Banana Chocolate Chip Blender Pancakes

Every Friday we have pancakes for breakfast and this is the recipe we always use. I inherited about 20 #10 cans of whole wheat a couple of years back and I figure, use it if you've got it. We prefer the white whole wheat kernels and substituting the apple sauce for the oil makes them surprisingly fluffy. So crank up your Jack Johnson (I always think of his Banana Pancake song when I'm making these) and pretend like it's the weekend. (See what I just did there?)

Recipe from my wonderful Mother-in-Law
Makes 12-16 pancakes

1 cup whole wheat kernels
1½ cups milk, divided
½ cup oil (or applesauce)
½ teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon baking powder
2 eggs
2 ripe bananas, peeled and lightly mashed

Add the whole wheat and 1 cup of milk to your blender. Blend on high for 3 minutes. Add the rest of the milk and blend again, on high, for 2 more minutes.

Next, throw in the oil, salt, baking powder, and eggs. Blend until JUST combined. Add the banana and mix briefly! You still want chunks of banana in the batter. Just mix briefly. Briefly. BRIEFLY. so that everything is evenly distributed.

If you have an electric griddle, set it to 350. With a pan on the stove, keep it at medium/medium-low. You don't want the outside to burn before the inside is cooked. Pour the batter onto your griddle/pan and then sprinkle several chocolate chips on top. Wait until the pancake is covered with little bubbles and then flip. Cook for another 1-2 minutes and then devour.

Coconut Granola

This has become a morning staple at our house. It is SO good and so versatile - you can sprinkle it on top of your favorite yogurt, add it to these pancakes, or just eat a bowl of it topped with your favorite fruit (dried or fresh) and milk (cow's, almond, soy). But where this really shines is at about 8:30 at night when you are really hankering for something sweet. A small bowl of this topped with vanilla almond milk...it's the stuff my dreams are made of. 

I like that you can twist this recipe to fit your tastes. Try different combinations of nuts or replace the canola oil with coconut oil. Maybe add a little cinnamon and nutmeg? Whatever you think will taste good or whatever you have in your cupboards.

Recipe from my dear friend, Becca

Makes 12 cups of granola

6 cups rolled oats (I just use Old Fashioned Oats)

4 cups of nuts, chopped (I like a combination of almond, cashews and sunflower seeds)

1 1/2 cups shredded coconut

3/4 cup dark brown sugar

3/4 cup pure maple syrup

1/2 cup canola oil or coconut oil

1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt

Preheat your oven to 250 degrees and line 2 full-size baking sheets with parchment paper. If you don't have full-size sheets, I would recommend halving the recipe and using two half-size sheets instead. 

In a very large mixing bowl, combine the oats, nuts, and coconut, and mix thoroughly.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the sugar, maple syrup, oil and salt. Pour over the oat mixture and mix with a big wooden spoon until everything is evenly coated with the wet ingredients. 

Spread evenly onto prepared cookie sheets - the granola should not be thicker than 1/2 of an inch or it won't crisp in the oven. 

Bake for 45-60 minutes, or until the granola starts to turn golden brown. Remove from oven and cool completely on the the baking sheets before breaking it up and storing in an airtight container or zip-top bag. 

Enjoy! Let me know what you think when you've made it and what combination of nuts/oil you used!

Banana Crumb Muffins

Double the recipe and freeze the extras for a delicious and easy breakfast. Just pop one in the microwave and heat for 20 seconds. Also you should add chocolate chips, you know, for your health and all. 

Makes 1 dozen muffins

1 1/2 cups AP flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 ripe bananas, mashed
3/4 cup white sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/3 cup butter, melted

Crunch Topping
2 tablespoon AP flour
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon butter at room temperature

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Lightly coat your muffin tin with cooking spray and set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Whisk and set aside.

In another bowl, beat together the bananas, granulated sugar, egg and melted butter. Stir the banana mixture into the flour mixture until JUST combined. Add 1/2 cup of chocolate chips if you so desire. Mix to incorporate.

Measure batter into prepared muffin cups (a heaping 1/4 cup of batter in each well).

In a small bowl, mix together the brown sugar, 2 tablespoons flour, and butter until mixture resembles coarse cornmeal. Sprinkle over muffins.

Bake for 16-20 minutes, rotating the pan after 8 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into center of a muffin comes out clean.

Rasberry Coconut Granola Pancakes

This recipe calls for coconut granola and I have a great recipe for that which I will be posting soon. Until then, just use whatever you've got. Plain, coconut. I would discourage cinnamon raisin...but whatever sounds good to you - GO FOR IT. 

Recipe from Two Peas and their Pod

Serves 6 

2 cups AP flour
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups buttermilk
2 large eggs
1/4 cup coconut oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup flaked coconut
1 cup coconut granola
1 cup raspberries (plus more for serving)

In a large mixing bowl whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside. In a small bowl whisk together the buttermilk, eggs, coconut oil, and vanilla extract. Add liquid ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir until JUST combined. DO NOT OVER MIX (for reals. don't do it.) Gently fold in the coconut, granola, and raspberries.

