Bananas Foster.
One of the most decadent and revered desserts ever created.
This dish was first served at Brennan’s Restaurant in New Orleans, Louisiana back in 1951. It traditionally consists of vanillla ice cream smothered with caramelized bananas in a brown sugar, butter, cinnamon, banana liqueur, and dark rum sauce that is flambéed, or ignited. This process burns all (or most) of the alcohol from the sauce and leaves you with a unique, delicious dessert topping that has become a timeless favorite.
Now, I’ve been to New Orleans, but I’ve never had a chance to try bananas foster from there. I’ve had beignets from Cafe Du Monde, some famous fried chicken from Willie Mae’s, had some New Orleans jambalaya—but not bananas foster. If I could, I’d fly there right now and have a plate. But it’s on my foodie bucket list though, that’s for sure!
I’ve tried other interpretations of this classic dish at restaurants in different cities, and they were all delicious and memorable in their own special way, and I knew that I wanted to create a muscled up version of this, that used healthier ingredients, and put my own personal twist to it—
It was going to be protein-packed, it was going to be lower carb, lower fat, lower sugar, than the original….
It was going to be antioxidant-rich, it was definitely going to have some dark chocolate in it…
And you know it was gonna include some peanut butter…..
So, without further adieu….enter my Peanut Butter Bananas Foster Protein Pancakes!!
These protein pancakes will be your new favorite morning breakfast, post workout meal, afternoon “snack,”—or “whenever you feel like it” meal! I’ve had these twice the past week already!
Traditional bananas foster calls for butter and brown sugar, but since I’m trying to make a “cleaner,” more pumped up version of this—
Instead of butter, in its place I used olive oil.
Olive oil is much healthier, as it is packed with antioxidants and healthy, monounsaturated fats, which is said to be good for the heart. And plus, its flavor goes great with bananas.
Instead of brown sugar, I used maple syrup.
Maple syrup is a natural sweetener that also contains nutrients like manganese, zinc, and iron. Certain studies have found maple syrup to have about 24 different types of antioxidants. Maple syrup still has a lot of sugar, but it is somewhat a better choice than brown sugar.
And instead of vanilla ice cream, which is high in fats, sugars, carbs, and calories—I opted to douse the bananas foster sauce over protein pancakes. And what a combination it is!
For the pancakes, I used a combination of almond flour and whey protein powder. Almond flour is a much lower carb, high protein, high fiber, more nutritious option than other general flours, like all purpose or whole wheat. And as you’ll see in the recipe below, these babies come out super, super tasty, and with some eggs added to the batter as well, they’re even more fully-loaded with protein!
The sauce is finished off with the bananas, vanilla, cinnamon, sea salt, and rum! It is said that the darker the rum, the more flavorful the sauce. I used a gold rum for this recipe, which is about halfway between a dark and a light rum, and the results were still spectacular! Experiment with different rums and flambé it to taste the difference.
Please note that adding rum is completely optional, as the recipe will still taste awesome without it. More on rum and the flambé down below…
Two hidden features of these pancakes not shown in the pictures above—-they’re filled with dark chocolate chips and chopped walnuts!
Check out this mouth-watering, euphoria–inducing, mountain of deliciousness….
The ULTIMATE protein breakfast/dessert/snack/treat—whatever you wanna call it!!!
KA-POW!!!
OK, here are the nutritional benefits of this recipe’s main ingredients:
Bananas are fully-loaded with potassium, a very important nutrient which has been shown to help support the body’s circulatory system, help move oxygen throughout our cells, and helps to lower high blood pressure. Bananas are high in fiber, which helps keeps our digestive system running smoothly, helps to remove toxins, and helps fight inflammation. Bananas are also high in vitamins B6, C, and manganese.
Almonds, which are basically ground up to create almond flour, are a nutritional powerhouse containing exceptional amounts of protein, fiber, vitamin E, riboflavin, magnesium, manganese, calcium. They contain a special kind of vitamin E called gamma-tocopherol—-studies show this antioxidant to be a powerful cancer fighter. Riboflavin and L-carnitine in almonds have been shown to help support normal brain function and maybe help prevent its decline as we age.
Walnuts have been shown to contain the highest amount of omega-3 fats versus all other nuts. Omega-3 fats are a super nutrient shown to help the body by fighting heart disease, improve circulation, control blood sugar, among others—but its hugest benefit, is supporting brain health. Studies show omega-3s in walnuts help keep memory sharp, fight depression, support the positive flow of neurotransmitters, such as seratonin and dopamine.
Cinnamon is considered to be the most antioxidant-rich spice available in the world. The antioxidants found in cinnamon are believed to help fight off disease, protect our DNA from cell damage, slow the aging process, and may fight cancer. Flavonoids in cinnamon have been shown to help fight inflammation throughout the body and may help to relieve muscle soreness.
Here’s what you’ll need for these Peanut Butter Bananas Foster Protein Pancakes…
For the pancake batter:
And for the maple vanilla rum sauce:
If you like this recipe, then you gotta check out my….
