We just got back from a week long vacation in Florida. We went down for Jim's friends wedding and decided to extend the stay since we were already paying the airfare to get down there. We spent a couple of nights in Jacksonville, Orlando, and Vero Beach. We got lots of sun (a start to our summer tans), pool time, and got to walk the beaches. This was a great start to our Michigan summer where I hope we take more time to enjoy our yard and our beaches here. I would also like to find a friend with a pool for the pool time, but that might be stretching it a bit.
Moving on from the happy post vacation buzz I am happy to say that the blog has also reached its one month anniversary. YEAH! Thanks for all of those that have been reading and enjoying the posts. I would like to get more readers, so if you have friends or family that would be interested... please please feel free to share.
This week we will be doing a Bananas for Breakfast theme... starting with Banana Nut Pancakes which are based off the version you would get at IHOP.
One of the ingredients is banana extract, which honestly I had never heard of before. I looked for it in the spice aisle of our local grocery store and sure enough there it was... and trust me its is yummy in these pancakes.
McCormick Banana, Imitation Extract, 1-Ounce
Ingredients
1 1/4 cup all purpose flour
1 1/2 cup buttermilk*
1 egg
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 Tbsp sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 Tbsp banana extract
1/4 tsp salt
2/3 cup chopped pecans
1 banana
* If you do not have buttermilk on hand, which I never do. Then you can do this easy substitution. 1 Tbsp of lemon juice per 1 cup of milk, and let stand for 5-10 minutes.
Put all of the ingredients except for the pecans and banana in a large bowl and mix with an electric mixer. Mix until it is smooth.
Heat a large frying pan over medium heat, and coat with butter or non stick spray once it is hot.
Pour 1/4 cup of batter into the pan. The pancakes will grow to about 4 inches in diameter, if you are planning to do more than one pancake in the pan at a time. After you add batter, put in 1/2 Tbsp of pecans on top. This will allow them to be cooked into the pancakes.
Cook the pancakes about 1-2 minutes and then flip and cook for another 1-2 minutes or until golden brown.
Cut up the banana and put it on top of a stack of 3-4 pancakes and sprinkle on the remaining pecans.
Eat and Enjoy!
We had a lot of batter left over after we had made a stack for both Jim and I to enjoy.. so we put the remaining batter in the fridge. We used it about a week later, and it was still great.
This recipe came from the Top Secret Restaurant Recipes: Creating Kitchen Clones from America's Favorite Restaurant Chains
