Banana Pancakes

Or, more accurately, what to do when you find bananas that you haven't eaten.

It's one of my worst habits - I always get too much fresh food, and then I completely forget about it, or I just can't eat it before it goes off. I try and add fresh fruit and veg to every meal so I can get my 5 a day but sometimes I'm left adding a whole courgette into something I'd never normally put it in, like chilli. Bolognese I can just about get away with adding courgettes, but not chilli.

Today I was faced with the dilemma of what to do with two rather ripe bananas, and then I remembered seeing a photo on Instagram a couple of weeks ago of pancakes that had been made with bananas, and I just couldn't resist. I have an awful sweet tooth and pancakes normally hit the spot, but they can be incredibly unhealthy when you add in the sugar in the pancakes and the inevitable sugary toppings. Pancakes made with bananas seem like the perfect compromise.

Banana Pancakes for two
Time to make: 20 minutes
Calories per portion: 296kcal
Cost per portion: 77p
Portions of your five-a-day: 1+

You will need:

• 1 Banana
• 100g Plain flour
• 1/2 tsp Baking powder
• 400ml Milk (I used soya but this would work with cow's or goat's milk)
• Oil, for frying
• Toppings

In a large mixing bowl, mash your banana with a fork until it's just slightly chunky. Add your flour and baking powder and mix well. It should form a sticky, dough-like texture. You can add some sugar or other spices like cinnamon or nutmeg at this point, but to be honest I think the bananas have enough natural sweetness in them not to warrant adding extra sugar.

 Heat your oil in a frying pan - pancakes in pretty much all their forms are pretty notorious for sticking to stick and non-stick pans alike, and no-one likes a burnt pancake.

Slowly pour your milk into the bowl, stirring constantly. You can do this all at once if you have someone to help you with the pouring so you can stir but I added the milk 100ml at a time. If you prefer american-style pancakes (those thick, stackable ones) you can just add milk until you've reached your desired consistency.

Pour or scoop the batter into the frying pan and wait until it begins to cook through before flipping; these pancakes do take slightly longer to cook then normal pancakes so make sure to keep an eye on them. My batter made three pancakes (although it could have made four at a stretch) and the third one turned out perfectly - I'm so bad at flipping pancakes. The first one I tried to move too soon and the second one I flipped and got it caught on the rim of the frying pan! The third one I watched like a hawk.

 Just to kill two birds with one stone, I topped it with some fruit that was approaching its best-by date. I doubled our recipe and then put the rest in the fridge for the next morning. Which, if you're reading this on Thursday morning, I'm probably currently tucking into! The best part about this recipe is that it's so versatile - this recipe is vegan but use gluten-free baking powder and it's gluten free too.

What are you guys tucking into for breakfast? Let me know in the comments!