Peanut Butter Banana Chocolate Chip Pancakes

I recently talked about regional differences in traditional breakfast foods. With our first little one here now, we seem to be starting some breakfast traditions of our own. Once each weekend, we get up and cook a delicious breakfast together, be it biscuits and gravy, eggs with toast and hash browns, bagel sandwiches, or my favorite - pancakes! It's a nice change from a bowl of cereal or cream cheese laden bagel, and fun to prepare a meal together.



We typically use my favorite pancake recipe with apples and (sometimes) cranberries, but last week I got inspired to make peanut butter banana pancakes. I'm not sure where the urge came from, but my husband sometimes slathers peanut butter in between his pancakes, so I knew he would be on board! At the last minute, chocolate chips sounded like a perfect addition, so I tossed a few into the batter.

I am so happy with how these pancakes turned out. There is a great balance of the three main components, which complement each other well in every bite!

Peanut Butter Banana Chocolate Chip Pancakes

Source: Adapted from my favorite pancake recipe
Yield: Serves 4 (2 pancakes each)
Preparation time: 10 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 25 minutes

 

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
• 3/4 cup oat bran
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 egg
• 1 cup milk
• 1 tablespoon oil
• 1/2 cup natural peanut butter
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1 banana
• 1/3 cup bittersweet chocolate chips

Instructions

1. Add the peanut butter and honey to a heat-safe bowl. Microwave in 20 second intervals on low power until mixture is softened and warm. Mash half of the banana, and slice the remaning half into 1/4 inch thick rounds, then cut the rounds into quarters. Stir the mashed banana into the peanut butter mixture.
2. Stir together oat bran through cinnamon in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, combine milk, egg, and oil; stir to mix.
3. Add milk mixture to flour mixture, stir just until mixed. Fold in peanut butter mixture, chopped banana, and chocolate chips.
4. Heat griddle or pan, then spray with cooking spray. Drop 1/3 cup of batter onto griddle, repeat with remaining batter. Heat until bubbles form at the surface and bottom is lightly browned, then flip and cook through.