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You may not be able to go out to eat for Mother's Day this year, but you can still make it feel special by making a jazzed-up version of a breakfast staple -- and letting the whole family get in on making it. With the following recipe's simple steps and short ingredient list that calls for items you likely already have in your kitchen, it is clear that banana-oat pancakes were designed to let kids take charge.

How do we know this recipe will appeal to young chefs and their families? They were involved in the making of it. While our America's Test Kitchen Kids test cooks were developing the recipe, they invited kids into the kitchen to make it and taste the finished pancakes. Their feedback resulted in ingredient tweaks and more streamlined recipe steps. The result was a kid-tested, kid-approved brunch recipe that they could make themselves and enjoy eating.

To cook more pancakes at a time, you can use an electric griddle set at 350 degrees. But cooking them in batches works just fine, and you can keep them warm on a rimmed baking sheet in a 200-degree oven until they're all cooked so you can serve them all at once.

These pancakes taste great on their own, but to make the meal feel even more special, set up a topping bar with maple syrup, sliced bananas, chopped nuts, chocolate chips and any other ingredients your family likes. And serve Mom her pancakes first. It's her day, after all.

Banana-Oat Pancakes

Serves 4 to 6; makes 15 pancakes

1 1/4 cups (6 1/4 ounces) all-purpose flour

2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 ripe bananas

1 1/2 cups (12 ounces) milk

1 cup (3 ounces) old-fashioned rolled oats

2 large eggs

3 tablespoons vegetable oil

3 tablespoons sugar

Vegetable oil spray

1. In large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt.

2. Peel bananas and place in medium bowl. Mash bananas well with large fork or potato masher.

3. Add milk and oats to bananas and whisk until combined. Let sit until oats are softened, about 5 minutes.

4. Add eggs, oil and sugar to bowl with banana mixture and whisk until well combined.

5. Add banana mixture to flour mixture. Whisk until just combined.

6. Spray skillet with vegetable oil spray and heat over medium heat until hot, about 1 minute. Use a 1/4-cup dry measuring cup to scoop 3 portions of batter into skillet.

7. Cook pancakes until first side is golden, 2 to 3 minutes. Flip and cook until the second side is golden, 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer to plates. Repeat steps 6 and 7 with remaining batter in four batches.

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(For 25 years, confident cooks in the know have relied on America's Test Kitchen for rigorously tested recipes developed by professional test cooks and vetted by 60,000 at-home recipe testers. See more online at www.americastestkitchen.com/TCA.)