On a recent morning my boy and I were embarking on a new phase of our life together.  Since one of our nannies has moved on we have more time together.  This is mostly fun for both of us.  But as is typical of transitions there were some challenging moments when my patience was thin and when my boy’s change in routine was frustrating for him.  It was in the midst of one such moment that my suggestion of making pancakes for breakfast was enthusiastically received.  From the onset, I thought of mashing up a banana since it was the best fruit that we had on hand and I’ve come to think that pancakes with fruit are extra special.  It wasn’t until I’d gathered nearly all the grains out of the fridge that I realized we were out of flour.  All-purpose flour, that is.  We had buckwheat flour, oat flour, almond meal, and corn flour on hand.  After a frantic moment of regrouping I realized that we had what we needed for pancakes even with that omission.

The mixing involved more of frustration on both our parts, but we got the job done.  Seeing the cakes on the griddle reminded me of a character in a since-returned library book that my son really loved, I made the mistake of mentioning it.  The immediate inaccessibility of the book initiated another meltdown.  And an idea.  We headed to the bookshelf and my son selected a book to read.  We pulled the beanbag chair into the kitchen and enjoyed another family favorite while the cakes browned to perfection.

Aside from a full belly, I came away with three good lessons:  how to make tasty gluten-free pancakes on the spot, that mashed banana makes an excellent pancake ingredient, and that taking a break to read a good book makes for perfectly cooked pancakes.  All that in 30 or so minutes.  This kid sure does pack in the lessons!

Here’s the recipe that we ended up with.  The original came from the Joy of Cooking.

Dry ingredients:

• 1 1/3 cup buckwheat flour
• 1/3 cup corn flour
• 1/3 cup almond meal
• 1/3 cup oat flour
• 2T coconut sugar
• 2t baking powder
• 1t salt
• 1/2 baking soda
• 1/2t cinnamon
• a sprinkle of nutmeg

Wet ingredients:

• 4T melted butter
• 1 mashed banana (minus a baby bite)
• 1 3/4 cup milk
• 3 eggs
• 1t vanilla extract

Heat Griddle.
Whisk dry ingredients.  Mix banana and butter.  Whisk eggs, milk, and vanilla.  Whisk banana and butter with other wet ingredients.  Combine everything.  Add fat of choice to griddle (in lieu of our usual butter, I used coconut oil with excellent results).  Using a ladle or a 1/4 measuring cup, slowly pour the batter onto the griddle coaxing it into a round shape.  Wait until the tell tale bubbles have popped before flipping your cake.  If your stove is like mine you may have to shift your cakes around to get them evenly browned.  Enjoy a good read and then enjoy your pancakes.  These were so filling that we had lots of leftovers for future breakfasts.