Amongst my friends, one word used to describe me the most would probably be “extra.” Some have said it to my face and others, behind my back or at least have had a passing thought on the matter. I have a big personality, a loud laugh, and can still take RBF (resting bitch face) to the next level without trying very hard. In my defense, my extra-ness is not so much purposeful as it is inherent. I am a planner, and my planning abilities manifest an appearance of extra-ness. However, for the sake of this post, I am not going to deny how extra these pancakes are!
Pancakes are a weekend breakfast staple. When I get the time, I like to take simple recipes and put a fun, untraditional twist on them. When making these pancakes I was inspired by this recipe, that put an ingenious culinary twist on chocolate chip cookies. The rye flour adds texture to the batter, giving the finished result a very artisanal feel. The whiskey gives you an excuse to drink alcohol at breakfast! And the bananas foster on top just makes you feel fancy on a random Saturday in September. Sometimes I long for something more than chocolate chips in my pancakes. I want something exciting and fresh with more flavor. More often than not, however, the efficiency of boxed pancake mix overshadows my desire to be culinarily adventurous. But the end result of this recipe is well worth the extra step of making the batter from scratch.
Brunch is always a must. Invite your squad over, make some mimosas, and impress them with these easy, yet extra-looking pancakes! I promise, it’s worth it!
Whiskey & Rye Bananas Foster Pancakes
Prep
Cook
Total
Yield ~16 Pancakes
Ingredients
Pancakes
4 tbsp unsalted butter, plus more for cooking
5 tbsp sugar
2 tsp vanilla
1 ripe banana
1 1/2 c Rye Flour
1/2 c All-Purpose Flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 cup buttermilk
Bananas Foster Topping
1/2 c butter
1/4 c packed brown sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 c maple syrup
1 oz. Whiskey
3 firm ripe medium bananas, cut into 1/2-inch slices
1/2 cup chopped toasted pecans (optional)
Instructions
Pancakes:
- pre-heat oven to 225 F and place a large baking sheet lined with foil inside.
- mash banana and set aside
- In a large bowl, melt butter. Then whisk in sugar. Be sure the sugar/butter mixture is lukewarm to avoid cooking your eggs when you add it in the next step.
- Whisk in egg, vanilla & banana.
- Mix in flour, salt, baking soda
- Add buttermilk. Mix until just combined. You are looking for the batter to have a thicker consistency, thick enough to have to push it off the spoon into the pan, rather than a batter that is pourable. If it is too thick, add 1-2 tbsp more of buttermilk.
- Bring frying pan to medium heat, add butter (don't be stingy!)
- add batter to pan in 2-3 tbsp scoops per pancake. Once bubbles form, flip and cook until golden brown on both sides.
- As pancakes are done, place them on baking sheet in oven.
- Repeat steps 7, 8 & 9 until batter is gone. Leave pancakes in the oven while preparing the topping.
Bananas Foster:
- In 10-inch nonstick skillet, toast chopped pecans over medium heat until fragrant. Transfer to bowl and set aside.
- Add butter, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, maple syrup to pan.
- Over medium-high heat, cook mixture 2-3 minutes, stirring constantly with spoon or heat-resistant spatula, until sugar dissolves and mixture is thick.
- Add whiskey.
- Reduce heat to medium; add bananas and pecans. Stir gently to coat the bananas in the sauce. Cook about 3 minutes or until bananas are glossy.
To serve: place two pancakes on each plate. Spoon sauce over pancakes. Serve immediately (preferably with thick slices of bacon).
Notes
Quick Tips:
- Any vanilla extract can be used with this recipe. My favorite is Molina Vanilla. It's a Mexican brand and it is cheaper and more potent than any american name-brand extract I've used. AND you can find it at Wal-Mart -- which is always a plus!
- To cut back on the butter you inevitably use when cooking these pancakes, you can substitute the butter for cooking spray. In doing this you forgo the crispy, delicious edges.
- Leftover topping can be stored in the fridge and used later as warm topping over vanilla ice cream!
Pancakes inspired by Smitten Kitchen
Bananas Foster Topping adapted from Betty Crocker & Bluegrass Bites