Power Oatmeal Pancakes

 I love the idea of oatmeal pancakes. I don't love the idea of grinding oats every morning though. Enter: this recipe. I didn't add this recipe to my list of Make Ahead Breakfasts because I never make it ahead of time. It is relatively easy to whip up as I'm making pancakes for my kids in the morning. It has 11 grams of protein and only 230 calories! If you are eating this as a post workout meal then you can add a bit of protein powder to it as well!

Power Oatmeal Pancakes

1/4 cup quick oats
1 egg (or 2 egg whites)
1/2 of a ripe banana, mashed
1/4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp splenda
pinch of salt
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
1 Tbsp milk

Protein powder (optional)

1/4 cup blueberries (optional)

Mix all ingredients (except blueberries) in a bowl. Heat griddle to medium heat and spray with cooking spray. Pour batter onto griddle in one or two pancakes. (I do two, it's easier to flip.) Dot blueberries on pancakes. Cook 3-4 minutes on each side.

Top with more bananas and blueberries and whatever syrup you love! I use Sugar-Free.

P.S. It's kind of annoying that the word "protein" doesn't follow the i before e rule. I misspelled it every time I typed it. Haha!

Banana Chocolate Chip Pancakes with Peanut Butter Pancake Syrup

So we had this tradition growing up where all of us kids would get to choose the food we ate all day on our birthday. It's something that I loved, cost no extra money, and really made my day special. I have decided to always do this with my kids too. Well, it was my son's 5th birthday last week. He loves breakfast more than any other meal of the day. One of his favorite breakfast foods is banana pancakes which we make on a weekly basis. He also loves chocolate chips, and he LOVES peanut butter! So I thought "why not add all of these things into a pancake!"

I have actually made something similar to this before and called them "chunky monkey" or "Curious George" pancakes. But they are really sweet for breakfast so it's not something I do often. Like only once a year. But they are SOOO good!

Banana Chocolate Chip Pancakes with Peanut Butter Pancake Syrup

1 cup flour

2 tsp baking powder

a pinch of salt

1 Tbsp oil

1 egg

1/2 cup milk, plus more to get to desired consistency

1 ripe banana, mashed with fork

Handful of mini chocolate chips

1/2 cup peanut butter

1/2 cup pancake syrup

For syrup: Heat peanut butter for one minute. Add syrup and mix.

For Pancakes: Mix four, baking powder, salt, oil, egg and milk together with whisk. Add milk to get to desired consistency. Add in banana and chocolate chips. Use a 1/4 measuring cup and pour onto a medium heated griddle. Flip after about 3 minutes or when your pancakes look like this:

They should look like this:

Take off griddle after a couple more minutes. Or you can always use a tablespoon and make dippers!

Either way you can't go wrong!

Place any leftovers in a single layer on a pan and freeze for 30 minutes (or longer). Place in a freezer bag and freeze until you need them. I put mine in the toaster to reheat but you can use a microwave or toaster oven.

Happy Birthday little man! Can't believe how far you've come in five years!

Super Moist Banana Bread

In honor of my grandmother that passed away just over a year ago, I am dedicating my first blog post to her and making one of my favorite recipes of hers. Strangely enough, I'm not sure I had ever tasted this until my sister compiled a collection of my grandma's best recipes and made a cookbook for my sisters and I. I knew I had to try it immediately because I had a bowl full of brown bananas on my counter it was noted at the bottom how moist it was. Very intriguing!

I absolutely love this bread. It takes about two hours to bake because it bakes at such a low temperature which makes my house smell divine for the entire day. Usually I bake it in a cake bunt pan, invert it onto a cake platter and serve it that way. It's very elegant for any type of brunch, breakfast or snack. Today I made it in a standard 9x5 loaf pan, a mini loaf pan and muffins so I could figure how long each one cooked for you.

Another amazing thing about this bread is that there is no dense dry crust. In fact crust would not even be a term I would use with bread, it is pure awesomeness! Seriously, it's my favorite part.

Super Moist Banana Bread

5 large or 6 small bananas

4 eggs, beaten

1 cup shortening

2 cups sugar

4 cups flour

2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1 cup nuts or chocolate chips *optional

 Beat bananas until liquified. Add beaten eggs and mix thoroughly. Cream sugar and shortening together in separate bowl. Add to banana mixture and beat thoroughly. Add flour, baking soda, salt and mix well. Stir in nuts or chocolate chips. Bake in two well greased loaf pans or one bunt pan. bake at 250° for 1 3/4-2 hours. Mine loaf pans were about 2 hours. Mini loafs took about 1 hour and muffins take about 45 minutes. To be honest, I preferred it in the loaf or mini loaf pans. It turned out much more moist. Enjoy!