- Dark Chocolate Bananas Foster Protein Crepes
- Dark Chocolate Hazelnut Banana Protein Donuts
- Dark Chocolate Blueberry Protein Pancakes
IMPORTANT note….I do use rum for this recipe, and I use the flambé technique, which is a method used where you ignite the sauce with a hand held multi purpose lighter—this quickly burns up most of the alcohol, leaving behind the unique flavors, juices, and aromas from the rum….
***This is a dangerous technique and PLEASE TAKE ALL NECESSARY FIRE SAFETY PRECAUTIONS whenever introducing an open flame while cooking in the kitchen. I am not a professional, I am not certified to teach you how to do this, and I won’t be responsible if anything bad happens. (Sorry, just covering my ass here). So please be EXTREMELY careful—-do some extra research, watch some Youtube videos, learn fire safety, learn proper technique, and/or have special supervision before even attempting to do this. Please be careful guys, I cannot stress this enough.
Adding rum to the sauce is completely optional—-you can skip the last steps altogether, omit the alcohol, and the recipe will still taste great!***
Also, according to numerous sources, the flambé technique does NOT remove all the alcohol from the dish. If so, there will still be some alcohol left over. Please be AWARE of this. And please be over 21 years of age if you will be using rum.
Alright then, let’s get to it!!
| Prep Time | 10 minutes |
| Cook Time | 10 minutes |
| Servings |
pancakes
|
- 3/4 cup almond flour
- 1 1/2 scoop vanilla whey protein powder
- 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 3/4 banana
- 2 egg whites
- 1 whole egg
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 tbsp almond milk
- 1/4 cup dark chocolate chips
- 1/4 cup chopped walnuts
- olive oil
- 1 1/2 sliced bananas
- 2 tbsp maple syrup
- cinnamon
- pinch of sea salt
- vanilla extract
- 2 tbsp rum (optional)
Ingredients
Pancake batter
Rum Sauce
|
|
- Set pan to low/med heat.
- In large mixing bowl, mash banana. Add eggs, vanilla extract, almond milk. MIx thoroughly. Set aside.
- In separate bowl, add flour, protein powder, cinnamon, baking powder. MIx thoroughly.
- Gradually pour dry ingredient bowl contents into large wet ingredient bowl while mixing. Mix until batter forms. Fold in dark chocolate chips, walnuts. Mix thoroughly.
- Measure 1/3 cup of batter and pour onto pan.
- Let cook for about 1-2 minutes, or until spatula slides cleanly underneath. Flip over.
- Let cook for another 1-2 minutes. When spatula slides cleanly under, pancakes should be done. Repeat until all batter is finished. Should make about 7 pancakes. Set aside.
- Set stovetop to medium heat. Add olive oil. When hot enough, add sliced bananas.
- After about 2 minutes, add maple syrup, vanilla extract, cinnamon, and sea salt. Cook for another 2 minutes. Flip over. Add more seasonings if desired.
- (Optional) Turn off heat. Take pan off heat and away from stovetop. Add rum. Immediately, with pan away from face, hair, body, clothing, ignite using hand held lighter.
- (Optional) Place back on stovetop. Leave heat OFF! Let it cook until flames subside, about 30 seconds. Let sit for 1-2 minutes.
- Meanwhile, in bowl, melt peanut butter in microwave for about 30 seconds.
- Drizzle peanut butter on pancakes. Pour rum sauce over pancakes. Add chopped walnuts, cinnamon dust on top. Enjoy!
-Adding rum and using the flambé technique is completely optional! Recipe will taste just as good even without it!
If you're going to be adding rum, please be 21 years of age or older.
-Contrary to popular belief, even after a flambé, some alcohol will still remain in the dish. If this is true, please be aware of this.
-PLEASE TAKE ALL NECESSARY FIRE SAFETY PRECAUTIONS whenever introducing an open flame while cooking in the kitchen. I am not a professional, I am not certified to teach you how to do this, and I won't be responsible if anything bad happens. (Sorry, just covering my ass here). So please be EXTREMELY careful----do some extra research, watch some Youtube videos, learn fire safety, learn proper technique, and/or have special supervision before even attempting to do this. Please be careful guys, I cannot stress this enough!
-When adding the rum, never pour straight from the bottle! Extremely flammable! Measure the amount needed and pour from a separate glass/container instead.
-Keep hair, face, body, clothing, children, pets, flammable items AWAY from the heat source at ALL times!
-I used a stainless steel sauté pan for the flambé. Not sure how a nonstick, teflon, ceramic, or an aluminum pan's material will respond to the extra heat...
-Have a metal lid or a damp, wet towel at the ready to cover the flame, just in case of emergency.
-If you're using a new jar of natural peanut butter, it's probably still liquidy enough after you stir it so melting in the microwave may not be needed.
Did you try this recipe? How did it turn out for you? I would love to hear from you! Sound off in the comment section below or use the social media links you see throughout the blog. Thanks guys!
Pancakes:
Maple Vanilla Rum Sauce:
Peanut butter and walnut garnish:
**Nutritional information is an approximation using Nutrifox, information from Google, and my own calculations to the best of my knowledge. It is not the definitive values or guaranteed to be 100% accurate information. Use only as a reference.**
