Quick, Easy and Healthy Banana Pancakes

A few weeks ago my friend C. told me of a very quick and easy banana pancake recipe and I had all but forgotten about it until this morning when I spied the bananas in the fruit bowl. I don't know if your household is the same, but bananas in my household are either immediately scoffed and you question whether you actually bought them in the first place, or they're completely ignored and then the only thing they're good for is for baking into banana cake/bread/muffins.

Back to the quick, easy and healthy recipe - and this is yummy enough to be served up as an afternoon snack and dare I say it, even dessert!

Quick, Easy, Healthy Banana Pancakes

What you'll need:

1 banana, mashed with a fork
1 egg
Sprinkling of cinnamon powder

1 sandwich press
3 egg rings that you've greased with a little bit of butter.

* This is enough for one serving. You can alternate the egg/banana ratio depending on how many bananas your family has left you, and how many people you need to make this for. I waited for the family to head to work, school and uni before making this - sneaky, I know ;)

I really should have cleaned the sandwich press, or at least photoshopped the crumbs away...

Method:

Preheat your sandwich press. Mine doesn't have a temperature control dial so it's either off or on. Place the 3 greased egg rings on the sandwich press. In a small bowl, add the egg to the mashed banana and keep mooshing together until a nice gloopy consistency is created. Sprinkle some cinnamon powder to taste. Pour the mixture into the egg rings and close the lid. It only takes a few minutes to cook, so while you're waiting, you can slice up some seasonal fruit or raid the pantry for nuts. Grab a plate, test the pancakes to make sure they're cooked (I did this by cutting into one of them). Run a butter knife along the edges of the egg ring in order to release the pancake. Stack the pancakes on your plate, add a dollop of ricotta and the seasonal fruit, then finish off with another sprinkling of cinnamon. Sit down and enjoy it!

Delicious breakfast for one. Nom!

Alternatives:

* Omit the ricotta if you don't eat dairy, use a dollop of tahini instead.
* If you prefer your food a little sweeter (note that I didn't add any sweeteners natural or otherwise), then add a squirt of honey or your favourite sweetener to the eggy mixture.
* To turn this into a simple dessert, add a handful of dark chocolate bits to the eggy mixture, then serve the lot with ice cream or sorbet or yoghurt.

There would be countless alternatives to this simple recipe. Best of all, it's quick, you don't need any high falutin' appliances and the resulting dish is delicious, wholesome and versatile. Give me this delicious breakfast to the alternative breakfast that's served up from a cardboard box any day!

Thanks so much C. for the great breakfast tip! xx