Banana slices in your pancakes are reason enough to cue up Jack Johnson’s “Banana Pancakes” (and pretend like it’s the weekend, naturally), but things get taken to a whole new level when the batter itself is infused with banana. Admittedly, when we first heard about the Jam Stand’s Drunken Monkey Jam, we were a little skeptical—all you have to do is try banana-flavored gum or a Banana Runt to know that something is very, very wrong about those treats. Banana-lime jam with a dash of rum? Sounds tropical…and potentially disastrous.
Thankfully, our fears were completely unfounded, and after the rave reviews this recipe received (the words “Best Pancakes you’ve ever made” were uttered multiple times, and it wasn’t just the cook muttering to herself all creepy-like), we realized we had to feature it on Collegiate Cook.
Fair warning, though: Drunken Monkey jam isn’t cheap—just one jar will set you back $10—but it’s lasted through multiple batches of pancakes. And that’s even after we slather more jam on top of the pancakes before serving them.
The Jam Stand’s recipe opened us up to a whole new world pancakey possibilities: Can you infuse pancakes with other flavors, just by adding a couple tablespoons of jam? (Imagine double-blueberry pancakes! Or Strawberry Shortcake pancakes?! Or PB&Jamcakes?!) Could you get a banana-bread-like flavor just from adding a mashed banana to your favorite pancake batter, along with a sprinkling of chocolate chips and walnuts?!
As you can see, there is much more testing to be done. If you’ve tried any of these pancake hacks, let us know in the comments below!
- 1 Jar Drunken Monkey Jam
- 1 cup milk
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted.
- 1 large egg
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- Turn a burner to medium heat and set a pan on top to let it warm. In the meantime, grab a mixing bowl and whisk together the 3 tablespoons jam, milk and melted butter. Once they're combined, whisk in the egg. (This lets the butter cool so it doesn't cook any of the egg.)
- Stir in all of the remaining ingredients just enough so that there are no clumps.
- Slowly pour about a ¼ cup of batter onto the pan, and let it cook until small bubbles form in the batter (about 2 minutes). Flip and cook the other side for about a minute or two. Repeat the process until all of the batter has been cooked.
