One Last Hurrah, One First Hurrah

August, you beast! You've contained multitudes, and you've done quite well for yourself. You should feel accomplished. September, go ahead then! It's your turn to shine and make us proud. With, you know, things like Labor Days and pancakes. And we're talking here about pancakes that make you feel like moving around and getting things done on your day off, not pancakes that make you feel like taking a four-hour nap at midday. And with all this recent talk about "summer's over," I think it best that we steer clear of anything that could be mistaken for hibernation. Onward!

Zucchini Bread-Banana Bread Pancakes
This pancake base uses oat flour, rather than all-purpose flour, and the almond meal is completely optional. I sometimes use ground flax or brown rice protein instead. Don't worry about messing these up -- it's pretty much impossible to do!  (photo viewable on Instagram link)

1/4 C grated zucchini, moisture squeezed out
1 small ripe banana
1 egg
1 t agave
1/4 C milk (any kind will do -- I lean toward unsweetened coconut milk)
1/4 C oat flour or ground oats
1/8 C almond meal
1/4 t cinnamon
1/2 t vanilla
pinch of baking powder
dash each of nutmeg and allspice
pinch of salt

Mash banana in a bowl. Mix in egg with a fork. Add zucchini, banana, milk, vanilla, and agave. Combine oat flour, almond meal, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, baking powder, and salt. Add dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until combined. Cook by 1/3 cupfuls on a hot, greased griddle and flip when bubbles appear on the tops and undersides are golden brown.

You can also make these with just the zucchini or just the banana. I've added applesauce and pumpkin to the batter before, and (as mentioned above) they just aren't very mess-up-able. As long as you have what looks like pancake batter, you should be just fine!

Stack pancakes sandwich-style with almond butter in between and anything you'd like on top. I lean towards apricots and apples lately, but nearly any fruit would do! These keep well in the fridge, and can be heated up nicely in the toaster or microwave. Makes 3-5 pancakes.