Banana & Olive Oil Pancakes (Egg Free)

Anyone born before 1950 will eat a banana regardless of its state. They'll slurp up the sticky bruised bits with glee, telling anyone who'll listen "That's the best bit."

That generation's edibility window is so much wider, and it's not just bananas. Two-week-old ham with a pearlescent sheen? Thrice-defrosted prawns? 6-month-old mayo? If it passes the sniff test, it's good to go. It doesn't seem to kill them so perhaps it's the rest of us who are too precious about best-before dates and partial decomposition.

Anyway, back to bananas.

Don't bin the brown ones. Even if you're not an octogenarian best-before date denier, you can still put them to good use. They're sweeter and more bananary than the youthful yellow ones, so ideal for cakes, banana bread, banoffee pies, smoothies, ice creams and these gorgeous golden pancakes.

Store your overripe bananas in the freezer. They'll be even softer when they defrost, and easier to incorporate into your recipe.

If you peel them and put them in a container before freezing, they're easier to work with when you need them. Saying that, freezing them in their skins is fine. You can chuck them in the freezer as they are and when you defrost them, snip off the top and squeeze out the goo, like toothpaste.

Bananas frozen in their skins

Egg Free

I didn't set out to develop an egg-free recipe, I just forgot the eggs. No one missed them. My family are all enthusiastic amateur food critics, and will gleefully tell me where my food has failed at any given opportunity. They would have let me know if they found the pancakes lacking in anyway, but on this occasion, they just shut the fuck up and ate them, which was nice.

While I made the pancakes my youngest made a very good berry syrup with a couple of handfuls of frozen berries, a squeeze of lemon juice and a little sugar. But if you don't have time or child labour, keep it simple. Honey, maple syrup, sour cream, Nutella - or nothing - are all wonderful accompaniments.

Ingredients

1 cup plain flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 cup milk

3 defrosted bananas (about a cup's worth when mashed)

1 tsp vanilla essence

3 tbsp honey

3 tbsp olive oil

1/2 tsp salt

Butter for frying

Berry Syrup

2 cups frozen berries

1/4 cup caster sugar

Juice of half a lemon (if needed)

Berry Syrup Method

Combine all the ingredients in a small covered pan and heat on low until the sugar has melted and the fruit has broken down.

Method

Whisk the baking powder and salt into the flour and sift it all into a large mixing bowl.

In a separate bowl, whisk the defrosted mushed-up bananas, milk, olive oil, vanilla essence and salt.

Warm the honey in the microwave until it's runny and whisk that in too.

If the mixture is lumpy, use an electric whisk, or just give it a quick blast in a blender until you have a smooth consistent batter.

Pour the wet ingredients into the flour and whisk until just combined.

Add a tablespoon of butter to a medium-hot pan. When it's frothing pour in the batter. I like palm-sized pancakes but you can pour according to your preference.

Flip the pancakes after about a minute - they should be golden with a little caramelisation.

Serve with the berry syrup, a dollop of sour cream, a drizzle of maple syrup... or whatever sweet, sticky substances you have at hand.