Posted by Darlene 12/19/2001 9:20 am

Pancakes are a familiar sight on the breakfast table, but my favorites are these banana- and- nut- packed flap jacks. Serve them hot with genuine maple syrup - supermarket pancake syrup is nothing more than artificially flavored sugar syrup. While I have devised this as a dairy-free recipe, it works equally well with regular milk, so please try this recipe no matter what your lactose tolerance level.

Yield: 12 to 14 pancakes

Canola oil, for griddle
2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 1/4 cups plus 2 tablespoons soy milk
3/4 cup mashed bananas (about 2 large very ripe bananas)
3 tablespoons canola oil
1/2 cup (2 ounces) chopped pecans

Preheat a griddle or large skillet over medium heat until a sprinkle of water splashed on the surface immediately forms dancing droplets. Or preheat an electric frying pan to 350 degrees F. Using a folded paper towel, lightly brush the griddle with oil. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees F.

In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and saltuntil combined and make a well in the center.

In another medium bowl, whisk all the soy milk, the bananas, eggs, and oil until well combined. Pour into the well and stir until smooth; there can be a few little lumps remaining. Stir in the pecans. Let stand for 5 minutes.

Using 1/4 cup batter for each pancake, pour the batter onto the griddle. Cook until the edges of the pancake appear dry and the underside is golden brown, about 3 minutes. This pancake batter behaves differently from others: The top may not become covered with tiny bubbles, which usually indicate the pancake is ready to turn. Check the edges and use a pancake turner to peek at the under-side. Flip the pancakes and cook until the other side is golden, about 2 minutes. Keep warm in the oven while preparing the rest of the pancakes. If the batter thickens too much upon standing, thin with additional soy milk.

Serve warm.