This is my go-to banana pancakes recipe. I've wanted to share it for so long now, because it's super simple, absolutely delicious and incredibly good for you.
You can whip it up in the same amount of time you'd need for your oatmeal which makes it a great breakfast for whenever you feel like it, even if it's not a weekend.
I'm sharing the base recipe in this post, for the very plain banana pancakes, but you can totally make up your own varieties using this base. For instance, I sometimes like to add in some blueberries and make it blueberry banana pancakes, or some chocolate chips for chocolate chip banana pancakes. I've also done them with butternut squash for the Pumpkin Spice season and here's my green take on this recipe- Green Banana Pancakes- perfect for when you want to sneak in some extra nutrients into your meal.
For how good those pancakes taste and how easy it is to make them you'd think it's impossible that they are basically completely whole-food plant-based, oil/fat-free, gluten-free AND made using no added sugars.
Personally, I'd never choose to be gluten-free if I didn't have to be (and I never encourage anyone to do that if they don't have to for health reasons, I plan to write about why that is soon) but sometimes, when skipping gluten means skipping the refined white wheat flour, it's actually a good idea. However, only as long as you substitute it with something better- more wholesome, such as whole grain, seed or nut flours, as opposed to store-bought gluten-free flour mixes (usually made of pure starch and added sugars). In this case, instead of the refined wheat flour, I'm simply using rolled oats which is a better alternative regardless of whether you are gluten-free or not.
The good news for those who aren't gluten-free is that your oats will be cheaper. Those of us who have to watch out for gluten unfortunately need to invest in the gluten-free kind, which, by the way, is a bit crazy since oats are naturally gluten free... but it has to do with the way they are processed nowadays. I wrote a whole separate post on oats (and their nutritional benefits), you can check it out here.
So if you are gluten-free, make sure both your oats and the baking powder you're using are certified as gluten-free. If you're not g-f, just use the regular kinds.
This is a recipe for one person, it makes about 10 small pancakes or 5 regular ones. If you're making it for more people, or you're just very hungry, you're welcome to double or even triple the ingredients. I've done it both those ways as well and everything worked out equally delicious.
While I can imagine that if you're used to white flour pancakes and the wonderfully tasty fluffiness of gluten, those will not have the exact same texture, but I personally think they come pretty close, definitely the closest I've ever gotten without overly complicating the recipe with flour blends or additional ingredients. So give it a go, even if you're used to the regular pancakes, I promise your gut will be happier with the fiber and the nutrients these ones provide.
Simple Banana Pancakes Recipe
Prep time: about 10 minutes
Yields: about 10 small pancakes or 5 regular ones
Ingredients:
1 medium banana, make sure it's ripe (that makes it sweeter and we want that since it's our main sweetener here)
3/4 cup of rolled oats (use gluten-free, if you're g-f)
1/4 cup of water
1 tsp of baking powder (use gluten-free, if you're g-f)
pinch of salt
pinch of cinnamon (or up to 1 tsp, if you like more)
Optional:
optional: 2-5 drops of vanilla extract
optional: a handful of blueberries
optional: about 2 Tbsp of chocolate chips
optional: 1-2 pitted dates - if your banana isn't very ripe and you're not adding any blueberries or chocolate chips for sweetness, you may want to blend 1-2 pitted dates with the batter.
optional toppings include: a small portion of fresh fruit such as banana slices or berries, plant-based yogurt, homemade applesauce or jam, chia pudding and/or nut or seed butters.
Method:
1) Peel the banana and break into 2-4 smaller pieces.
2) Add all of the ingredients to a blender and blend until you get a smooth batter
+ if using blueberries or chocolate chips you can add them in now and mix in with the batter now or you can sprinkle them on top of the freshly poured batter already on the pan, or you can do both.
3) Heat up a non-stick frying pan on medium-high heat.
4) Pour the batter onto the pan using a big spoon or a ladle- depending on what size pancakes you want and what you have available, but try to find something that will be big enough for your desired pancake size, because the pancake might not brown evenly if you start adding extra batter even a few seconds later.
5) Use a thin spatula to check whether the pancakes are okay to flip- at first you won't be able to move them at all, but they should brown nicely within 2-4 minutes (so you need to keep checking) and that's when you should flip them.
6) The pancakes should be evenly brown (but obviously not burned) on both sides. Once they're done on both sides transfer them to a plate and serve with the toppings of your choice.
Enjoy!
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