There was a time, about five or six years ago, when my weekends were far different from they are now.
I would generally work during the day on Saturday. Saturday nights were for dates, going dancing, or having a wine and movie night with my best friend. Sunday mornings were spent sleeping in a bit, going out to brunch with my pup, and if the weather was nice, the two of us would go to the beach.
I loved my single girl weekends. I loved making plans for Saturday night and getting dressed up. All week I would look forward to my brunch date with Samantha. I felt so alive, living it up as a single girl. At that time, I thought I could never be happier. I knew I would never trade it for anything.
But then I met Chris. And then I met his twins, Max and Sophia. And my priorities changed in an instant.
I began turning down nights of dancing with the girls to stay in and watch Finding Nemo with the twins. Nothing sounded better than helping Chris prepare dinner for the twins and playing a board game with them. Sunday brunch went from being a party of two to a party of five (two adults, two kids, 1 dog), and taking the twins to the beach or on a bike ride became our weekend ritual.
Now, our house doesn’t feel completely like home until the twins come over for the weekend. It’s painful for me to give up one of our Saturday movie nights. And I love our lazy Sunday mornings. When I can make a brunch for the four of us, I’m in seventh heaven.
For our most recent brunch, I made these Peanut Butter Banana Pancakes with Salted Chocolate Caramel Syrup. The pancakes were a compromise for the twins- peanut butter for Sophia, banana for Maxwell. The pancakes were a perfect balance of both flavors, neither overpowering the other. The syrup was for all of us, except Max, who prefers his pancakes dry and chocolate-free. I started with a date caramel base and added cacao powder and liquid until I had a syrupy consistency, and it was so perfect! Sophia, who usually does not like to eat banana, ate big chunks of banana drenched in this sauce. All of us were pretty excited about this brunch- even Samantha, who got a little tiny pancake from the last scrapings of the batter. It's mornings like this that I cherish.
Mornings like this are also such a great reminder to look around and be grateful for all that makes you happy. You might just find that this moment, right now, is your happiest moment yet.
Ingredients
- 8 dates, seeded and soaked for 1 hour
- 1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons almond milk
- 1/4 cup water
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup
- 1 tablespoon cacao powder (or cocoa powder)
- sea salt to taste
- 1 very ripe banana, mashed
- 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
- 1 1/2 cups almond milk
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3/4 cup buckwheat flour
- 1/2 cup coconut flour
- 1/4 cup tapioca starch (or arrow root/cornstarch)
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- dash of ground nutmeg
Instructions
- Pulse the dates in a food processor until they are in small pieces. Add the rest of the ingredients and process until very smooth, scraping sides as needed. Add more almond milk or water as need to thin it out. Chill until ready to use.
- Mix together the almond milk and apple cider vinegar and allow to sit and curdle.
- Whisk together the dry ingredients in a medium bowl. In a large bowl, mix together the banana and peanut butter. Add the rest of the wet ingredients and mix until fully combined.
- Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet, stirring as you go. Mix until just combined. This will be a thick batter.
- Heat a large frying pan or griddle over medium heat. Lightly spray with oil. Once the pan is hot, use a 1/3 cup to scoop the batter onto the pan. Use a spoon or spatula to spread it out in a circular shape. Allow to cook until the batter begins to look dry on the top, about 3 minutes. Flip the pancake and allow to cook for about 2-3 minutes. Remove from heat and if not serving immediately, keep it warm on a plate covered with aluminum foil. Regrease the pan in between each pancake.
- Serve with the chocolate caramel sauce and enjoy!
Heather
This post had me smiling all the way through - love your weekend ritual, and what I love even more are these pancakes! The Caramel looks and sounds so amazing Kristy! xo
Em @ Love A Latte
WOW these look incredible!!! I love pancakes and these seem extra special! 🙂
Liezl
This looks so good! This is the kind of Sunday ritual that I can get used to.
