Blueberry Banana Pancakes

What do you do when you have an excess of fresh blueberries, strawberries and bananas that won't keep forever? You make blueberry banana pancakes with strawberries on top! The mashed banana in the batter lends a nice subtle note of flavor to each bite. I also like this recipe because it doesn't call for buttermilk. I know it's great in pancakes, but how often do I have buttermilk on hand? Never. And I'm just not the sort to plan my breakfast the day before. For guests or a holiday, yes. Otherwise, I make a variation of these...

Blueberry Banana Pancakes
Adapted from the Basic Pancakes recipe on page 747 of How To Cook Everything by Mark Bittman

2 cups all-purpose flour (or substitute 1 cup of white whole wheat flour)
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 Tblsp sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
3 ripe bananas
splash lemon juice
2 eggs
1-1/2 cups milk
1 tsp vanilla
2 Tblsp melted butter or oil
1 pint fresh blueberries

Preheat a large skillet over medium-low heat while you make the batter.

Mix together the dry ingredients with a whisk. Mash the bananas really well with a fork and mix in a splash of lemon juice. Beat the eggs into the bananas, then stir in 1 cup of the milk, the vanilla and the melted butter or oil. Gently stir the wet ingredients into the dry, mixing only enough to moisten the flour, and leaving it slightly lumpy. Be thorough but not over-zealous. Add the rest of the milk a little at a time until the batter is the right consistency.

Drop a small amount of butter or oil onto the hot skillet (if it smokes or turns dark, turn the heat down). Ladle the batter onto the preheated skillet and drop a few blueberries onto each pancake. When underside is golden brown, flip pancake over and continue to cook until second side is also light brown. Adjust heat if needed during cooking.

Hold cooked pancakes on an oven-proof plate covered with foil in a low oven (no more than 200°). Serve hot with butter, maple syrup, and strawberries (if you've got 'em).

Notes (9/23/09): Made these this morning and sub'd walnuts for the blueberries. Yum! Banana-walnut pancakes with a hint of cinnamon, served with maple syrup... it tastes like autumn!