Banana Mac Nut Pancakes with Lilikoi Butter

Last weekend for Valentines day, R and I had agreed to not do gifts and fancy restaurants but just have a low key day in.  I am still a firm believer though that on Valentines day or any other morning, it is still fun to do something nice for someone, so I woke up and got to making some yummy pancakes inspired by a favorite Hawaiian treat.  Cooking is such an awesome way to do something nice because, let's be honest, YOU get to enjoy the finished product as well! The recipe I used was from Food.com, changing a few things slightly to use what I had on hand.

Ingredients: (2 servings)

• 3/4 cups all-purpose flower
• 1 1/2  tbs sugar
• 3/4 tbs baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 3/4 cups well-shaken cream (original calls for buttermilk, but cream worked fine).
• 1 1/2 tbs unsalted butter, melted
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 large ripe banana
• 1/4 cup chopped macadamia nuts

Toppings

• Chopped Macadamia Nuts
• Sliced Banana
• Lilikoi (Passionfruit) Butter (this one is my favorite!)
• Powered sugar

Directions:
1. Whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a bowl.
2. Whisk together buttermilk, 2 tablespoons melted butter, eggs, and vanilla in a large bowl until smooth. Add flour mixture and whisk until just combined.
3. Cut banana into bits and fold into batter along with nuts. (Batter will be very thick.).
4. Brush a 12-inch nonstick skillet with some of remaining tablespoon melted butter and heat over moderate heat until hot but not smoking. 
5. Working in batches of 2 or 3, pour 1/4 cup batter per pancake into hot skillet and cook until bubbles appear on surface and undersides are golden brown, 1 to 2 minutes.
6. Flip pancakes with a spatula and cook until golden brown and cooked through, 1 to 2 minutes more.
7. Transfer to a large plate and loosely cover with foil to keep warm, then make more pancakes, brushing skillet with butter for each batch.
8. Stack on plates, add toppings as desired, and enjoy!

While these do take a little bit of time to mix up, they are super simple and delicious!  The recipe I used above is halved from the original recipe that was for four people, and it was the perfect amount for R and I. And even if you don't feel like baking, I strongly suggest you pick up a jar of Lilikoi (passionfruit) butter!  Have you ever tried it? Its sweet but tangy and can be used in the place of a butter or syrup on tons of awesome things!  Warm on vanilla ice cream, fruit, toast... yum!  If you decide to whip these up this weekend, please let me know what you think!
xo Hannah