I love breakfast. French toast, eggs benedict, avocado smash, crispy bacon, fluffy banana pancakes. These are the breakfast foods I dream about and frequently indulge in on the weekend. Breakfast cereal, toast, and the mainstays of a rushed weekday breakfast, not so much.
My philosophy on food
I try to primarily choose foods that I enjoy, that nourish my body, and that have a positive impact on my training goals and overall health. If I choose to eat something that doesn’t meet these criteria, then you’d better believe that it’s going to be something super delicious that nourishes my soul.
For me, almost all breakfast cereals, toast, and most other convenient breakfast options in a western diet don’t meet either of these criteria.
They don’t nourish my body the way I want. These traditional breakfast foods are typically pretty high on the glycaemic index (which means they are likely to cause your blood sugar to spike, and then to crash), their macro profile is frequently outside the ideal range that I look for in my meals (they tend to be very carbohydrate heavy, and I like to eat meals that are quite evenly balanced in carbs, protein and fats), and where possible, I like to source the most of my carbohydrate intake from fruits and vegetables.
They don’t nourish my soul the way I want. I find most convenient breakfast foods to be pretty bland and uninteresting, and I don’t want to waste my calories on something that I find utterly boring.
My solution to boring weekday breakfasts:
I’ve seen recipes for 2-ingredient pancakes pop up all over the internet in the last year or two. It sounds too good to be true, right? Just mash a banana with an egg, cook it up, and voila! Pancakes.
Well I tried it. Actually I tried it quite a few times. One of my idols, Oona Kivela is well known for starting her day with banana eggs without fail. I figured, if it was good enough for Oona, it’s good enough for me.
I love the idea that a breakfast that can be made in less than 10 minutes, from virtually unprocessed ingredients, could also be delicious, with a macro split that is perfect for my preferred meal profile, and set me up for a good training session.
Unfortunately, I couldn’t get past the texture. While “banana eggs” might LOOK like pancakes, the texture is a little too wet and “eggy” for me.
However, after trying them time and time again, I started experimenting. I kept the idea but made it (in my opinion) 100x more delicious by adding one simple tweak. Now, I get to eat delicious banana pancakes every day, using this recipe that tastes like an indulgent banana bread but is a perfect nutritious pre-workout snack.
Easy Banana Pancakes:
Makes one serve.
Nutritional Information:
- Calories: 257
- Kilojoules: 1,075
- Carbohydrates: 31.4g
- Fat: 11.9g
- Protein: 8.6g
The ingredients:
To make my version of banana pancakes, you will need just 4 ingredients and about 10 minutes.
- One banana. Try to make sure that your bananas are very ripe (brown spots are good) if you like a banana-ey flavour. The less ripe the banana, the weaker the banana taste in the finished pancakes.
- One egg. Free-range if possible.
- Coconut flour. You can try substituting other flours if you prefer, but I LOVE coconut and the combination of coconut and banana makes the finished pancakes taste exactly like banana bread.
- Butter. I like to use salted butter, for a little extra flavour.
Method:
Step One:
In a small bowl, mash your banana with a fork until it is as smooth as possible. This is easier if your banana is very ripe.
Step Two:
Add the egg and mix well.
If you are trying to minimise your calorie intake, or you’re looking to cut carbs, you can technically make pancakes from this mixture. I personally find the pancakes made from this mixture to be a little too wet and egg-like in texture, so I like to add a flour.
Step Three:
Add one tablespoon of coconut flour (or your flour of choice). Coconut flour is very absorbent and will thicken the mixture up noticeably. Make sure you give it a good solid stir to mix it through and avoid any lumps.
Step Four:
Melt half a tablespoon of butter in a 28cm frypan over a low-medium heat.
Step Five:
Portion out your pancake mixture into your pan. I like to make little pikelet sized pancakes, so I portion out ~ three-quarters of a tablespoon of mixture per pancake. If you prefer a big ol’ pancake, you can pour all the mixture into the pan. You might just need to let it cook for a little longer.
Step Six:
Let the pancakes cook on one side for around 3 minutes, and err on the side of a lower heat, because too high a heat and the pancakes will burn. After around 3 minutes, the pancakes should hold together well when moved around the pan, so flip them, and cook them for an additional minute.
Step Seven:
Pop those pancakes onto a plate, make yourself a cup of coffee, and enjoy your delicious and nutritious breakfast! I eat them as-is, but if you’re feeling a bit extra, you could top them with some greek yoghurt, berries and a drizzle of honey for a truly decadent treat.
