If there’s one thing that gets me out of bed in the morning, it’s the smell of a fresh batch of pancakes, or a craving for a batch – since I’m usually the one making them.  When the winter blues set in and the prospect of a productive day ahead seems dim, what better way to pull yourself out of bed?  After all, it’s high on the list of priorities in Diane Muldrow’s Everything I Need to Know I Learned From a Little Golden Book.  Below I’ve provided my from-scratch pancake recipe with my favorite variation – banana chocolate chip!

Ingredients

1 1/2 Cups All-Purpose flour

2 Tablespoons sugar

1 Tablespoon baking powder

A pinch of salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 1/4 Cups milk (whatever you’ve got)

1 egg

4 Tablespoons melted buter

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Lots of chocolate chips (I prefer the creaminess of milk chocolate for these)

1 ripe, or slightly overripe, banana

Directions

In a large bowl, sift together 1 1/2 Cups All-Purpose flour, 2 Tablespoons sugar, 1 Tablespoon baking powder, a pinch of salt, and 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon.  Mix so that ingredients are well combined.

In a separate bowl, combine 1 1/4 Cups milk, 1 egg, 4 Tablespoons melted butter, and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract.  Whisk until evenly mixed.

Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients, stirring with a FORK to prevent over-mixing.  You want your mix to be a little chunky – this will keep your pancakes fluffy.  Drop the banana right into the mixture and mash up with fork, stirring to combine.

Heat skilled over medium heat,  and add a small pat of butter to grease pan.  Throughout your cooking process, use my trick for testing pan heat: stick your fingers under the running faucet and flick a few drops of water onto your skillet.  If the water steams up quickly, the pan is too hot.  If the water droplets sit and keep their shape, the pan is too cool.  You want the water to “dance” or “roll,” as my Dad says.

When your pan is ready, use a large spoon to scoop some of the batter into the pan.  This is the time you add your chocolate chips, and quickly!  Grab a handful and scatter them about the pancake.  If you must, use your fingers to poke the chocolate chips down into the batter so that they don’t burn when you flip the pancake.  This helps keep an even chocolate chip dispersal throughout your pancakes.  When bubbles start to appear at the top of the pancake, get ready to flip.  Wait until the pancake has a few bubbles in it, then flip onto the other side.  Your pancake will be fairly well-cooked at this point, so you won’t need to leave it as long on this side.  Use the edges of the pancake to determine if your pancakes are done.  If they are golden brown and no longer runny, your pancake is done.

Serve with a heap of whipped cream, maple syrup, or enjoy them as-is!