Thank you for sharing this recipe.
Marlies
Do you think I could sub the buckwheat flour for oat flour?
keepinitkind
I think that would be fine. I love oat flour in pancakes. 🙂
Marlies
Just made these this morning and the oat flour was delightful! I loved them 🙂
Michelle
Logan always has to have pancakes every Sunday.. no matter what.. I will definitely add this to my rotation. I LOVE caramel I might have to have some as well.... Our Saturdays are always crazy with lessons and shopping...Sunday are more relaxing pancakes and maybe a farmers market and what ever else we can do =)
Nezumi
Your single girl weekends sound like my upcoming weekend. Although I'm not single, I'll be spending some alone time while my partner is on a business trip. I'm really looking forward to see somes friends, going out for a brunch (and have the bed to myself!). But I can't wait for him to be back and try these pancakes for our next breakfast together. Caramel and bananas seem like an a awesome recipe!
Abby @ The Frosted Vegan
I just love these, love love love!
Alexandra @ Delicious Knowledge
My sisters and I were just talking about this! Funny how life changes in just a few short years. While I still love lazy Sunday brunches, they don't include quite as many mimosas as much as they used too 😉 These pancakes look like the perfect breakfast for those rare mornings now when we can sleep in and relax!
jodye @ chocolate and chou fleur
I don't even need the pancakes, though they do look fabulous. Just give me a bowl of salted chocolate caramel syrup and call it a morning! I'm going to be making this syrup to drizzle over everything!
Produce on Parade
This looks wonderful! I plan to make the sauce this weekend to go over a bananas foster oatmeal that I am making for a brunch 🙂 Our weekend ritual is to go on an outdoors adventure/hike/ski. Something that would be too demanding for the weekday!
Liz
I love that you use coconut flour in this! I love to have that stuff on hand and use it as a binder for most of my veggie burgers; it absorbs liquid klike crazy so I get to use a lot less than standard flour.
Banana and PB is an AWESOME food combo. And combine it with chocolate?? HEA-VEN. I try to work that combo into as many dishes that come out of my kitchen as possible. 🙂
I know the way I make pancakes is SO not in the spirit in which you create them, but they are such a great way to use up old flour I'm looking to get rid of when cleaining out my pantry and fridge. Not as sweet or heartfelt as your brunches, but the person I cook them for loves them nonentheless. 🙂
The Vegan Cookie Fairy
I think I died reading the title alone. This looks orgasmic. Serioulsy. I can't wait to try this!
Anna {Herbivore Triathlete}
Your recipes are always incredible and this one is no exception! Wow, these pancakes looks simply amazing and I would love to have them for Sunday brunch.
Richa
I love that these pancakes have coconut and drenched in caramel.. so many flavors working so well together! i also love your posts about sophia and max. so cool that they like all the awesome stuff you make!:)
Gabby @ the veggie nook
Your traditions new and old sound so nice! It's wonderful that you went from a place of being happy to even happier 🙂 Brunch with Chris and the twins sounds amazing and those pancakes look like such a treat! Only you!
Caitlin
aww, i love this post! your weekends with chris, sam, and the twins sounds so similar to mine and dayv's weekends. i've been making pb banana waffles the past several weekends, too! (planning on sharing them this week).
sarah@thesweetlife
these look amazing!
It's incredible how our priories and life can shift in an instant (like when you met Chris)
I felt the exact way the moment I gave birth to Eden. I wasn't even sure I wanted kids when I found out about her. Now I can't imagine life without her.
Melissa
What a sweet post - it seems like you guys have great weekend priorities. I wanna come over for pancakes! 🙂
Somer
I just want to go into the kitchen right now, make that syrup and drink it. Goodness it looks divine!
Cadry
Those pancakes look glorious! And what a great post, Kristy! It is interesting how our priorities and interests change over time. It's easy to overlook life's simple pleasures, because they're not flashy. However, they are what make life beautiful.