Banana Walnut Pancakes

These gluten free banana walnut pancakes are perfect for breakfast lunch or dinner.  Bananas seem to get ripe so quickly in the summertime. Lately it seems like every time I turn around I find myself with a few bananas that look like they’re ready for the trash.  Sometimes I wish I could just toss them out but I wasn’t raised like that.  My parents always stressed the value of food.  They wouldn’t dream of throwing away something that was a few days past its prime when it could easily be transformed into something extraordinarily good.  These banana walnut pancakes are a wonderful example of that frugal philosophy in action.  So the next time that you've got a couple of bananas that look like they’re ready for the trash just give them a mash and make a quick batch of these delicious pancakes.  Your family will be appreciate this sweet treat as much as your wallet appreciates the savings.  And if you get bored with the pancakes, there's always banana bread, coffee cake or muffins to change things up.  Feel free to use the search bar for some other great ideas.   

Ingredients:

• 2  Bananas (overripe & mashed)
• 1/3 cup Milk
• 1/8 cup Heavy Cream (you could replace this with oil or melted butter)
• 1 Egg
• 1/2 tsp Cinnamon
• 2/3 cup GF Bisquick (*see below for substitution)
• 1/3 cup Walnuts (finely chopped)

* If you don’t have gluten free pancake mix in the pantry you could replace it with:  1/3 c rice flour, 1/3 cup potato starch, 1/4 tsp Gluten free baking powder & 1/4 tsp xanthan gum

Video Tutorial:

Instructions:

1. Whisk the milk, heavy cream, egg, banana, and cinnamon together until the mixture is well combined.   
2. Add the GF Bisquick and walnuts then stir to combine, but don’t over-mix. 
3. To cook the pancakes, grease a nonstick skillet or griddle with butter, then over a medium-low heat add about ¼ cup measures of the batter to the pan. I find that cooking them slowly allows them plenty of time to rise and become fluffy before getting too dark on the surface.  
4. Allow them to cook for a few minutes until you see the tops of the pancakes begin to look dry and large bubbles begin to rise to the surface.  Use a spatula to flip the pancakes.  They won’t need much time on the second side maybe a minute or so. 
5. To serve them, add some butter, a drizzle of maple syrup and a few extra walnuts.  

Notes:  This recipe made 6 fairly large pancakes but you can easily double or triple the recipe as needed.