.  Now, any good little baker knows that brown bananas are absolute perfection for banana bread.  But sometimes, I get tired of just banana bread.  Sure I can mix things up a little and make banana walnut bread (woo) but...meh.  Yeah, bored.

This is so not boring.

Vegan Mango Banana Bread
Recipe from Joy the Baker

3 medium or 2 large ripe bananas

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup brown sugar

2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 ripe mango, sliced into chunks

1.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease and flour a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan.

2.  In a large mixing bowl, mash the bananas well. Add the sugar, oil, and vanilla extract, and whisk briskly to incorporate.

I love the color contrast of the white flour and warm spices

3.  Sift in the flour, baking soda, spices, and salt. Use a wooden spoon to mix until the wet and dry ingredients are just combined.  Fold in mango chunks.

MANGO!

4.  Transfer the batter to the prepared pan.  Bake for 45 to 50 minutes. The top should be lightly browned and a knife inserted through the center should come out clean, or with just a few crumbs.

I feel like these happy yellow tidbits should be smiling at me

5.  Remove from the oven and let cool for 20 minutes before transferring out of a pan and onto a wire rack to cool completely.  Banana bread will last, wrapped at room temperature, for up to 5 days

Sooooo, I would have a picture of the baked bread...I should.  I really should have snapped a shot of it.  But....... we ate it too fast.  Sorry!  Yeah, so you're just going to have to bake some to know just how cute and DELICIOUS this bread is. 

Banana Breakfast Shake

So I had this recipe all picked out to share with you today...it's one of my favorites with some neat tidy pictures in it.  Totally the norm.

And then I made something new for breakfast.  Something I just totally HAD to share with you RIGHT NOW because it was so yummy.

Of course no pictures for this one but you can use your imagination right?

Banana Breakfast Shake
Recipe adapted from Food Network Magazine

2 bananas
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup yogurt
2 tsp honey
Pinch cinnamon
1 cup ice

1.  Put everything in blender and puree.

2.  Pour shake into your preferred to-go cup and run out the door.  Smiling because you totally just made breakfast in under 3 minutes.

Some notes/tips:

• If you like an extra thick shake, use frozen bananas.  Just be careful that you'll need to wait a few minutes to let the bananas and ice chips thaw a smidge before you can start drinking this.  I suppose if you're starving you could try scooping this with a spoon but I don't recommend doing that while operating heavy machinery.
• Did you notice I didn't tell you what flavor or what kind of yogurt to use?  Yeah, that was deliberate. Use what you like!  I used plain this morning because that's what I have and that's what I like.  Use vanilla, strawberry, banana, pineapple, Greek yogurt with honey....whatever floats your boat and makes you feel all creative and happy!
• I love cinnamon.  So my idea of a pinch is probably somewhere between 1/8 to 1/4 tsp.  I was generous this morning and got this lovely cinnamon-y background flavor that wasn't too overwhelming at all.  If you like cinnamon, be generous with your pinch.

Nutella Swirled Banana Bread

I love that I am surrounded by people who love food as much as I do.  It just makes me happy!  We all get a kick out of making food, talking about food, EATING food, and sharing it with others.

One of my coworkers shared this one with me last week.  And let me just say that the name alone had me checking my dwindling supply of Nutella to make sure I had just enough to make this bread.  This is the kind of bread that can be consumed rain or shine, happy or sad.... or if you've just returned from a particularly stressful road trip that included yourself in the same car with Those Relatives.  You know the kind I mean.

Nutella Swirled Banana Bread
Recipe adapted from Lovin' From the Oven

2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups mashed ripe banana
1/3 cup plain low fat yogurt
1 tsp. vanilla extract
3/4 cup Nutella

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease an 8x4 inch loaf pan (yes, you want to make sure your pan is fairly wide and shallow; a taller bread pan may result in the edges being done but the center still a gooey, raw mess.  Trust me on this one).

2.  Whisk together flour, baking soda & salt. Set aside.

Yes, you can use applesauce to replace some or all of a fat in baking

3.  In another mixing bowl, beat together the sugar and applesauce. Add the eggs and mix well. Add banana, yogurt and vanilla; beat until blended. Next, blend in the flour mixture until just incorporated.

I love that this recipe also uses yogurt!

4.  Microwave the Nutella for about 15 seconds until soft. Add 1 cup of the banana bread batter to the Nutella and stir together.

I really could just get a spoon...

5.  Take turns spooning the nutella batter and the plain banana batter into the loaf pan. Swirl the batters with a knife.

Pretty!

6.  Bake the batter for 60 minutes, or until toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Chocolate Banana Breakfast Shake

If memory serves correctly, the first time I ever had a chocolate-dipped frozen banana we were still living in Southern California.  It may have even been at Disneyland, so I would have been about 6 years old.  It didn't take long for me to realize why my mom loves them so much.  Something frothy and magical happens when a banana is frozen.  Then dip that in heavenly chocolate?  Oh my.....  Yeah, that's what this drink is like.

Milk: it does a body good.  Pass it on!

