Whole Wheat Banana Pancakes

Fourteen weeks and second trimester officially, which in practice means the nausea is largely gone and the exhaustion has taken a different character — less urgent, more pervasive, the kind that sits underneath everything rather than arriving in sudden waves. I sleep well. I wake up early. I eat more than I used to and find myself interested in food in a way that is both familiar and slightly changed, like a song you know in a new key.

The apartment is changing slightly. There is a room that will be the baby's room — currently Sean D.'s overflow shelving situation, which he has begun the process of migrating to the living room with the systematic calm of a man who has agreed to something difficult and is not going to complain about it. I have agreed not to comment on the living room situation until the migration is complete. This is a negotiated peace and both of us are honoring it.

At work this week I had a patient whose situation moved me in a way I wasn't prepared for — a forty-year-old mother of two young children, newly diagnosed, whose first question when I walked into her intake was not about her own prognosis but about how to explain this to her kids. I sat with her for a long time. I thought about what I would want someone to tell me, and then I told her things that were true and some things that I hoped were going to be true and some things about the ways kids understand what you give them the language to understand. I drove home and held the thought of the baby for a while, which is different from holding the baby, which is something I'm eight months from doing, and which feels, right now, very far and very close at the same time.

Made a roasted butternut squash soup Sunday — the fall version of the kind of soup I make in summer, all that summer improvisation replaced by the specific warmth of roasted squash and apple and a little spice. Pureed smooth, finished with cream and a dusting of smoked paprika. First soup of the fall that felt like what fall soups are supposed to feel like. The baby, apparently, liked it. I ate two bowls.

That Sunday soup was the meal that felt most like fall, but the morning after was pancakes — and not the kind I make when I’m rushing. The Whole Wheat Banana Pancakes have been a weekend staple for a while now, but lately they’ve taken on a different weight: something about the banana sweetness and the heft of whole wheat feels exactly right for this season, this body, this quietly changing life. It’s the kind of breakfast you make when you have time and want to feel it.

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

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 ripe bananas, mashed (about 3/4 cup)
1 cup milk (dairy or unsweetened plant-based)
2 large eggs
2 tablespoons honey or pure maple syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon melted butter or neutral oil, plus more for the pan

Instructions

Mix the dry ingredients. In a large bowl, whisk together the whole wheat flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt until evenly combined.
Mash and mix the wet ingredients. In a separate bowl, mash the bananas well until mostly smooth. Add the milk, eggs, honey (or maple syrup), vanilla, and melted butter. Whisk until combined.
Combine. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and stir gently until just incorporated — a few lumps are fine. Do not overmix or the pancakes will be tough. Let the batter rest for 3–5 minutes.
Heat the pan. Warm a nonstick skillet or griddle over medium heat. Brush lightly with butter or oil.
Cook the pancakes. Pour about 1/4 cup batter per pancake onto the skillet. Cook until bubbles form across the surface and the edges look set, about 2–3 minutes. Flip and cook another 1–2 minutes until golden and cooked through.
Serve. Stack and serve warm with maple syrup, sliced banana, or a dusting of powdered sugar.

Nutrition (per serving)

Whole Wheat Banana Pancakes — The Warm Morning That Felt Like Fall Finally Arrived