There is nothing in the world that excites me more than the
reduced section at Clapham South Tescos. Not a flash sale in the bric-a-brac
section of the Oxfam charity shop, not a free giveaway of crunchy peanut butter
outside the station or even the prospect of being fed peanut butter by a scantily-clad male model, from a
half-price vintage spoon on a beach somewhere in the Caribbean. Nope, a
gigantic bag of slightly soft broccoli or multiple packets of wrinkled lemon
thyme for 6p a pop is what does it for me.
So imagine my delight when this Friday night (I know, I
know, my life is just too glamorous to bear), I stumbled across the
yellow-stickered bounty of cut-price dreams in said reduced section. Bag upon
bag of slightly slimy, browning mushrooms, courgettes with slightly tarnished,
leather soft skins, spinach, kale, sprouting broccoli, strawberries,
raspberries- All in all, my bulging basket resembled not only the makings of a
very well fed bag lady, but the makings of a damn good soup.
But the jewel in the crown of my treasure chest? Without a
doubt the stash of brown skinned, black flecked bananas which, despite looking
more like leopard skinned slugs than vaguely edible, just screamed to be cooked
with. And for 7 whole pence for about 15 of these bruised beauties, it would be
rude not to.
And what do you do with a bunch of black bananas, a lazy
Sunday morning and nothing in the house for breakfast except the dregs of the
Rice Crispie box and a couple of eggs? As Jack Johnson so rightly crooned as he
filled our summers with carefree ukulele tinkling and dreams of a being shark
tooth choker wearing Hawaiian surfer; eatin’ banana pancakes is the only way to
go.
Delicately spiced with sweet cinnamon and studded with slices of the
fragrant, super ripe banana, these are a brunch lovers dream. Add a drizzle of salted maple peanut butter, crunchy, sweet
and with just enough bite from a sprinkle of rock salt crystals, a scattering
of crushed walnuts and a drizzle of rich maple syrup and you will be in
pancake-flipping heaven. Go on, those wrinkly bananas are looking at you...
Banana
& Cinnamon Pancakes with Salted Maple Peanut Butter
140g self raising flour
1 tsp baking powder
2 tbsp light brown soft sugar
3 ripe bananas, 2 mashed and one sliced
2 large egga, lightly beaten
25g butter, melted (plus a little extra for frying)
100ml milk
1 tsp cinnamon
A pinch of salt
For the salted maple peanut butter
100g crunchy peanut butter
50g maple syrup
A good sprinkle of rock salt
To serve
Crushed walnuts
Some extra sliced banana
A drizzle of maple.
To make the pancakes, combine the flour, sugar, baking
powder and salt in a large bowl. Add the beaten eggs, butter, milk and mashed
banana and stir well, until you have a smooth batter.
Heat a little butter in a large saucepan on a medium heat,
until frothing. Add ladlefuls of the pancake batter, waiting until small
bubbles appear on the surface before studding the uncooked side with slices of
banana. When nicely golden, flip and cook the other side.
To make the peanut butter drizzle, combine all the
ingredients in a small bowl.
When the pancakes are ready, serve with a drizzle of the
peanut butter, a scattering of the crushed walnuts and some banana slices, and
a drizzle of maple syrup. EAT.
