It’s the weekend! Which also means: it’s brunch time!
I whole-heartedly love brunch. You have the absolute most freedom of choices from sweet to savory, light to hearty, 10AM to 4PM… it’s the ultimate foodie’s dream meal :) So I’d like to share with you a super simple and healthy recipe for mini banana pancakes topped with a blueberry compote. No butter, no oil, no corn syrup, no dairy. And the coolest part? Both the pancakes and compote are a product of a three-ingredient recipe!
I spent time at home last week in the Central Valley of California, visiting my parents in their new abode. It has an excellent kitchen. Like one that made me drool thinking in comparison to what “nice kitchens” look like in many Manhattan apartments. Naturally, my instinct told me to cook! And bake! But lo, my parents kitchen and pantry were low on the ingredients as they now rarely cook. My dad told me “It’s too hard cooking for 2” and I definitely don’t blame him.
That said, I was set on making breakfast and when I laid eyes on the fresh box of blueberries and bananas on the counter, I immediately thought of pancakes. Specifically, the no-flour banana pancakes that have been racing through the internet. The problem was that after scouring the pantry and cabinets, there was no sign of baking powder… but after some culinary ingenuity (egg white merignue!), and many many fails (I think I went through half the batter), I finally got my batch of banana pancakes :) Mind you, they’re not flourless as I’d hoped, but the three-ingredient recipe I threw together turned out to be moist, spongy, and naturally sweet (yay bananas!). And when topped with the homemade compote.. Mmm—a killer combination!
- 2 ripe bananas
- 2 large eggs (1 yolk, 2 whites separated)
- 2 tbs flour
- 1 c blueberries
- 2 tbs sugar
- 4 tsp water
- In a bowl, mix together blueberries, sugar, and water. Set aside while preparing pancakes.
- In another bowl, mash the ripe bananas and mix in egg yolk.
- In a chilled bowl, whip egg whites to a merigue. Use an electric hand mixer and start on a low setting, incrementally increasing every 60-90 seconds (depending on your speed settings) until at full speed. This takes ~7 minutes. Be careful to not overbeat! You'll know it's ready when stiff peaks form.
- Fold in the meringue with the banana mixture, knocking some air out in the process. Add flour and continue to fold/knock air out.
- Heat a non-stick pan on low to med-low*.
- Spoon in 1 1/2-2 tbs of batter to the center of the pan and wait 10-12 seconds. These are intentionally small sizes to make it more manageable in the flipping process; I had trouble when they were any larger than 3 inches in diameter! You should see the air bubbles start to pop at the surface. Flip and wait another 10-12 seconds, then remove your cooked pancake and place on a plate. Repeat.
- Set aside finished pancakes and heat pan to med-high heat.
- Add blueberry mixture to pan and cook for 10-15 minutes, stirring intermittently. The compote is ready when a thick, syrupy texture starts to form.
- Pour compote over pancakes, serve, and enjoy!'
- * Test on a sample of batter; I found that I needed to lower the heat down to almost the lowest setting to not burn the pancake.
- Add a few slices of fresh bananas, and a sprinkling of fresh berries for a more vibrant plate!
- Not feeling the compote? The pancakes themselves are great with a bit of maple syrup!
-pfht
Oooh yum!! These sound amazing and you only used a tiny bit of flour so it basically counts! Love it and love you!!