I have no problem making adjustments to recipes to suit my tastes.  However with this one I altered the name instead of the ingredients.  I could not detect much of a coffee flavor; the balance of chocolate and bananas was much more prominent.  Plus the original recipe calls this a smoothie and you've already learned about my issues with dairy in "smoothies."  So I tend to think Chocolate-Banana Breakfast Shake is a more descriptive name for this one. 

Chocolate-Banana Breakfast Shake
Recipe from So Easy (if you're looking for this recipe in the cookbook, it's Mocha Java Smoothie)


2 tsp cocoa powder
1 tbsp sugar
2 shots hot espresso OR 2 rounded tsp espresso powder dissolved in 1/4 cup hot water
2 bananas, cut into chunks and frozen
2 cups milk
1 cup ice

1.  In a small bowl, mix together the cocoa powder, sugar, and espresso until the sugar and cocoa are dissolved.

Frothy deliciousness!

2. Pour espresso mixture, milk, bananas and ice into blender and blend until smooth and heavenly.

You want to drink this right now, don't you?

As easy as this is are you still to pressed for time to make this the morning?  No biggie.  Mix up the espresso mixture the night before.  Pour that and the milk in the blender pitcher and store in the fridge.  When you're ready to go, toss in the bananas and ice and blend away!

Peanut Butter Banana Bread

Have you ever taken a piece of banana bread and smeared peanut butter all over it?  I did not discover what an amazingly wonderful treat this was until about a year ago.  I know, I know... Elvis thought of this brilliant concoction decades before I was born.  What can I say?  I'm a bit behind.  Forgive me?  Anyway, I really like the contrast of the sweet bananas with salty peanuts.  So imagine how giddy I was when I came across a recipe that combined both for me into one ready-to-eat loaf of deliciousness!

Yup, bananas get brown when you freeze them. Still taste the same though!

Peanut Butter Banana Bread
Recipe adapted from Joy the Baker, who got it from CookingLight


1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup ground flaxseed meal [confession: I didn't have any so I just left it out.]
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground allspice
1 1/2 cups mashed ripe bananas
1/3 cup plain or vanilla fat free yogurt
1/3 cup creamy peanut butter
3 tablespoons butter, melted
2 large eggs
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar

1.  Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour a 9×5-inch loaf pan. Set aside. 

2.  In a large bowl, whisk together flours, flaxseed meal, baking soda, salt, ground cinnamon and ground allspice. 

3.  In a medium bowl, whisk together mashed bananas, yogurt, peanut butter and melted butter. Whisk in eggs and sugars. Blend mixture until no sugar lumps remain. 

4.  Pour the wet mixture into the larger bowl with the dry ingredients. Fold together with a spatula until no more flour bits remain. Pour the batter into the prepared baking pan and bake for 55 to 65 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean. 

FYI, the batter smells really peanut buttery and really good

5.  Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the pan for 20 minutes before running a butter knife along the edges of the pan and inverting the bread onto a wire rack to cool completely. 

6.  This bread lasts, well wrapped at room temperature, for up to 4 days. It is also great to store, well wrapped, in the freezer.  (Ooooo!!!!  I sense a "Get Ahead" opportunity here!)


Tip: Don't think you have to wait for bananas to turn black in order to make banana bread.  Thanks to my Fruit Monster son, we always have bananas in the house.  He likes to eat them perfectly ripe with little to no brown spots on them.  Any bananas that end up ripening past anyone's enjoyment, I smash up, put into quart-size freezer bags, and toss in the freezer.  I think have about 6 bags in there just waiting for me to get the urge to bake.  

Peanut Butter Banana Wraps

I don't know about you but I am in a hurry most mornings.  I don't ever have time to actually eat breakfast at home; I'm usually eating in the car or as soon as I make it to the office (if I can hold out that long).  And when it comes to breakfast, I really like to have some protein so I can make it as close to lunchtime as possible without snacking.  So my breakfasts typically consist of some kind of oatmeal concoction, hard-boiled eggs, yogurt with granola, etc.

I found this wrap recipe though and thought "what a perfect breakfast (or snack) to eat on the go!"  And it's also great to make a couple of these at a time, toss one in the fridge for another day that's even more hectic than usual.

Peanut Butter Banana Wraps
Recipe adapted from So Easy

2 tortillas
4 tbsp peanut butter
1 large banana, sliced
10 dried figs, sliced
Cinnamon

1. Lay the tortillas on the counter and spread a couple tablespoons of peanut butter on each.  Top with half a banana and five figs per tortilla.  Sprinkle with a little cinnamon.

2. Carefully roll up each tortilla and wrap in plastic wrap.

Feel free to use whatever dried or fresh fruit you like.  I happen to have a thing for dried figs (I feel like I'm eating Fig Newtons...YUM!) but if you like cranberries, raisins, apricots, pineapple, whatever, go ahead and use those instead.  Not a fan of bananas?  No problem!  Try a different fresh fruit instead.  That's what I like about these kinds of recipes.  They're really not so much recipes as concepts: understand the concept and the flavor combination sky is the limit.  So try it out and let me know what you think. :)