Anyhoo, the first recipe of January is Banana Sour Cream Pancakes from Barefoot Contessa Family Style, chosen by Karen of Something Sweet By Karen. When it comes to this recipe, I think it is safe to say I put my foot in it. If you are used to making pancakes from a mix, stop it. This is seriously simple and tastes so much better. In fact, the only ingredient in the recipe I didn't already have on hand was the bananas and lemon (yes, lemon...trust me, it is good). My adopted dad Chuck was visiting today, so I whipped this bit of deliciousness up for him and Craiggers.
Excuse the cheapo camera phone photos...Santa did not bring me the digital camera I wanted. And yes, I really need more counter space, but feel free to envy my beautiful cobalt Fiesta baking bowl.
Sift your flour, sugar, baking powder and salt into a bowl, and add in the sour cream, eggs, milk, lemon zest and vanilla (I use vanilla I made myself from vodka and vanilla beans...World Market has vanilla beans at about 1/3 the price of a grocery store). Mix until just blended.
Heat your pan to medium low (closer to medium than low in my opinion, but that is my electric cooktop) and melt a tablespoon of butter. Ladle the batter in and then drop some diced bananas on top. I thought it was odd the bananas weren't in the batter, but tasting it shows why...they chunks of banana that get cooked this way have a big burst of flavor you wouldn't get if it was mashed into the batter. Cook until they start to bubble, flip and cook for a minute more, and serve with butter and syrup!
Preferably on Fiesta, of course. And I would recommend buying some decent maple syrup instead of the awful "lite" syrup mess I had in the cabinet!
These were quite good, although I think I needed to cook at a higher temperature...they were a bit doughy. The lemon zest gave a zing that was unexpected and really delicious. These would be great with some toasted pecans on top too, with a side of bacon. Happy breakfast!
