Bananas and walnuts are a classic combination, and I've been working on a recipe for banana walnut pancakes. There's bananas pureed in the batter and I use some walnut flour from Hammons black walnuts. They're basically banana bread pancakes. You can make a similar version with regular flour or just a sprinkle of nuts on top.
An Easy Walnut Flour Recipe
I love all the things Hammons does with black walnuts. This year they sent me a few bags of black walnuts flour, which is made from the nuts after they've been pressed for black walnut oil.
The flour has a good mild flavor and adds a custardy texture to baked goods. Another bonus is that it's much finer than almond flour and absorbs water at a similar ratio to all purpose flour, making it easy to substitute in recipes.
As they have the highest protein content of any nut, the flour also functions as a protein supplement and is sold as such by my friend Daniel Vitalis. As I said though it's optional, but fun to try if you like working with alternative flours.
How to Make it
After making about 100 pancakes this week I settled on a final version. It's easy to make and comes together quickly. Like regular pancakes, the first step is to mix the dry ingredients. If you're serious you can sift the flour mixture, but I usually don't bother.
Next take a couple overripe bananas (regular ones work too) and puree them in a blender with a drizzle of maple syrup, milk and oil. Most recipes online instruct you to mash the bananas, but I found that made the pancakes come out lumpy.
The batter's poured into the dry ingredients, then you cook them on a griddle or in a cast iron pan per usual.
A nice way to gild the lily is to place a few ¼ inch slices of fresh banana on the pancakes before you flip them.
I've done them both ways and everyone I've served them to preferred the sliced banana version, but if freezer bananas for pureeing that's fine too.
I finish the dish here as I would for a restaurant brunch, garnishing the pancakes with a few freshly cracked walnuts, maple syrup (or black walnut syrup!) sliced fresh bananas and a dusting of spicebush sugar my friend Val Rossman sent me.
If you don't have spicebush, you can add a pinch of ground cinnamon to powdered sugar, or just skip it.
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Banana Walnut Pancakes
Equipment
- 1 Highspeed blender
- 1 Medium mixing bowl
- 1 Griddle or cast iron pan or another large nonstick pan, ideally around 12 inches wide
- 1 Spatula
Ingredients
Wet Ingredients
- 4 bananas two for the batter, two for garnishing finished plates
- 1 large egg
- ½ cup whole milk
- 2 Tablespoons maple syrup plus more for serving
- 2 Tablespoons cooking oil or walnut oil
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Dry Ingredients
- ¾ cup all purpose flour
- ¼ cup black walnut flour optional, an additional ¼ cup all purpose flour can be substituted
- Tiny pinch of cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- Cooking oil as needed, a tablespoon or two
Optional Garnishes
- ¼ cup powdered sugar
- ¼ teaspoon cinnamon or 1 teaspoon ground spicebush
- Lightly toasted walnuts to garnish, about ½ cup
- Thinly sliced fresh bananas
Instructions
- Mix the cinnamon or spicebush and powdered sugar if using.
- In 2 quart sized bowl, mix the dry ingredients. If you have a flour sifter you can sift it.
- Combine the wet ingredients in the bowl of a blender and puree until smooth.
- Pour the batter into the flour mixture and mix until just combined.
- Pour scant ¼ cups of the batter onto a preheated griddle or cast iron pan on medium heat. If you want, you can lay a few ¼ inch slices of banana on top of each pancake or a sprinkle of lightly toasted walnuts.
- Cook the pancakes until bubbles form around the edges and they hold their shape just enough to be flipped. Cook golden brown on both sides and hold in a preheated 150F oven until ready to serve.
- Serve the pancakes with maple syrup, sliced fresh bananas, a sprinkle of toasted black walnuts and a dusting of the cinnamon-sugar, if using.
Carla Beaudet
Since I don't have black walnut flour at the ready, but do have a gallon sized freezer bag almost completely full of black walnut meat in the freezer, my inclination would be to grind them and swap about 1/4 c. of that in for the 1/4c. of black walnut flour and one of the tablespoons of the oil. Any thoughts?
Alan Bergo
Yep I did a batch like that but didn’t write down the proportions yet. I tossed them right in the blender.