Peanut Butter Pancakes with Caramelized Bananas Recipe

I've never tried peanut butter pancakes before this, but ever since I saw pictures of them on Pinterest, I just had to try it. And OMG it is the bomb dot com. I'm still in a state of amazement as I'm writing this blog post and staring at the pictures I took. It's THAT good. I for one never really go jump-up-and-down crazy on pancakes. I love pancakes, but I never actually blurt out the word "YUM" whenever I eat them. Usually because I like to eat the simple way; with fruits and maple syrup. It's perfectly delicious like that, but if you're willing to go the extra mile to make something a bit fancier with your pancakes, believe me you will be mind-blown. I never really thought of putting peanut butter in my pancake batter, and boy was I missing out! It gives the fluffy pancakes a nice nutty flavour to them that is well matched with the sweet caramelized bananas. Then top it off with some decadent vanilla custard and you're in for a treat!

Okay, so this recipe has three parts: making the pancake, the caramelized bananas, and the custard. I know it sounds tedious and long, but to be honest the only slightly hard part is making the custard, and it's not even that hard. The other two is just a simple and easy process. To make the pancake batter, you'd have to mix the dry ingredients together in a bowl, and mix the wet ingredients in a separate bowl. When you mix in the peanut butter into the wet ingredient, it's gonna be hard to mix it well together. But don't worry! Once you mix together the dry and wet ingredients together the peanut butter will be well-incorporated into the batter. It's important at this point that you mix well everything together so that your pancakes will have a more uniform texture and flavour. Now, we're ready to cook the pancakes! I used a non-stick skillet and I grease it with some oil. You don't need a brush to grease the skillet, just a simple kitchen towel will do the job! Then scoop about one full ladle of the batter and cook it at medium high heat. Be sure to spread the batter into a circular shape of about 8 cm diameter, and don't make 'em too thick! The baking powder will help the batter rise and make the pancakes thick. Cook for about 1 minute on each side and voila! Your pancakes are ready. Be careful not to burn them as they cook very fast! You can always take a peak if they're cooked by using a spatula and lifting them to see if they're cooked.

Next, on to the caramelized bananas, NOM! This one's pretty simple too. You just have to cut a piece of banana laterally into small disks of about o.5 cm thickness. Then, pour about 2 tbsp of granulated sugar onto a plate and coat each banana disk with sugar. Once they're all coated, cook the banana disks on a non-stick, greased skillet at medium high heat. It takes about 3-5 minutes for each side to be browned and caramelized but they do burn fast, so keep an eye on them! Once they are ready, transfer them onto a greased plate because they are a little bit sticky.

Now, for the custard! It's actually pretty easy to make, you just have to be careful not to cook the eggs too much. I did that once and the result was sweet scrambled eggs! Haha it was funny but let's make sure we end up with custard! So to start, combine together milk, cornstarch, and sugar in a saucepan and cook at medium heat. Stir occasionally using a whisk so that the cornstarch does not lump and stick together. Once you can see bubbles around the edges, remove from heat. Lightly whisk the eggs on a separate mixing bowl, and add the milk mixture into the eggs. VERY IMPORTANT! You have to add the milk mixture gradually in a slow stream while also whisking the eggs constantly in order to not cook the eggs. Once the milk mixture is transferred, put the whole mixture back to the saucepan and cook over medium heat until it thickens. You also want to whisk it constantly so that the eggs don't curl up and become scrambled eggs. Once it reaches a nice, thick, consistency, add in the vanilla and you're good to go!

Now that all the toppings are ready, all you have to do is put them together on the pancakes! If you want to go the extra mile for presentation, you can drizzle some melted dark chocolate on top and impress your friends and as usual, happy eating!

INGREDIENTS

Peanut Butter Pancakes

Dry ingredients

• 1/2 cup of all-purpose flour
• 1 tbsp of baking powder
• 1 1/2 tbsp of granulated sugar

Wet ingredients

• 1/2 cup of milk
• 1 heaping tbsp of smooth peanut butter
• 1 egg
• 1/2 tbsp of canola oil
• 1/2 tsp of vanilla extract

Caramelized Bananas

• 1 banana
• 2 tbsp of granulated sugar
• Canola oil

Vanilla Custard

• 1 cup of milk
• 1 tbsp of cornstarch
• 1 1/2 tbsp of granulated sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/2 tsp of vanilla

 

DIRECTIONS

Peanut Butter Pancakes

1. Combien all the dry ingredients in a bowl. In a separate bowl, combien the wet ingredients together. Add the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix well.
2. Take a ladleful of the pancake batter and cook at medium high on a non-stick greased skillet. Cook for about 1 minute on each side or until they are golden brown.

Caramelized bananas

1. Cut bananas laterally into circular-shaped disks with 0.5 cm of thickness.
2. Spread 2 tbsp of sugar on a plate and cover each banana disk with sugar.
3. Cook banana disks on a non-stick greased skillet at medium high heat for about 3-5 minutes on each side. Transfer to a greased plate because they tend to get sticky.

Vanilla Custard

1. In a saucepan, combine the flour, cornstarch and sugar. Cook over medium heat, whisking occasionally, until bubbles appear around the edges. Remove from heat.
2. In a separate bowl, lightly whisk the eggs. Add the milk mixture into the eggs in a slow stream and while constantly whisking the eggs. This is important in order to not cook the eggs.
3. Once the milk mixture is combined with the eggs, put the whole mixture back into the saucepan and cook over medium heat while constantly whisking until it reaches thicker consistency. Add in the vanilla and mix well.