Episode 16 of Season 2 of Portlandia deals with an obsession over breakfast/brunch phenomena. It mocks the fact people will wait HOURS to sit in a restaurant for weekend Brunch.  I’m pretty sure everyone has been there once, twice or thrice waiting and waiting and waiting in line either by choice or by force.

(If you haven’t watched Portlandia, check it out on Netflix.  It pokes fun at many things in North American/Pop Culture).

So there’s something about having love for going out for breakfast with good company and ordering eggs (any way you like ’em), bacon (or turkey bacon if you’re gross but claim to be healthy) and a plate of pancakes.  Though I love my hot cakes, to be  honest I in the last few years I usually skip the pancakes because as an adult they make me feel horrible physically as well as emotionally (guilt for comitting carbicide).

Enter my awesome trainer Jessie (check out her instagram and facebook page) who had shared a Banana pancake recipe from Buzzfeed lastweek that involves a mashed up banana, two eggs and a few sprinkles of cinnamon.

Like Eggies in a Basket when V for Vendetta came out, those around me suffered the consequences of being forced to eat these pancakes multiple times this weekend.

They are super easy and quick to whip up and make.  They’re fluffy and don’t taste flourless and puff up nicely.  They aren’t very sweet but really you can dress up your pancakes with maple syrup or fruit.  I turned my stack into a cake with thinly sliced strawberries and almond butter as ‘icing’. (BECAUSE EVERYBODY LOVES CAKE!)

I  spread some Almond butter on a cooling pancake while a new one pancake was cooking.

Then I’d top it with sliced strawberries, drizzle a little almond butter and continue to build the layers till I ran out of batter/pancakes and Strawberries.

The final product yesterday morning looked like this when I doubled the recipe.

I am not sure exactly how many pancakes or batter it yields depending on the size of your banana and eggs. A rough estimation would be about 1 cup of batter.  The size of your pancakes is up to you.  I myself have a soft spot for silver dollar pancakes about 2.5″ in diameter (which are easier to flip).  If you are making a ‘layercake’ stack, I would suggest a pancake with a minimum of a 5 inches in diameter otherwise the stack won’t be too high before collapsing.  Your strawberries should be sliced 1/4″ thick as well if possible. If you want to get really fancy (or if you have time because your guests aren’t getting hangry yet) you can sprinkle some icing sugar (through a sieve) for a finishing touch.

I saw another recipe that added baking powder for more fluff factor and imagine you can throw in some vanilla, coconut flakes, chocolate chips or blueberries if you have them on hand to shake it up a little.  I wanted to keep it simple so I stuck to the original recipe and I didn’t have anything other than strawberries in the fridge which is how i ended up with my banana pancake strawberry layer cake creation.  The key is that the Banana Pancake batter is your base, feel free to experiment and get creative. If I had Nutella, I would have probably drizzled a little on top because there wouldn’t be enough to layer with because I probably would have eaten the whole jar by the spoonfuls while waiting for each pancake to cook.

Jessie’s post on these banana pancakes apparently got everyone inspired, hungry and curious this weekend, as I saw that Dieffs had been cooking up a storm as well and her version of Banana Pancakes includes protein powder.  Dieffs’ blog is awesome with tons of healthy recipies and I had the chance to try her Blackbean Brownies which were the most moist and delicious ones I have ever had with an almost mousse or whipped texture.  Anyone who’s made Blackbean Brownies before knows that they can be dense, heavy and on the drier side so Dieffs’ Blackbean Brownies are the best brownies I have ever had, and they’re a double bonus because they are healthy and filled with protein.

I hope that by sharing this recipe you consider making these for breakfast in your pj’s at home next time your fancy is tickled instead of waiting an average of an hour at your local breakfast/brunch joint, because if you’re like me, you have better things to do with your time like sleep in ;).

NOTE: The riper your banana, the more banana-ish the pancakes will taste. I myself don’t like bananas because my mother forced me to eat them as a kid when she was pregnant with my brother so I make my pancakes with bananas that are less ripe. All you have to do is mash them up a little more.