Chestnut and Banana Pancakes

A month or so ago I ordered some chestnut flour on a whim from L’Epicerie, largely because they were selling it pretty cheaply. However, I didn’t know what to do with it (although The Cake Bible does have a recipe for a chestnut flour genoise). This morning I decided to make pancakes using it. Aiming for an Italian theme, I used Ricotta as the dairy in the batter and honey as the sweetener. I also added a banana. I thought these pancakes were really good. The batter was very thick because of the ricotta and mashed banana, the ricotta kept the pancakes nice and moist (which is how I like my pancakes), and I thought the chestnut was subtle but present. The recipe is based on my old favorite pancake recipe, which originates from the Tasajara Bread Book.

Chestnut and Banana Pancakes

1 1/3 cups all purpose flour 

2/3 cups chestnut flour 

3 tsp baking powder  

1 tsp salt  

2 T honey 

3 eggs 

1 banana mashed with enough low-fat ricotta to make 1 ½ cups total ½ cup vegetable oil 

Butter for the pan

1. Whisk together the flours, the baking powder, and the salt, set aside

2. Whisk the eggs, add the honey, banana-ricotta mixture, and oil and whisk to combine.

3. Put your pan over medium-high heat and melt the butter. Once the butter is melted quickly fold the dry ingredients into the wet

4. Spoon out pancake batter to make pancakes of whatever size you like. Remember the batter is thick, you may need two spoons.

5. Cook the pancakes 3-4 minutes a side, or until both sides are brown and the pancakes are cooked through. Serve Warm with maple syrup.