I’m not sure my kids like making the banana pancakes or the butter pads better, but both recipes are pretty fool-proof, and extra fancy for a looong morning breakfast.  If your kids can stir, they can make these.

A plea from the pancakes: use real butter, not man-made margarine.  Make these individual servings of butter with your favorite chocolate molds the night before.  I got mine from Daiso, they have cute looking teddy bear ones too!

DIY MOLDED BUTTER PADS

1. Soften butter (salted or unsalted are fine, individual preference) to room temperature.
2. Spoon softened butter into molds, minimizing air bubbles.
3. Freeze the molds in freezer for 1 hour, or chiller compartment overnight.
4. Remove mold from fridge and tap them on counter top to dislodge the butter pads from the mold.
5. Use immediately, or keep them in a container, but always keep them in the chiller so that they won’t melt and go out of shape.

FLUFFY AMERICAN BANANA PANCAKES
// Adapted from : BBC Food
Yields : 4 fairly large thick pancakes.

INGREDIENTS

• 135g plain flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons castor sugar
• 130ml milk
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 2 tablespoons melted butter, and slightly more for cooking
• 1 large banana, sliced

1. Lightly whisk milk and egg in a bowl together, then whisk in melted butter.
2. In a separate bowl, mix sifted flour and powder, salt and sugar.
3. Pour milk mixture in step 1 into the bowl of dry ingredients in step 2, and stir thoroughly with a fork, until the batter has no lumps.  The batter would be thick, not the runny kind, resist temptation to add milk/water to remove lumps, keep stirring and the lumps should disappear.  Let batter stand aside for a few minutes.
4. In a pan, brush some melted butter, and turn on fire to low heat.
5. Pour some batter into the heated pan, and let it cook over low heat.
6. Arrange banana slices on the top of the pancake, tapping them down into the batter slightly.
7. Wait till the top of the pancake starts to bubble, then turn pancake over to cook the side with bananas.
8. Remove pan from heat, and serve cooked pancake onto a plate.  Wipe the pan clean with clean towel, and brush with melted butter first, before repeating step 5-8 for the next pancake.
9. Repeat till all batter are used up.
10. Serve pancakes immediately while they are still warm.  Top with gula melaka syrup (or real maple syrup) and butter pads(above).