There are more ways to have bananas for breakfast than sliced on top of your cereal.
Think outside the box some Sunday morning and serve up one of these delicious dishes using firm-ripe bananas (ones with just a few tiny brown spots on the peel). Bananas that aren’t ripe enough won’t impart much flavour to the recipe, and ones with black peels will disintegrate into mush.
Banana Pecan French Toast
6 large eggs
¼ cup milk
½ tsp vanilla
4 small firm-ripe bananas, peeled
¼ cup coarsely chopped toasted pecans (toast in a 300º F oven until fragrant)
2 tsp granulated sugar mixed with 1/8 tsp cinnamon
Eight half-inch thick slices of good quality white bakery bread
Soft butter for spreading on bread and for frying
Powdered sugar and maple syrup
In a large shallow bowl, beat the eggs with a fork until frothy; stir in the milk and vanilla and set aside.
Cut each banana into one-quarter-inch slices. Generously butter each slice of bread; top four slices with a single layer of sliced banana and sprinkle each with one-quarter of the pecans; sprinkle cinnamon-sugar mixture evenly over top. Place other slices of bread on top and press down firmly to seal. Place two of the sandwiches into the egg mixture and press down gently; turn sandwiches over and let soak briefly until both sides are saturated with egg mixture. Repeat with remaining two sandwiches.
Heat butter in a large skillet over medium heat; place sandwiches in skillet and cook until golden brown on both sides, adding more butter to skillet if required. To serve, cut sandwiches in half on the diagonal; place on serving plates and dust with powdered sugar. Serve with warm maple syrup. Makes four servings.
Best Banana Pancakes
1+¾ cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
1 Tbsp granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1+¼ cup homogenized milk
A dash of vanilla
4 Tbsp butter, melted
2 firm-ripe bananas, peeled, halved lengthwise then sliced into ¼-inch pieces
In a medium bowl, whisk together dry ingredients. In a separate bowl whisk together the eggs, milk, vanilla and butter until well combined. Add the egg mixture to the dry ingredients; stir until dry ingredients are just mixed in (a few lumps in the batter are fine). Gently fold in the bananas.
Heat a large non-stick skillet or griddle over medium-high heat. Moisten a paper towel with vegetable oil and lightly grease the skillet. For each pancake, pour half a cup of batter onto the pan and spread into a circle with the back of a spoon. When bubbles that form in the batter have popped, flip pancakes and cook other side for about a minute or until golden brown.
Serve warm with maple syrup and additional sliced bananas if desired. These are also delicious with blueberry or boysenberry syrup, or if you’re lucky enough to be able to find it, coconut syrup. Makes four servings.
Banzai Banana Rolls
½ cup peanut butter
2 Tbsp liquid honey
4 Tbsp quick oats, toasted (toast in a dry frying pan over medium heat until lightly browned and fragrant)
1 Tbsp fine shredded coconut
1 Tbsp toasted sesame seeds (toast as for oats)
½ tsp cinnamon
4 medium firm-ripe bananas, peeled
Additional honey for topping
Vanilla low-fat yogurt
In a small bowl, mix together the peanut butter and honey until smooth; set aside. In a large shallow dish, mix together oats, coconut, sesame seeds and cinnamon. Completely coat each banana with the peanut butter-honey mixture (this is easier if you cut the bananas in half or into chunks). Roll the coated banana in the oat mixture. Serve drizzled with additional honey and dip into yogurt. Makes four servings.
Angela Shellard is a self-described foodie. She has done informal catering for various functions. Contact: [email protected].
