Were the first year or two out of college a big smack in the face for anyone else? I remember sitting around  my freshman year sociology class discussing Durkheim, or learning about the Coriolis effect in Intro Mechanics, or even listening to Bashir Abu Manneh’s impassioned lectures on Fanon, thinking, “I’m good enough to get this far, I can do pretty much whatever I want to do.” Well, I couldn’t. Not for a long time. For many of us who graduate from Liberal Arts schools without ultra competitive job offers, Teach For America gigs, or grad school acceptances, life after college is a bitch.  One of my peers in Physics had a nanny gig lined up after graduation. Mindy Kaling, even with her Dartmouth education, nannied for a while when she first moved to the city. I got a part time job pushing paper at a consulting firm (that led to better opportunities later on). I searched for jobs for over a year and a half, whereas I believed with my degree, landing one would be a cinch. It was a humbling experience. I realized that as while you’re dishing out the dough, you can be fooled into a false sense of entitlement. But when it comes to earning a few of those dollars back, intelligence is rarely enough. You need to be practical. Don’t fall into the same millenials boat. Moral of the story is this: don’t go to a liberal arts school. Of, if you do, do incredibly well, so that you graduate at the top of your class. Become a pharmacist. Or learn to code. Make sure you have a decent internship lined up before your senior year. Harass people to get a decent job offer – persistence pays. I wish someone had told me any one of these.   What does all this have to do with chocolate chip banana pancakes? Well, I have a lot of time to think while babysitting these guys on the stove. I make these like once a week and they are so incredibly good. I rarely have enough overripe bananas for banana bread, but often have one or two. The perfect amount for providing a hint of sweetness and banana flavor to regular pancakes. They are so light and fluffly…not like these ricotta pancakes I had at brunch a few weeks ago at a pretty popular Greenpoint spot (could NOT finish those dense giants).

I make them “reduced guilt” by incorporating whole wheat. You can even go the full 9 yards by subbing unsweetened applesauce for butter, and blueberries for chocolate chips. I sometimes have blueberries and hand and ALWAYS have chocolate chips. So, here you go.

Ingredients

• 2 overripe bananas
• 1 egg
• 1 1/2 cups whole or reduced fat milk
• 3 tbsp butter, melted
• 3/4 cup all purpose flour
• 3/4 cup whole wheat flour
• 2 1/2 tsps baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 1/4 cup chocolate chips

Directions

1. Mash bananas in a medium bowl with fork. Add egg and whisk together. Add milk and stir to combine. I like to melt the butter in the frying pan that I’m using to cook the pancakes in. Add to the banana/egg/milk mixture.
2. Add both flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt and sugar to the mix. Stir to combine without over beating (few lumps are ok). Add chocolate chips.
3. Heat up your griddle or non stick pan over low heat.
4. Scoop 1/4 cup of batter onto the pan. Cook until bubbles come through, about 1 min. Flip and cook for an additional 30 seconds or until  you achieve a golden brown color.

I prefer this method rather than adding pads of butter to the pan for each pancake, as the coloring is much more even.