Flour, tooIndispensible Recipes for the Café’s Most Loved Sweets & Savories

Joanne Chang is the owner of Flour Bakery + Café, with locations in Boston and Cambridge, Massachusetts, and co-owner of Myers + Chang. She lives in Boston, Massachusetts.

 
Michael Harlan Turkell is a Brooklyn-based food photographer.

CJ’s Spiced Banana Pancakes

Chef Jeff at Flour2 made these pancakes for his son, Julian, one weekend and raved about them so much I asked him to make some for us to try at work. Before I knew it, I had eaten four at one sitting. That’s how I know when something is up to Flour standards: I can’t stop eating it. There’s so much banana in here that the pancakes are incredibly moist and naturally sweet. A touch of freshly ground pepper and allspice elevates this homey breakfast treat to something truly special. I’ll bet that like me you can’t eat just one.

Makes 7 or 8 pancakes

1 cup/140 g all-purpose flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp kosher salt

1 1/2 tsp ground allspice

3/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper

2 tbsp packed brown sugar

1 large egg

1 cup/240 ml whole milk

2 tbsp vegetable oil

4 medium ripe bananas, cut into 1/2-in/12-mm pieces

2 to 3 tbsp unsalted butter for cooking pancakes, plus more for serving

Maple syrup for serving

Special Equipment: rimmed baking sheet, large flat nonstick skillet

1. Preheat the oven to 200°F/95°C, and place a rack in the center of the oven. Put a wire rack on the baking sheet and place it in the oven.

2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, allspice, pepper, and brown sugar. In another medium bowl, whisk together the egg, milk, and vegetable oil until blended; add about 3 of the bananas (reserving the rest for serving). Make a well in the dry ingredients and pour in the wet ingredients. With a rubber spatula or wooden spoon, fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients just until combined. Don’t over-mix. It will be a thick, gloppy, lumpy batter. (Sounds delicious so far, doesn’t it?)

3. In the skillet, melt about 1 tsp of the butter over medium heat. Sprinkle a few drops of water into the pan; if the water sizzles on contact, the pan is ready. Pour a scant 1⁄2 cup/120 ml of batter into the skillet and cook for about 3 minutes, or until the edges of the pancake start to brown and small bubbles begin forming along the edges and in the middle of the cake. With a flat metal or plastic spatula, carefully flip the pancake over; the first side should be golden brown. Cook slowly for another 2 to 3 minutes. Gently press the pancake in the middle with the spatula to flatten it out a bit and make sure the center is cooked through. Adjust the heat as needed so the pancake browns nicely but doesn’t burn on the second side. Remove the finished pancake from the skillet and place it on the wire rack in the oven to keep warm while you cook the remaining pancakes.

4. Cook the remaining pancakes the same way, adding another 1 tsp or so of butter before adding the batter each time. For these pancakes, a slower and lower heat is better; once the pan has been seasoned by the first pancake, you should be able to cook the remaining pancakes on medium-low heat. Serve immediately with butter, maple syrup, and the remaining banana.