Chocolate Chip Banana Buttermilk Pancakes

My daughter & I had our breakfast at KFC yesterday. I had my favourite porridge & the daughter ordered KFC's new addition, chocolate banana pancake meal. I took a bite of the pancake & was pleasantly surprised with the banana flavour. I'm not sure if real banana is added... if it's not, then the banana essence must be very good.

This morning, I was inspired to whip up some homemade chocolate banana pancakes. So I searched for a recipe & decided to use one from Food Network. Great recipe indeed... fluffy pancakes & the banana & chocolate combination was spot-on. They were so good, you could just have them on their own. My boy commented that eating them was  like eating pancakes with Nutella! Need I say more?

Chocolate Chip Banana Buttermilk Pancakes

Ingredients:
1 cup flour
1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder (I used double-acting baking powder.)
1/4 teaspoons baking soda
1 tablespoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup buttermilk (I used 3/4 cup milk +1 tsp lemon juice. You may replace lemon juice with vinegar.)
1 large egg
3 tablespoons butter, melted
1/2 teaspoon vanilla essence or paste
1 very ripe medium banana (mashed)
1/4 cup chocolate chips
softened butter or vegetable oil, for cooking the pancakes

Method: 

1. In a bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder & baking soda. 
2. In another bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, egg, sugar, salt, melted butter & vanilla. Add in the mashed banana & blend well. Whisk the dry ingredients, including the chocolate chips, into the liquid until well combined. Don't over mix.
3. Heat a griddle over moderate heat until hot enough to make a drop of water scatter over surface and brush with butter or oil. Working in batches, spoon batter onto griddle to form pancakes and cook until bubbles appear on surface and undersides are golden brown. Flip pancakes with a metal spatula and cook until undersides are golden brown and pancakes are cooked through. Serve warm.

Adapted recipe by Georgia Downard @ Food Network.