Hearty Hotcakes with Bananas

Pancakes, or hotcakes as they are also known, have long been a family favourite in my household. When the children were growing up, I always made them for breakfast, every Saturday morning. I also made them when they had a friend to stay overnight.

It was de riguer.



Of course they each had their favourites . . . some liked them just plain without anything fancy added, other's like them made with buttermilk, and my oldest son, he liked the ones I made with sour cream and silver dollar sized. In blueberry season, I always made them blueberry buttermilk pancakes, which they all loved, especially with my homemade blueberry syrup on top along with oodles of melting butter.



Now that there are only Todd and I here, I only ever very rarely make them. Usually I only make them on Pancake Day in February, and then I make the lovely crepe like English pancakes. Sprinkled with lemon juice and sugar as tradition calls for.



The little fella that lives next door was over last evening and was hungry so I whipped up a batch of these tasty Oaty Hotcakes for us all to share. Accompanied with a scrumdiddlyumptious Caramel Banana sauce, they went down a real treat!!



*Hearty Hotcakes with Bananas*
Serves 4
Printable Recipe

When my kids were growing up we always had hotcakes, or pancakes as they are called in North America, each and every Saturday morning, as well as when they had a friend to stay overnight. Normally they would be either plain pancakes or buttermilk. I wish I had had this recipe back then. I am sure they would have loved them. Light and fluffy and filled with oaty goodness. The caramel Bananas are the perfect topping, but if you want to be more traditional, you can of course use maple syrup. Other fruit flavoured syrups go very well also, as well as crushed raspberries.

185g plain flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
a touch of freshly grated nutmeg
pinch of salt
1 TBS caster sugar
25g rolled oats (not the quick oats)
375ml buttermilk
1 medium egg, beaten
35g butter, melted, plus extra to butter the pan
To serve:
caramel bananas (see below) or maple syrup, fruit syrups, or berries sprinkled with icing sugar and lightly crushed




Whisk the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg together a bowl. Stir in the oats. Beat the buttermilk, egg and melted butter together. Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients. Add the wet ingredients all at once and stir together, just until mixed and there are no dry pockets.

When ready to cook, heat a large non-stick skillet over medium heat. Brush with a little butter. Add pancake batter, 1/4 cupful at a time. Don't crowd the pan or they will run together. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes until bubbles appear on the surface of the pancakes. Flip them over and cook for a further 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer to a plate and keep warm while you cook the rest.

Serve hot, along with the caramel Bananas.



*Caramel Bananas*
Makes enough for 4 servings


Mmmm . . . caramel, bananas . . . deliciously moreish!

3 large bananas
60g butter
90g soft light brown sugar
2 TBS water
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Place the butter, brown sugar, water and vanilla in a large skillet over medium heat. Whisk together and heat until the mixture comes to the boil, thickens slightly and forms a caramel. Add the bananas and toss together until they are well coated. Serve while warm.