Nutella Stuffed Banana Pancakes

Back-to-school week. The kitchen at Hodge Elementary has been waiting for me all summer, patient as a good dog. I went in Monday for prep — cleaning the equipment, checking inventory, organizing the walk-in, making lists. Thirty-one years of opening this kitchen and I still get butterflies. Not nervous butterflies — excited ones. Four hundred children are about to be mine again, and I am going to feed every one of them like they're family.

The county sent a new menu guideline this year. More whole grains. Less sodium. No fried foods on Mondays or Wednesdays. I read it and I thought, well, that's fine, I can work with whole grains and low sodium, but if they think I'm serving baked chicken nuggets they are out of their minds. I will bake the chicken. I will make it delicious. But I will also make a gravy that has so much flavor in it that those children will not notice the missing salt. That is my gift. I make restrictions taste like abundance.

Monique starts eighth grade this year. Denise's girl. She's thirteen and she told me this summer she wants to be a teacher, and every time she says it I think: that child is going to change the world. She came by Saturday to help me in the kitchen — at home, not at school — and we made banana bread together. I let her do everything. Measure the flour, mash the bananas, crack the eggs. She overmixed the batter, which makes it tough, but I didn't say anything the first time because you have to let people make their own mistakes in the kitchen and in life. The second loaf, I showed her the trick: stir until just combined, stop when you see streaks of flour, because the batter finishes mixing in the oven. Her second loaf was perfect. She took it home wrapped in foil and I know for a fact she didn't share it with Andre because she told me so on Sunday with no remorse.

Earl's new medication is helping. He's sleeping better. His color is better. He walked around the block — the whole block — on Wednesday, and when he came back he was winded but smiling, and I said, "Was that so hard?" and he said, "Yes," and I said, "Good. Do it again tomorrow." He did. I stood at the kitchen window and watched him go, slow and steady, past Miss Corrine's house, past the Johnsons', around the corner, and back. I didn't know I was holding my breath until he turned into the driveway and I let it go.

Kayla goes back to Savannah State next week for her junior year. The house is going to be quieter without her flashcards on the table and her shoes by the door and her laugh in the kitchen. I'm going to miss that girl something fierce. But she's building a life, and that's what we raised her to do, and a grandmother's job is to cheer from the porch and send food.

Now go on and feed somebody.

Making banana bread with Monique reminded me why I love teaching in the kitchen — that second loaf, the one she got right, was worth every quiet moment I held my tongue on the first. When she went home and the kitchen got still, I had two very ripe bananas left on the counter and a jar of Nutella that Kayla hadn’t finished before she packed for Savannah, and I thought: I’m not wasting either one. These pancakes use the same instinct as that banana bread — don’t overwork it, trust the heat to do its job — but they come together fast enough for a school-week morning, and the Nutella in the middle is the kind of surprise that makes a person feel looked after.

Prep Time: 10 minutes | Cook Time: 20 minutes | Total Time: 30 minutes | Servings: 4 (about 8 pancakes)

Ingredients

2 very ripe medium bananas, mashed (about 3/4 cup)
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup buttermilk
1 large egg
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted, plus more for the pan
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup Nutella (about 1 tablespoon per pancake)
Powdered sugar and sliced bananas for serving, optional

Instructions

Freeze the Nutella dollops. Line a small baking sheet or plate with parchment. Drop 8 heaping teaspoon-sized rounds of Nutella onto it and freeze for at least 15 minutes while you make the batter. Cold Nutella holds its shape in the center of the pancake without melting into the batter.
Mix the dry ingredients. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Make a well in the center.
Mix the wet ingredients. In a separate bowl, whisk together the mashed banana, buttermilk, egg, melted butter, and vanilla until smooth.
Combine — gently. Pour the wet ingredients into the well of the dry ingredients and fold together with a spatula until just combined. Stop when you still see a few streaks of flour. The batter will look a little rough. That is correct. Overmixing makes pancakes tough, same as banana bread — the griddle will finish the job.
Heat the pan. Warm a nonstick skillet or griddle over medium heat. Add a small pat of butter and swirl to coat. The butter should foam gently but not brown — if it browns immediately, lower the heat.
Cook the first side. Pour about 3 tablespoons of batter per pancake onto the griddle. Working quickly, press one frozen Nutella dollop into the center of each round and cover with another tablespoon of batter to seal it in. Cook until bubbles form at the edges and the underside is golden, about 2 to 3 minutes.
Flip once. Flip each pancake gently and cook for another 1 to 2 minutes until cooked through. Press lightly with the back of a spatula — it should spring back.
Keep warm and serve. Transfer finished pancakes to a low oven (200°F) on a baking sheet to stay warm while you work through the rest of the batter. Serve with a dusting of powdered sugar and sliced bananas if you like. A little maple syrup on the side does not hurt anything either.

Nutrition (per serving, 2 pancakes)

Nutella Stuffed Banana Pancakes — The Morning After You Teach Someone Something That Matters