Peanut Butter Banana Pancakes

You know that feeling when you turn on the radio to a song you haven’t heard in years, and suddenly you’re 15 again, trying to play it cool as you drive around town in a mini-van while your mom yells at you for stopping too close to the car in front of you? Or walking past a perfume aisle and taking in a citrusy, light perfume that zaps you back to when you were five, watching cartoons in your grandmother’s room while she got ready to go out?

Foods can magnify that feeling a thousand times over, transporting you to another time. For real!

Take these banana pancakes — as soon as I taste the slightly caramelized bananas and sticky-sweet maple syrup, it’s summer 2008 and I’m interning at the Naples Daily News. On Sundays I’d make a batch, enjoying a decadent breakfast in my quiet apartment overlooking the lake, then wrapping the leftovers in tin foil so I could recreate that carefree, sleepy beachtown vibe all week long. It was my absolute favorite way to start the day: waking up early and going for a swim in the pool across the street before sipping a cup of coffee and savoring a short stack of banana pancakes on the balcony before heading into work. When it comes to stress relief, it was better than yoga.

There’s a reason Jack Johnson wrote a song about this breakfast — it’s simple and unassuming, but when combined with great memories, it’s the perfect summertime comfort food.

Here’s to the dishes that take you on a mental vacation. Hopefully this one does the same for you.

Peanut Butter Banana Pancakes

Based on a classic, old-fashioned pancake recipe on All Recipes

Note: Reheated pancakes aren’t quite as light and fluffy as the original. For a perfect meal every time, bake only as many pancakes as you’ll eat and store the batter in a measuring cup covered with tin foil or plastic wrap. With the batter already made, breakfast takes mere seconds!

Kitchen gadgets needed: measuring cups, spoonula, frying pan, stovetop

Ingredients (makes 6-7 pancakes):

• 1 1/4 cups flour
• 1/2 cup rolled oats
• 3 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon white sugar
• 1 1/4 cups milk
• 1 egg
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 1/2 tablespoons peanut butter for batter, plus more for serving
• 1 banana, sliced

Time commitment: 15-18 minutes

Steps:

1. Stir the flour, baking soda, rolled oats and sugar in a large bowl.
2. Place the butter and peanut butter in a microwave-safe bowl. Heat it in the microwave for 20-second intervals, stirring in between, until everything has melted completely (usually just 40 seconds is enough).
3. Pour the melted butters (yes, butters) into the bowl o’ dry ingredients. Mix it in, and as you stir, add in the egg and milk.
4. Turn a burner onto medium heat, topping it with a frying pan. Once the pan’s heated for a couple minutes, pour a palm-sized amount of batter onto the pan. Top it with a few slices of banana, and once small bubbles form in the batter, flip it to the other side. When both sides are lightly golden, move the pancake to a plate and start another.
5. For added peanut butter flavor that won’t disappoint, lightly smear peanut butter between the pancakes and drizzle the top of the stack with maple syrup. The pancakes’ heat will cause the peanut butter to melt, resulting in a rich, velvety shortstack.