Amasi Pancakes with Bananas and Chocolate Chips

Amasi Pancakes with Bananas and Chocolate Chips

I felt like something sweet for a change…actually not just sweet. It was sweet, rich and self-indulgent that I was after. Strangely pancakes came to mind. I say strangely because although, they were one of the first dishes I learnt to make and serve to family with sparkling pride, it’s been several lifetimes since I’ve made them.

Back in the “sparkling pride” days, Saturday mornings quickly became Pancake Day. By the time the family woke up the kitchen was a haze of flour, eggshells and whatever unsuspecting ingredient I decided to throw into the mix. Cinnamon, raisins, yoghurt you name it, all had their turn to twirl in the batter.

As you can imagine the novelty eventually wore off. I discovered muffins, scones, chicken and lamb thus the simple pleasures of fluffy pancakes were forgotten.

Let’s blame it on winter but I recently decided to venture down the corridor of nostalgia, shook off my early-morning-kitchen-laziness and whipped me up something supremely indulgent.

Ironically, a key ingredient in my quest for decadence is the ever-modest Amasi, think of it as Buttermilk’s more rugged and adventurous cousin. It too is a throw back to my childhood. We used mix it with copious amounts of sugar to make a kind of ghetto milkshake. In this case just half a cup of the Amasi gives the pancakes the body and volume they need. I’ve also added some mashed bananas just to convince myself that this is a somewhat healthy breakfast. The chocolate chips were a jovial nod to my childhood kitchen escapades

Word of advice: make these when you have kids around or any composition of a small army of hungry people otherwise resisting the temptation to scoff them down all on your own may very well prove impossible. Also you get the opportunity to pass on the love of pancakes to the next generation.

Banana Chocolate Chip Pancakes

Ingredients:

Flour 1 Cup

Baking Powder 2 t

Salt ½ T

Banana 1 Cup Mashed (about 2 large bananas)

Sugar 1 T

Egg 1

Vanilla Extract 1 t

Amasi ½ Cup

Vegetable Oil 2 T

Milk ½ Cup

Milk Chocolate Chips 1/3 Cup

Method:

1.    In a small mixing bowl, whisk together your dry ingredients i.e the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

2.    In a large mixing bowl, beat mashed bananas, sugar, egg, vanilla extract, amasi and vegetable oil together until smooth. (Use a masher and make sure your bananas are well-ripened)

3.    Add the flour mixture, alternating with the milk and stir until combined.

4.    Fold in the chocolate chips.

5.    Heat a non-stick pan to medium heat.

6.    Using a 1/4 Cup scoop, pour batter on to pan and tilt the pan in a circular motion to spread the batter.

7.    Once you start to see little bubbles form, flip and continue to cook until pancake is browned on each side. Continue until you have used all pancake batter.

8.  Serve with a drizzle of honey and a scattering of chock chips.