Wake and Bake
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[Photograph: Carrie Vasios]

Pan frying bananas in butter then roasting them with sugar makes them into a rich sauce for chocolate pancakes.

Note: The amount of butter you need to cook the pancakes depends on the size of your skillet. I use about 1 tablespoon for an 9-inch pan. You can increase the size of the pancakes, just adjust cook time accordingly.

About This Recipe

Yield: makes 12 3-inch pancakes with sauce
Active time: 30 minutes
Total time: 40 minutes
Special equipment: skillet, baking dish, whisk

Ingredients

  • For Bananas:
  • 4 ripe, medium bananas sliced
  • 4 tablespoons butter
  • 4 tablespoons sugar
  •  
  • For Pancakes
  • 1 cup (about 5 ounces) all purpose flour
  • 1 tablespoon baking powder
  • 2 tablespoons sugar
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 2 1/2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1 egg, lightly beaten
  • 1 cup milk
  • Butter, for griddle

Procedures

  1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Heat 1 tablespoon butter in a skillet over medium high heat. Add one banana's worth of slices and fry until just golden. Transfer slices to a baking dish. Repeat with remaining bananas. Sprinkle fried bananas with 4 tablespoons sugar and bake until bubbling, 15 minutes. Clean skillet.

  2. Meanwhile, whisk together flour, baking powder, sugar, salt, and cocoa powder in a medium bowl. Add egg and milk and whisk until batter is well combined.

  3. When bananas are almost ready, heat 1 tablespoon butter on skillet until starting to foam. Add batter and cook pancakes until golden on bottom, about 3 minutes, flip with a spatula, and cook until just cooked through, about another 2 minutes more. Place pancakes on plates. Continue making pancakes with remaining batter. Top pancakes with roasted bananas and serve.