Oma’s banana pancakes have dazzled two generations of the Kuney clan
Summer mornings after sleepovers at Oma’s, the grandkids are greeted with banana pancakes.
They’re the same pancakes that their moms and dads and aunts and uncles were raised on, an adaptation of a recipe by the actress Judy Garland. It appeared in the 1965 cookbook, “Who’s Who in the Kitchen,” compiled by Gold Star Wives of America, Inc.
Shelly Kuney, or Oma, received a copy of the cookbook from her mother-in-law and first made Garland’s recipe in 1967 when her oldest child was a baby. She reduced the sugar, added butter and banana – “and decided I had a very nutritious simple breakfast.”
Nearly 50 years later, two generations have grown up on Oma’s banana pancakes, which have become quite famous in the Kuney clan and their circle of friends – as well as with friends of their friends.
Kuney added the banana – rich in potassium, fiber and vitamins B-6 and C – for the nutritional value, not the flavor.
“It is very subtle,” she said.
Her four children – two boys, two girls – and their cousins and friends grew up on them. Now Kuney makes them for her 10 grandchildren, ages 5 to 21, as well as their friends and her grand-nieces and nephews – and anyone else who requests them.
The secret to the quick-cooking, crepe-like pancakes is blending the ingredients in a blender, one at a time, in order.
“To me, it makes a difference,” said Kuney, 70, noting the batter turns out silky smooth.
She serves her banana pancakes with “burrup,” a concoction of melted butter and warmed syrup – and a “yummy addition.”
The pancakes are “so thin,” Kuney said. “To try to spread butter over them, I think, would be not so good.”
She likes the way they look on her vintage, yellow, plaid-patterned Melamine plates that are “as old as the recipe.” Oma’s banana pancakes are such a family favorite that she’s served them for lunch and dinner, too.
They helped her own children learn how to use a fork and knife. In fact, she said, “They are the first food they could cut up by themselves.”
Today, her grandkids are spread from Spokane to Seattle. The three who live down the road spend the night about once a month and are treated to Oma’s banana pancakes just as often. She also always makes them on Christmas morning.
“When you’re feeding a passel of kids, you can whip them out really fast,” Kuney said. “Some like to roll it up like a cigarette and dip them and eat them with their fingers. You can put jelly on them. You can roll something in them. But they are good just the way they are.”
Just ask granddaughter Sammy Jo Kuney, 9, of Spokane.
“They’re the best pancakes in the world,” she said. One of her favorite parts, of course, is the “burrup.” She also likes “that they’re homemade.”
So does her sister, Emmaline Kuney, 7.
“I could eat 10 hundred,” she said.
Their brother, Mitchell Kuney, 5, didn’t say anything. He was too busy chewing.
Their mom first tried Oma’s banana pancakes at the University of Redlands, where she met her husband.
“Banana pancakes were the first thing my husband ever cooked for me,” said Sarah Kuney, 38. She’s been married to Daniel Kuney, 36 and the youngest of Oma’s four children, for 13 years. Their family of five can eat two entire batches by themselves, she said.
“Be prepared with the ingredients for a second batch if you have more than four people,” she said. “They go pretty fast.”
Oma is usually prepared for second, even third, batches.
“The pancakes are almost as good cold and can be snacked on all morning,” she said – “if any are left.”
Oma’s Banana Pancakes
From Shelly Kuney of Spokane
2 tablespoons butter
6 eggs (or 5 eggs to make a thicker batter)
1/2 cup flour
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla (more or less to taste)
1 banana
Cooking spray
Melt butter and set aside.
In a blender, process ingredients from eggs to banana, adding them one at a time and in order, while continuing to blend the batter. Add melted butter to the batter at the end and process for a few more seconds.
On a hot, lightly greased griddle – “It needs to be sizzling hot,” Kuney said – pour 3- to 4-inch circles of batter. Cook for about 1 minute until bubbles just start to form, flip and cook another minute. Serve with “burrup.”
Burrup
From Shelly Kuney of Spokane
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 to 3/4 cup syrup
Heat in microwave, mix together and serve with Oma’s Banana Pancakes.