Banana Surprise Pancakes

Last week I found a recipe on 101 Cookbooks that piqued my curiosity. It was a gluten-free brownie recipe, using pureed black beans as the base. Always willing to experiment, I made a batch for a friend's birthday party.

They were delicious. As promised, no one detected the slightest hint of bean-flavor. The combination of sweet chocolate, butter, and eggs completely concealed the secret ingredient, and the beans lent an unexpected light and creamy texture that had everyone coming back for seconds.

Intrigued, I started brainstorming other ways to incorporate beans into my baked goods. Beans are chock full of fiber and vitamins, and I really don't eat enough of them. I've been longing for a decent pancake breakfast, however, and I decided to see where the beans would take me.

I started by blending together a can of pinto beans with sugar, cinnamon, and milk, and fried up a test-cake. The flavor wasn't bad, but the texture was crumbly and - not surprisingly - too reminiscent of refried beans. While pondering my options, I spotted a couple of over-ripe bananas in our fruit basket. The wheels started turning.

I've always loved banana pancakes. Back in my vegan days, I would make pancakes using only mashed bananas and flour, and I still remember the wonderful moist springiness the bananas gave those hotcakes. I grabbed a banana, blended it into the bean mixture, and tried again.

Success! Well, almost. The flavor issue was fixed, but the cakes still weren't holding together very well. I tossed in a small handful of rice flour. This time I had it. The outside of the hotcakes browned beautifully; the interior was moist and dense. Banana and cinnamon exploded in my mouth with a wonderful nuttiness from the rice flour. The beans were indetectable.

I think this is my new favorite recipe. It's low-fat, high-fiber, and isn't any harder to make than a standard pancake, as long as you have a blender. I ate the entire batch for breakfast and lunch that day, and I didn't even remember dinner that night.

Banana Surprise Pancakes

These pancakes have a delicious whole-grain flavor, and the fiber will keep you full until lunch. I made this batch with Pinto beans, but I think cannelloni or navy beans might be even better due to their mild taste. I use fructose rather than table sugar because it has a minimal effect on blood sugar levels.

Ingredients:

1.5 cups (1 can) pinto or white beans
4Tbs milk
1 egg
2 Tbs fructose or 2.5 Tbs table sugar
1 large or 2 medium ripe bananas

1/3 brown rice flower
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinammon

Heat your frying pan over medium heat.

Prepare the Batter:
While the pan gets hot, puree the beans with the milk, egg, sugar, and banana until very smooth. Mix the dry ingredients in a small bowl, and add them to the bean mixture. Mix thoroughly, and your batter is ready!

Pour the batter:
When the pan is hot enough that a drop of water sizzles, turn the heat down slightly and pour your batter in. You want these hotcakes small - hold both your hands up to make a circle, and aim for pancakes about that size. Otherwise, they take too long to cook and are hard to flip.

Cook the pancakes:
After you've poured a couple of small hotcakes worth of batter into your pan, cover it with a lid and let them cook for five or six minutes. The edges will dry out, but you won't get any air bubbles like with a traditional batter. When the edges look dry, flip the pancakes over and cook for another two or three minutes. The first side should have a nice brown look to it - although if you use table sugar instead of fructose, don't expect as much browning as in the photos. Fructose browns at a lower temperature.

Serve:
Dish these up with a sliced banana for garnish. They are great plain, but a tiny drizzle of maple syrup adds a delicious kick.

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