RECIPE: Healthy peanut butter banana pancakes

a sizeable plateful

No, honestly, these really are healthy. Healthy-ish anyway. Almond milk keeps the calories down, they're full of bananas, wholemeal flour makes them a complex carb (and everyone knows they're good for you, just ask Gwyneth), cinnamon increases your metabolism, peanut butter is generally considered a 'good' fat, and they contain relatively little sugar. So there.

simple golden syrup = a winner

Right, health claims over, let's talk about just how darn delicious these pancakes are. Peanut butter and banana is one of my all time fave flavour combos (I probably should've been American), and they work perfectly in these pancakes. The flavour isn't actually too strong, which is nice as then you can still complement the pancakes with toppings. Yay!

With their thickness and fluffy texture, these pancakes reminded me of an amazing stack I had in an old-school diner on the Upper East Side just opposite Central Park in NYC last summer... Ahh, that was an epic brunch. Americans sure know how to do good pancakes, but I think mine give them a run for their money.

Nutella and strwaberries on a peanut butter and banana pancake. More is more, right?

The banana and peanut butter could have made these babies a bit stodgy, but using self-raising flour and baking powder ensures they're not too dense. These pancakes are really extremely moreish... I had far too many. Yolo, eh? However they'll also keep you full for aaaaaages thank to their energy-boosting-yet-also-slow-releasing ingredients.

They take a little longer to whip up than your standard plain pancakes, but are SO worth it. Trust me. This recipe serves three hungry people. If you have any leftovers, leave them to cool and you've got a yummy snack.

Ingredients

200g wholemeal self-raising flour
2 tbsp soft light brown sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon (optional)
2 super-ripe bananas (or 2.5 if they're small), mashed
100g smooth peanut butter
1 egg
325ml sugar-free almond milk (if you don't have any, regular milk is fine)

mmmmm fluffiness

Method

1. Sieve the dry ingredients (flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and spice) into a large mixing bowl. Combine the rest of the ingredients in a medium bowl and whisk well together. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry mixture and whisk together but don't overmix, as this will create tough pancakes. The batter should be thick, but if it seems too stodgy, add another splash of milk and whisk in.

the dry and wet ingredients, separated

the consistency of my batter, ready to go!

2. Heat a teaspoon of oil or small knob of butter in a large non-stick frying pan*. Drop a large tablespoonful of the batter per pancake into the pan and watch them spread and small bubbles appear on the surface. Cook for about 1-2 minutes over a medium heat then flip over and cook another minute or so until golden. Serve hot from the pan with your choice of topping - I like mine with nutella, golden syrup, strawberries or simply a bit of butter. DEEEE-LISH!

Ready to flip!

Check me out: three at a time.

*Or if you're a country bumpkin like me, you can cook these straight on to the simmering plate of your AGA with a greaseproof sheet on top.

If you like the look of these, you may also like me recipe for banana and blueberry pancakes.