Make Dwayne The Rock Johnson’s Banana Pancakes

Some viral recipes are a flash within the pan (I can reside with out one other Hailey Bieber smoothie), however others should change into lifelong components of your cooking repertoire. And in honor of Nationwide Pancake Month — which I very not too long ago discovered is February — there’s one celebrity-famous breakfast recipe that’s price revisiting, in case you missed its debut just some years in the past.

As Gemma Stafford and her co-hosts Ami Shukla and Tianna Cohen level out within the newest episode of their podcast Knead to Know, there are fairly a number of celebrities on the market who’re obsessed with pancakes. Gordon Ramsay has posted a number of pancake recipes, and in 2023 Kevin Bacon shared the three-ingredient pancakes he makes for his spouse, Kyra Sedgwick. 

However maybe essentially the most famend pancake formulation from a serious celeb comes from none apart from Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. Along with chef Janette “Puttie” Clark, the actor {and professional} wrestler despatched the web right into a tailspin with a video of the duo’s coconut banana pancakes in March, 2021. Full with a beneficiant smear of peanut butter and maple syrup on prime, the second you see these crispy-edged pancakes it’s clear why they instantly took off. Right here’s all the pieces it’s good to know to recreate them at house.

There are two key strategies that set these pancakes aside. In contrast to most banana pancakes (or different banana-based baked items), the Rock’s breakfast treats don’t name for the bananas to be mashed. As a substitute, the bananas are both diced or sliced, earlier than being tossed within the batter — this not solely makes the recipe a contact simpler, but additionally creates tender bites of virtually melty, heat banana all through.

Coconut is integrated into the pancakes in three completely different codecs, permitting for optimum coconut taste: unsweetened shredded coconut, coconut milk, and coconut water. So should you love coconut, these are for you. All the opposite elements in “DJ’s Notorious Coconut Banana Pancakes” as The Rock calls them, are easy objects that you just possible have already got readily available. There’s no stand mixer or particular gear required both, so should you snag the requisite coconut merchandise and a few bananas, you would be making these this weekend.

Seeing movies of the griddled coconut-banana muffins as they’re lower into with a knife and fork makes it clear why individuals have been clamoring for the recipe. Due to the added moisture from the bananas and three types of coconut, these pancakes look extremely moist even on digicam. For those who’ve been tormented by dry pancakes earlier than, this is likely to be the reply.

Johnson and chef Puttie have made a number of movies concerning the pancakes collectively, with the latter noting that it took two months for them to good the recipe. She additionally emphasizes on the Rock’s Instagram that even in one thing so simple as pancakes, the standard of your elements matter. So make certain to buy a top quality shredded coconut, akin to an natural possibility with none added preservatives, and don’t use the stale flour that’s been behind your pantry for a yr. 

These viral pancakes have been so profitable, each with The Rock and audiences on-line, that chef Puttie launched her personal line of pancake mixes in 2022. Titled Easy Putt’s Pancakes, the model in fact sells a boxed combine for coconut banana pancakes.

Whereas some followers have referred to Johnson’s favourite pancakes as a protein-packed breakfast — a simple mistake contemplating that as a member of the WWE, most of his meals are centered across the nutrient — a stack of those tropical-inspired treats is unlikely to be significantly excessive in protein. They don’t comprise protein powder or any extra elements that will make their protein content material higher than different pancake recipes, and neither banana nor coconut is a major supply of protein.

However do we actually want our Sunday pancakes to be a considerable supply of protein? That’s not usually my biggest concern once I’m about to dive right into a pile of pancakes. Plus, you possibly can all the time serve them identical to The Rock does, with a beneficiant smear of peanut butter on prime — for a number of extra grams of protein and additional nutty, wealthy taste — and a drizzle of maple syrup to complete.