Pancakes belong to the first. Banana bread belongs to the second. Once you know which mood you are in, the recipe chooses itself.

Classic Fluffy Pancakes

A good pancake batter is lumpy, not smooth. If it looks like cream soup, you have overmixed it and the pancakes will be flat and chewy. Lumps are correct. Leave them.

Ingredients

• 1½ cups all-purpose flour

• 3½ teaspoons baking powder

• 1 tablespoon white sugar

• ¼ teaspoon fine salt

• 1¼ cups whole milk, room temperature

• 1 large egg, room temperature

• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (optional)

Method

1. Whisk the flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt together in a large bowl.

2. In a separate bowl, whisk the milk, egg, melted butter, and vanilla until blended.

3. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and fold with a spatula — about 10 to 12 folds — until no dry flour is visible. Lumps are fine. Do not whisk.

4. Rest the batter for 5 to 10 minutes. This relaxes the gluten and makes every pancake noticeably lighter.

5. Heat a lightly greased non-stick pan over medium heat. Pour ¼ cup of batter per pancake. Cook until bubbles form across the surface and edges look set — about 2 to 3 minutes. Flip once. Cook 1 to 2 minutes more until golden.

Key tip: Never press down after flipping. This collapses the air you just worked to build.

Nutrition (per pancake)

158 kcal · 22g carbs · 5g protein · 6g fat

Best toppings: Salted butter and maple syrup. Sliced strawberries. Greek yogurt and honey. Chocolate chips folded into the batter.

Moist Banana Bread

The single most important rule: your bananas must be deeply overripe — brown to black on the outside, soft and sweet all the way through. A yellow banana with a few spots will give you a bland loaf. An almost-black banana gives you something extraordinary.

No overripe bananas? Bake unpeeled bananas at 150°C (300°F) for 15 to 20 minutes until the skins turn black. Cool before using.

Ingredients

• 3 to 4 large overripe bananas (1½ cups mashed)

• 2 cups all-purpose flour

• 1 teaspoon baking soda

• ¼ teaspoon fine salt

• ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

• 115g unsalted butter, softened

• ¾ cup brown sugar

• 2 large eggs, room temperature

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• ¼ cup whole milk or buttermilk

• ½ cup walnuts or chocolate chips (optional)

Which One Should You Make?

Make pancakes when you are hungry now, cooking for people already at the table, or have no ripe bananas on hand.

Make banana bread when your bananas are already past their best, you want breakfasts sorted for the week, or you are baking something to give away.

Both are worth knowing by heart. Both are better made from scratch than from a packet. And both, once made a few times, become the kind of recipe you can produce without thinking.

Looking for more recipes worth making from scratch? YamBite.com is a great place to keep exploring — tested recipes for every meal of the day.