
Served up by LANI, the Stewardess with all the world’s recipes.
Why surfers love it: Two hours in the lineup burns through breakfast fast. Banana and flour refill the carbs, eggs and milk bring some protein, and the macadamias add the fat that keeps you going until lunch.
Ingredients
- 1½ cups all-purpose flour
- 2 tbsp sugar
- 2 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp salt
- 1¼ cups buttermilk (or milk with 1 tbsp lemon juice, rested 5 min)
- 2 eggs
- 3 tbsp melted butter, plus more for the pan
- 2 ripe bananas: 1 mashed, 1 sliced
- ⅓ cup macadamia nuts, roughly chopped
- Coconut syrup: ½ cup canned coconut milk, ⅓ cup brown sugar, pinch of salt
Method
- Toast the macadamias in a dry skillet over medium heat for 3-4 minutes, shaking the pan, until golden. Tip them onto a plate.
- Make the syrup: simmer the coconut milk, brown sugar and salt in a small pot for 5-6 minutes, stirring, until it coats a spoon. Keep warm.
- Whisk the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a bowl. In another bowl whisk the buttermilk, eggs, melted butter and mashed banana.
- Pour the wet into the dry and stir just until no dry flour shows. Lumps are fine. Rest 5 minutes.
- Heat a buttered skillet over medium. Pour ⅓ cup of batter per pancake, lay on 3-4 banana slices, and cook until bubbles pop on top, about 2 minutes. Flip and cook 1-2 minutes more.
- Stack, scatter with macadamias, and pour on the coconut syrup.
Tip: Nut allergy in the crew? Swap the macadamias for toasted coconut flakes.
Where to eat it
Café Haleiwa, Haleiwa, Oahu, Hawaii. A family breakfast and lunch spot on Oahu's North Shore. Surfer magazine describes it as the pride of surfer Duncan Campbell, who developed the Bonzer surfboard with his brother Malcolm and opened the café in 1982. This recipe is an original home-cook version inspired by the spot. It is not their recipe, and we have no affiliation with them. Go eat the real thing.
Sources
- Café Haleiwa, official site: https://www.cafehaleiwahawaiianislands.com/
- Background on the owners: https://www.surfer.com/culture/ever-wondered-what-the-noth-shor-surf-scene-was-likecafe-haleiwa
- Safe minimum internal temperatures (fish and shellfish 145°F; egg dishes 160°F): FoodSafety.gov (USDA/FDA), https://www.foodsafety.gov/food-safety-charts/safe-minimum-internal-temperatures
- Recipe and wording are original to Surfing Fukcs.