Heat your griddle or skillet to medium heat. Give it a little coating of cooking spray and drop about 1/3 cup of batter onto the preheated skillet. Cook until surface of pancakes are covered in bubbles and are beginning to burst, about 2 minutes. Flip carefully with a spatula and cook until browned on the underside, about 2 more minutes.

Slather with butter and warm maple syrup. Top with some delicious raspberries and scarf.

strawberry banana muffins

Get the strawberries roasting in the oven right away. 30 minutes into roasting, work on the bananas and then when there's about 15 minutes left on the timer, begin assembly of the muffin batter. The bananas can either be frozen or fresh but they must be very ripe. 

Inspired by America's Test Kitchen and Zoe Bakes but invented by yours truly. 
Makes 1 dozen muffins in a standard muffin tin

3/4 pound strawberries, roasted
1 1/4 cup sugar plus 2 tablespoons
3 overly ripe bananas
2 1/2 cups flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon table salt
2 large eggs
4 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled
4 tablespoons canola oil
1 cup buttermilk
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Sugar in the raw

Preheat oven to 300 degrees and cover a baking sheet with parchment paper or silicone baking mat. Rinse, dry and half the strawberries. Toss the berries with 1/4 cup sugar and place in a single layer on the baking sheet. Roast for 1 hour. Remove from oven and the increase oven temperature to 425 degrees.

Take your bananas. You can use either very ripe bananas you have in your fruit bowl or I pulled out the  very ripe bananas I keep in my freezer for banana bread emergencies. If you freeze your bananas in their skins just microwave them for 45 seconds until you can separate the fruit from the skin. Place the peeled bananas in a microwave safe bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and poke some vent holes in the top with a fork. Microwave the bananas for 4 minutes. Pour the contents of the bowl (careful it's hot!) into a  fine mesh strainer over another bowl and let it drain. Take the collected juice and put it into a small saucepan. Over medium heat, reduce the banana juice by half until it is nice and syrupy. This will concentrate the flavor. Trust me. Set the banana syrup and banana solids aside for use later.

Whisk the flour, baking powder and salt together in a large bowl.  Set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs and remaining 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons of sugar until well combined. Incorporate the buttermilk, vanilla and banana solids and syrup. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir until JUST combined. The mixture should be very lumpy and there should be several dry flour spots; that is the way of the muffin...so says Chris Kimball.

Take your strawberries and mash them up - use either a potato masher or an immersion blender. Make sure they're chunky. Pour your strawberries into the batter and fold in with a spatula. Only do 4-5 folds total. You want to strawberry incorporated but you don't want to lose the delicious swirls either.

Spray a standard muffin tin with cooking spray. Using your 1/3 measuring cup, scoop up a generous amount of batter and place into a muffin well. Repeat. The batter should come to the top of the well.

Take some raw sugar and sprinkle on the top of each muffin. Bake at 425 degrees until the tops are golden and just firm, about 18 minutes. Rotate the pan half way through baking time. Cool muffins in the tin for 5 minutes them remove to a cooling rack and let rest 5 more minutes before serving.

buttermilk bran muffins

I think everyone has a recipe for these muffins, the ones you can supposedly leave in the refrigerator for 6 weeks. 6 weeks??? That gives me the willies especially when my buttermilk is set to expire in two days. Makes no sense to me. That being said, I've never tested it because the batter is gone in a matter of days. I love this recipe because I make it on Monday and we have breakfast the rest of the week. I serve it with fruit and it's delicious.

I don't even know who to give the recipe credit to. Oh well. 

Makes about 2-3 dozen

2 cups All Bran cereal

1 cup Raisin Bran

1 cup boiling water

2 1/2 cups flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1/2 cup raisins

1/2 cup canola oil

2 eggs, beaten

2 cups buttermilk

1 cup sugar

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Prepare your muffin tin by coating it lightly with cooking spray.

In a bowl whisk together flour, raisins, salt and baking soda. Set aside. 

Combine cereals and water in a separate large bowl. Let stand for 3 minutes. After the 3 minutes, stir to ensure that the cereal is soft. Add the sugar and wet ingredients. Mix. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir until JUST combined. Over-mixing will make the muffins tough. 

Use a large cookie scoop to fill the muffin tins (about 1/4 cup of batter). Bake at 400 for 12-15 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffins comes out clean. 

Immediately flip muffins onto a cooling rack. Enjoy!

You can either bake a few every morning, depending on what you need or you can bake 1 dozen at a time and that should last you for a few days. I prefer to do that latter - less work for me - just microwave them for a few seconds to warm them before serving. 

* You can substitute applesauce for the oil but I feel like it messes with the texture of the muffins. I'm not really a huge fan of applesauce substitution. If you are hell bent on it might I suggest trying half oil and half applesauce.