Do you have a favorite pancake recipe? Rosa Parks did: hers had peanut butter in the batter.

My mom told me this about two seconds after my deadline for this pancake piece ^[1]. I interviewed Neil Kleinberg of Clinton St. Baking Company for the article. His secret? Egg whites and tons of butter.

Putting aside the delight of knowing about a secret ingredient, the 1/3 cup of peanut butter in the batter here makes these cakes more sustaining. You don’t get as hungry or as sleepy after eating them as you do with regular pancakes.

Even better, once you’ve added one “health” ingredient to the white-flour batter, the pancake opens itself up as receptor of many of the “superfoods” in your fridge. In the summer, I keep chia seeds, flax seeds, peanut butter, coconut milk, cashew milk, frozen strawberries, and cocoa powder stocked, and I dose them out into daily smoothies, depending on what fruit I have around and what sort of mood I’m in. But in the winter, most of these ingredients just sit there, pushed to the back by the bacon and the potato mash ^[2].

But now, thanks to peanut butter pancakes, they fit into the morning game again! I mixed coconut milk in with my regular milk, sliced up a ripe banana for topping and raced through more than 2 tablespoons of my chia. Boom. Pancakes: the new smoothie?

You could try adding your favorite smoothie elements to the batter or the topping of your pancakes. Maybe you’ll discover something decent, or maybe you’ll find your secret ingredient.

**Recipe**

Peanut Butter Pancakes with Bananas & Chia
Makes 10 to 12 pancakes

Ingredients
1 cup flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons sugar
1 egg
1/3 cup peanut butter
1 1/4 cup whole milk, coconut milk, or half and half
1 tablespoon cooled melted butter, plus more for the pan
2 bananas, sliced very thin
1 to 2 tablespoons chia seeds

In a small bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt. Set aside.

In a larger bowl, whisk together the egg and peanut butter. Add the milk slowly and whisk gently so you don’t splatter everywhere. Add the melted butter. Fold the dry ingredients into the web, just until barely combined.

Heat a cast iron skillet or frying pan over medium-low heat for 5 minutes. Add about 1 teaspoon of butter, let it melt, then use about 1/4 cup of batter to make a pancake. When bubbles start to show, sprinkle each cake with 1/2 teaspoon chia seeds and arrange about 5 banana slices on top, then flip. Cook another 2 minutes, then remove from the pan. Repeat til there’s no more batter.

Serve with extra bananas on top. If the bananas are ripe, these don’t really need syrup!