I agree with the lovely Deb Perelman in her recent Valentine’s post about what one should cook for Valentine’s day. Deb makes a lovely slow cooked beef (someone tell my future husband anything involving the words “slow cook” is a straight path to my heart) and says that although the words pot roast don’t exactly sound romantically, cozy, cold-weather, home-cooked foods are the perfect way to celebrate in a way that both you and your loved one can enjoy.

When I was pinterest-ing to find the ultimate Valentine’s dishes, I was surprised to see fancy lamb chop dishes and wayyy too many chocolate-covered strawberry posts. If you come to my house, I will make you my “warm and fuzzy” dishes – pancakes with maple syrup drizzle and my signature slab of peanut butter as a side “dip”. For those of you just joining us, pancakes = love, at least in my book.

As our lovebird neighbors left Atlanta for the weekend, my friend Jules and I had quite the baking/cooking adventure. First, we attempted red wine brownies and then couldn’t stay away from each other and had a delicious Galentine’s brunch the next morning.

As all pancake recipes start, this one started from a chocolate chip pancake base and evolved into an oat-y, banana, walnut cinnamon pancake recipe. Following this brunch, I also celebrated Galentine’s with an Indian brunch with my mom, Grandma, and sister, hung out with my main man (Dad), and sang my heart out with a dose of late night karaoke. A solid weekend to say the least.

Banana Oat Walnut Pancakes

3/4 cup oat flour (grind oats in food processor until they are the consistency of coarse flour)

3/4 cup white wheat or all-purpose flour

2 TBS brown sugar

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp salt

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 cup almond milk/low fat milk

1 TBS cider vinegar

1 egg

2 TBS melted butter

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

2 brown-spotted bananas, mashed up

a handful of walnuts, chopped coarsely

1. In a small bowl, whisk milk and vinegar together and let sit aside for 5 minutes. This will make your regular milk the consistency of buttermilk which seems weird but adds richness.

2. Whisk together flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and sugar in a large bowl.

3. In another bowl, whisk melted butter (or coconut oil or veg oil), mashed bananas, eggs, and vanilla together. Once milk is ready, whisk into this bowl as well.

4. Slowly stir the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and add in your walnut pieces.

5. Let the batter sit 5-10 minutes to let the oat flour absorb the liquids. Heat griddle or large skillet to medium/medium high heat and coat the pan in a thin layer of butter/oil.

6. Dollop a ladle-full scoop of batter onto your skillet once the oil starts to sizzle. This should be around 1/3 cup of batter, but if you want them smaller or larger take some liberties. Cook for 3 minutes on one side, flip and cook for another 1-2 minutes.

7. While you are still making pancakes but have some ready, keep them warming in the oven set around 200 degrees.

8. Serve on a perfectly set kitchen table with the “lazy weekend” or “indie brunch” (if you’re feelin cool) Spotify playlist in the background. Top pancakes with banana slices and an uncomfortably large mound of maple syrup. Light a candle. Feel romantic.

xoxo,

the gals of Galentine’s brunch