Four-ingredient oaty banana hotcakes
I invented these bad guys because I really dislike making traditional pancakes. Delicate thin batter getting stuck to the pan, wedging itself into odd shapes, lumps, burnt bits. The whole experience makes me hot, sweaty and angry. Especially as I am usually over-caffeinated, flapping around in my dressing-gown and burn myself on the fry pan at least once. It’s not a relaxing start to the day in my book, and unless I include something filling alongisde or on top, I find I have had a sugar crash by mid-morning and need something else to eat.
So, welcome to these guys, which I find give me the pleasure of something hot and cakey at breakfast time but without the angst. The batter is much thicker and chunkier than a traditional pancake or crepe mixture which makes them a lot more predictable in the frypan and has greatly reduced my burning incidents. And another bonus – all of those oats and fruit keep me feeling well-fed until lunch. If all of this seems too healthy to you, you can certainly top them with cream or Nutella or a whole lot of syrup, and accompany them with some crispy fried bacon or vegetarian-friendly protein. Indeed, these examples in the pictures have a healthy dollop of old-school golden syrup on top of the Greek yoghurt.
This recipe makes four hotcakes, so enough for one by themselves or for two with some sides.
Ingredients: 1 mashed banana; 1 lightly beaten egg, 1 cup of rolled oats; 1 teaspoon of baking powder. You will also need oil spray or a little fat for the frypan.
Heat a non-stick frypan to medium hot and spray will oil spray or lightly grease.
Combine the egg and banana. Whisk in the baking powder and finally add the oats. Mix until all ingredients are incorporated.
Once the pan is hot, place dollops of the mixture into the pan and spread out with the back of a spoon. I usually get four cakes into the pan. The mixture is not runny, so they will not spread out but you will need to flatten them a little so they cook through evening.
Once you see some bubbles in the cakes, flip them over and cook until brown.
