Sweetheart Strawberry-Banana Pancakes

I am a bit late getting started this week but never fear, I will complete three recipes over the next three days. For my first dish of the week, I decided to make something special for my little butterfly. Strawberries seem to be her favorite fruit so I decided I would google strawberry pancakes to see if I could come up with something that would wow her. I was fortunate because these pancakes were the third recipe I found. They contain both bananas and strawberries but the real bonus is that the recipe does not call for sugar in the batter. I don't choose to give Olivia sugar in the morning so this recipe immediately appealed to me. The pancakes are also adorable, and those of you that know me understand that adorable is kind of my thing. :) Oh, please note that the photos are not as clean and pretty as the photos that Brad shoots. He had already left for work when I made the pancakes so I was forced to use my iphone camera. Enjoy the recipe!

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp cinnamon

pinch of salt

1 small banana, mashed

1/2 cup strawberries, chopped

1 egg

1 cup whole milk (I used skim milk and it worked perfectly)

2 Tbsp butter, melted

vegetable oil

1 cup strawberries for garnish

Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt in medium bowl. Combine mashed banana, chopped strawberries, egg, milk and melted butter in small bowl. Whisk to blend. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and stir together. Batter will be thick.

Preheat oven to 300 degrees and line baking sheet with foil. Wipe large skillet with oil, using paper towel. Preheat pan to medium-high heat. Add 1/4 cup batter to skillet. Cook until bubbling on top side and flip. Transfer cooked pancakes to baking sheet in oven and continue cooking pancakes in skillet with remaining batter. When ready to serve, cut each pancake with a 3" to 3 1/2" heart-shaped cookie cutter. Arrange on plate with strawberries to make arrow and sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Olivia loved these pancakes! She did not want syrup so she ate them plain with the fresh strawberries. I made her one to start with but she ended up eating three. She commented that the pancakes were cute and then ate them like they were going out of style. All in all, this recipe is easy to make and I thought the final product tasted great. I only had two bites because I prefer savory breakfast foods. Ends up I could have eaten these for breakfast with Olivia because they had just a touch of sweetness. If you do have a sweet tooth in the morning, add a little bit of pure maple syrup and you will be in business.

Recipe Source:

nickjr.com