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Fluffy inside with crisp, golden edges, this easy banana pancake recipe turns one overripe banana into a breakfast everyone loves.
Photo by Alexandra Grablewski (Chronicle Books, 2018)
This banana pancakes recipe comes from an unlikely source: a Williams Sonoma children’s cookbook, which tells you just how easy it is to make. Mashed ripe banana gives the pancakes natural sweetness and plenty of banana flavor, while vanilla adds a warm finishing note. I love them with a simple drizzle of maple syrup, or topped with sliced bananas to hint at what’s inside.
“SO good! I’m constantly making batches of these. The family devours them! Sometimes I add a handful of chocolate chips, but they’re lovely as is.”
What You’ll Need To Make Banana Pancakes
- All-purpose flour, baking powder, and salt: Flour provides the structure, while baking powder gives the pancakes their light, fluffy texture. For the most accurate measurement, spoon the flour into your measuring cup and level it off rather than scooping directly from the bag.
- Banana: The riper, the better—a heavily spotted or brown banana will give you the sweetest, most pronounced banana flavor. Frozen and thawed bananas work well, too—see my guide on how to freeze bananas for details on freezing and thawing.
- Eggs and milk: Eggs add richness and structure, while milk keeps the batter tender. Any type of milk works here.
- Sugar and vanilla: A little sugar supplements the banana’s natural sweetness, while vanilla rounds out the flavor.
- Melted Butter: Adds richness to the batter and flavor as the pancakes cook.
- Vegetable Oil: Using oil along with butter helps the pancakes brown without the butter burning.
- Jump to the printable recipe for precise measurements
How To Make Banana Pancakes
Mix the batter: Whisk the dry ingredients together so the baking powder and salt are evenly distributed. In a separate bowl, mash the banana until nearly smooth, then combine it with the wet ingredients. Fold the wet mixture into the dry just until combined. Don’t try to work out every lump—the batter should be thick and a little lumpy, and overmixing can make the pancakes tough.
Cook the pancakes: Heat a little oil and butter in a nonstick skillet or on a griddle; the butter adds flavor while the oil helps keep it from burning. Add the batter and cook until bubbles form on the surface and the undersides are golden and crisp. Flip and cook through without pressing down with the spatula, which can deflate the pancakes.
Serve or store: Serve warm with maple syrup and sliced bananas, or add your favorite toppings. Leftover pancakes can be frozen for an easy breakfast another time; see the recipe card below for freezing instructions.
Video Tutorial
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Banana Pancakes
Ingredients
For Pancakes
- 1½ cups all-purpose flour, spooned into measuring cup and leveled off
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 2½ teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 small over-ripe banana, peeled (the browner, the better)
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons milk
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
For Cooking
- 1 to 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
For Serving
- Maple syrup
- Sliced bananas
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.
- In a small bowl, mash the banana with a fork until almost smooth. Whisk in the eggs, then add the milk and vanilla and whisk until well blended. Pour the banana mixture and the melted butter into the flour mixture. Fold the batter gently with a rubber spatula until just blended; do not over-mix. The batter will be thick and lumpy.
- Set a griddle or non-stick pan over medium heat until hot. Put a pad of butter and one tablespoon vegetable oil onto the griddle, and swirl it around. Drop the batter by ¼-cupfuls onto the griddle, spacing the pancakes about 2 inches apart. Cook until a few holes form on top of each pancake and the underside is golden brown, about 2 minutes. Flip the pancakes and cook until the bottom is golden brown and the top is puffed, 1 to 2 minutes more. Using the spatula, transfer the pancakes to a serving plate.
- Wipe the griddle clean with paper towels, add more butter and oil, and repeat with the remaining batter. Serve the pancakes while still hot with maple syrup and sliced bananas, if desired.
Notes
Nutrition Information
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
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This was an amazing recipe, you could also use this for cupcakes. I just added some semi sweet chocolate chips and it was delicious.
Delicious! I lightly dusted some cut up banana with cinnamon & brown sugar, fried it in the pan until it caramelized and served it ontop of the pancakes with strawberries, blueberries and yoghurt!
Thank you for this recipe Jenn. I used half cup whole wheat flour and one cup all purpose flour, cut down sugar to half the quantity, reduced some baking powder also, still the pancakes turned out good. It was fluffy and tasty. Thank you our helping us to have a yummy breakfast today.
Amazing! These are quite simply the best banana pancakes,so fluffy and delish! I just made them for the bazillionth time and added blueberries. Last time I made them I even forgot the sugar and no one noticed,they’re that good. Thank you!!
Absolutely delicious! I halved the sugar and used oat milk and vegan margarine as my 21 month old is dairy free and they were still outstanding! Thanks so much!
I was going to make muffins or a cake, but they all needed 3 bananas – I only had two.
I added a bit more flour and a bit less milk. The pancakes turned out perfectly 🙂
Yummy plain or with a smear of strawberry jam on top.
Hi Jenn!
Is it okay to use butter that isn’t unsalted? I seem to not have any unsalted butter left!
Sure. While it varies by brand, most salted butter has approximately 1/4 tsp. salt per stick, so you can use the salted butter and reduce the salt in the recipe as needed. Hope that helps!
Theses were real good. I used 2 overripe bananas and used half whole wheat flour and plain full fat yogurt instead of milk.
Once again a winner!
My daughter is beginning to help too. Thank you again for delicious meal. Ann
Made this with King Arthur All-Purpose Flour, along with a couple more splashes of milk to get the consistency of the pancake batter I prefer (a little thinner). And they were absolutely fantastic! Really good banana flavor and it had the perfect amount of sweetness.
These are truly amazing! I made them this morning only adding in some walnuts and they are perfect! Very rarely, do I take the time to review, but this is a keeper! Thank you.
I almost always fail at pancakes and these were perfection. We added chocolate chips and scarfed down half of the batch, freezing the rest for later. Yum!
Great recipe! I made them gluten free(King Arthur Measure for Measure All purpose flour), and dairy free (Ripple regular nondairy milk and earth balance spread) in the same measurement as listed. Light and fluffy, in spite of questionable appearance of batter. Amazing!