Growing up, the one time when I could persuade my mom to make breakfast for me was on the weekend mornings. My normal breakfast-fare consisted off either a Pop-Tart, a bowl of Frosted Flakes, or Cheerios, and sometimes a fresh donut from a local shop. Not something to write home about. But in my mom’s defense, she worked two jobs just to raise me by herself, so I’m sure that making me a homemade breakfast at 5 a.m. was the least of her worries.

On those glorious weekend mornings, when my mom was able to sleep in and I lazily watched my morning cartoons, the promise and sheer hope for a homecooked breakfast lingered in my mind. Finally! I’d get to eat like the rest of the kids in school who used to gloat about eating waffles or pancakes. I don’t know if they were lying or if their mom’s were superheroes but I’d slink back in my chair, silently avoiding throwing my 2 cents in.

Every weekend, it became our ritual that once I heard her wake up, I ‘d run to the kitchen, eagerly waiting for her to hurry up and grab her coffee so I could tell her my breakfast wish-list.

This wish-list consisted of the same things: pancakes, pancakes, and pancakes! She’d smile and laugh, and grabbed the big box of pancake mix for me, throwing in bananas and chocolate chips. She was probably trying to render me into a sugar coma so I’d stop bugging her and most of the time it’d work. After polishing off 3 pancakes with butter and maple syrup, I crash on the couch with my Where’s Waldo book, not to be heard from for at least another hour or two.

Once I moved out into my own place, the one thing that I didn’t try to conquer in my kitchen was my beloved pancake. Could homemade pancakes really beat out those glorious premixed boxes? Would it be wrong to fall in love with my homemade version even though my childhood nostalgia told me to just buy the boxed kind?

Well, I came, I cooked, and I conquered. For the first time in my adult life, I whipped up these buttermilk pancakes and they were fantastic. I even made some for my mom, who grimaced at the sugar content but happily noshed away. I threw in some mashed bananas and chocolate chips, just to give my blood sugar a nice spike.

Even though these homemade ones knocked my socks off, I’ll hold a special place for those boxed mixes. I may be a grown adult, but a girl can always look back, right? Here’s to making more memories in the kitchen and cherishing old ones, no matter how simple they may be. And yes, I practically liked the the plate clean.

Banana Pancakes
from Martha Stewart

Ingredients:
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 cup buttermilk
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, plus more for sauteing banana slices
2 bananas, peeled and sliced into 1/4-inch-thick rounds
A handful of semi-sweet chocolate chips (optional)

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 175 degrees. Whisk flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl. Add egg, milk, and butter; whisk until combined but still slightly lumpy.
  2. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Place 5 banana rounds in pan, about 3 inches apart. Spoon one tablespoon batter over each; cook until large bubbles cover surface, 1 to 2 minutes. Flip, and cook until bottom is golden, about 1 minute more. Transfer to a baking sheet, and keep warm in the oven.
  3. Repeat with remaining banana rounds and batter. Saute extra banana slices in butter until golden; serve with pancakes.