Banana Pancakes
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Fluffy on the inside, crispy on the outside and delicately flavored with bananas, these are phenomenal banana pancakes.
Photo by Alexandra Grablewski (Chronicle Books, 2018)
Fluffy on the inside, crispy on the outside, and delicately flavored with bananas and vanilla—these are phenomenal banana pancakes. The recipe, believe it or not, is adapted from a Williams Sonoma children’s cookbook, which only proves how easy they are to make. I love them with a simple drizzle of maple syrup, but if you want to dress them up and hint at what’s inside, top them with fresh sliced bananas and a dusting of confectioners’ sugar.
Banana pancakes are good year round, but if you’re up for trying seasonal variations, you’re in the right place. During the fall when you have pumpkin purée on hand, try pumpkin pancakes. When summer rolls around and blueberries are plentiful, blueberry pancakes fit the bill. If you’re more of a purist, my basic pancake recipe is hard to beat. And of course, don’t forget bacon on the side (for perfectly crispy bacon, see how to cook bacon in the oven.)
Table of Contents
What You’ll Need To Make Banana Pancakes
Step-by-Step Instructions
Begin by combining the flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt in a bowl.
Whisk well and set aside.
In a medium bowl, mash the banana until almost smooth.
Add the eggs.
Whisk with a fork to combine.
Mix in the milk and vanilla extract.
Pour the banana mixture and melted butter into the dry ingredients.
Fold the batter with a rubber spatula. It will be thick and lumpy.
Heat the vegetable oil with a pad of butter on a griddle or in a non-stick pan (the butter gives flavor and the vegetable oil prevents the butter from burning). Spoon the pancakes onto the griddle and cook until some bubbles appear on the top and the underside is golden brown and crisp.
Flip the pancakes and cook a few minutes more.
Top with maple syrup and fresh sliced bananas, if you like.
Video Tutorial
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Banana Pancakes
Fluffy on the inside, crispy on the outside and delicately flavored with bananas, these are phenomenal 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 low fat milk
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
For Cooking
- 1 - 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
For Serving
- Maple syrup
- Sliced bananas
- Confectioners' sugar (optional)
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, sliced bananas and confectioners' sugar if desired.
- Freezer-Friendly Instructions: The pancakes can be frozen for up to 3 months. After they are completely cooled, place a sheet of parchment or wax paper between each pancake and stack together. Wrap the stack of pancakes tightly in aluminum foil or place inside a heavy-duty freezer bag. To reheat, place them in a single layer on a baking sheet and cover with foil. Bake in a 375°F oven for about 8 to 10 minutes, or until hot.
Nutrition Information
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- Per serving (6 servings)
- Serving size: 2 pancakes (does not include maple syrup or toppings)
- Calories: 278
- Fat: 12 g
- Saturated fat: 6 g
- Carbohydrates: 35 g
- Sugar: 9 g
- Fiber: 1 g
- Protein: 7 g
- Sodium: 299 mg
- Cholesterol: 85 mg
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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Made these this morning…Delicious! I had to substitute almond milk because it was all I had on hand. Super yummy! Thanks
Love the crispy edges, and soft center.
These pancakes are spot on! I can never eat all the bananas before they brown and this is an excellent way to use them. The maple syrup takes the flavor to another level! Thank you for sharing this wonderful recipe!
These were amazing. Nice and fluffy on the inside and nice finish on the outside. Between these and the regular pancakes these will be our go to.
Anyone try this recipe for waffles?
This is our go-to pancake recipe (I’m so glad it made it into the cookbook!). It is so fluffy, light, moist–so perfect. My vegan daughter was home from college and wanted blueberry pancakes so I thought I’d share how I made these vegan–they came out amazing. We subbed chia seeds and water for the two eggs and used sunflower oil for the butter. then we folded frozen blueberries into the batter. They were SOOOOO good!
Had these for Xmas breakfast. They were a hit!
Absolutely delicious! Used to follow a different recipe that called for adding tiny chunks of bananas once they’re in the pan. Got to a point where the kids were picking out the banana chunks. This recipe solves that problem and is out of this world delicious!!!
My family loves these. They are a Sunday morning favourite. I’ve made them more times than I can count now
These pancakes are DELICIOUS!
I have made them twice and everyone loves them!!
This recipe is simply amazing.
Soft and fluffy on the inside crunchy on the outside.
I would be proud to share with my best friends and family.
Next time I am going to add some chopped walnuts.
I loved these pancakes! Easy to make with not a lot of sugar. My picky 11 yo cleaned his plate. This will be my pancake recipe from now on. Thanks for sharing! I’m going to try pumpkin next week.
I love these pancakes! Sometimes I’ll add chopped pecans and dark chocolate chips. You could almost do anything with them.
Sweet lord these be good. Mo butter, mo better.
🙂
I just made this recipe today . Everything came out good and my family loved it. Will make again 🙂
Best banana pancakes I have ever made!
I had already mashed 3 small tropical bananas and the recipe worked great!
Love these pancakes! They are our go-to pancake recipe. No reason to ever make regular pancakes in my opinion, especially since we always seem to have old bananas to use up in the freezer.
Seriously delicious!! I will definitely make these pancakes again. So glad I found this recipe. It has a wonderful banana flavor and it is not too sweet, but sweet enough that you don’t need syrup if you prefer your pancakes without syrup. My kids loved them. The only thing I did different was I made them on an electric griddle. I sprayed the griddle with coconut oil and then melted some butter on top of that. Worked great. Everything else I did exactly as written. I do have a question. How would this recipe turn out if I used spelt flour or another flour like coconut flour? Also, how would these freeze?
Glad you enjoyed, Jasmin! To be honest, I’m not sure how well they’d come out using an alternative flour. I think the recipe would work but I worry the pancakes wouldn’t be fluffy. Sorry!
I’ve been experimenting with this recipe and alternate flours for a while now. I find that I can get the best results doing 2/3 regular flour and 1/3 almond or oat. Any more than that and the pancakes get tough and flat.
Great pancakes! Made them for my sister’s 16th birthday breakfast! She LOVED them!!! I’m only 12 and the pancakes were super simple to make, and anyone can make them! But if you’re under 16, I would definitely have a parent supervising while using the pan or griddle!
What a nice thing to do for your sister — so glad they were a hit! 🙂
I made these today for the first time and served with berries and date syrup. So fluffy inside and delicious. I used two bananas in the mix. My husband normally cooks the pancakes for Christmas morning breakfast and has told me I can make them this year using this recipe! We had to stop our eldest taking more than his tummy could handle!
Wow! These came out perfectly. I didn’t add any salt because I only had salted butter and I only had whole milk so I added some water to dilute the whole milk (within the liquid amount) and even with these two mods it came out perfectly! My partner couldn’t tell what was the secret ingredient (banana of course!) definitely adding these to my regular recipes! Thank you 😊
These were fantastic! Made these this morning with my twin four year olds. They were easy enough to make with my boys and we loved to do it together and we loved the pancakes. Hubby said best he ever had and he’s had a lot of pancakes! Flavorful, slightly crisp on outside while tender inside.
Really good recipe! My pancakes were soft and crisp. We adjusted a bit — 1 egg, 1.5 super ripe bananas and I had oat milk on hand. Easy and tasty. Will make again!
Hi i have only just found your site tonight so thought i would give something quick and easy a go, made the banana pancakes they were fantastic everyone loved them so i will definatley try more of your recipes
thank you so much
Have spent a lot of time making recipes from this site and this one is nice and simple! Pancakes came out crunchy on the outside and light inside, will make again!
Very nice pancakes. I used regular milk and baking powder I made. Light, fluffy with a hint of banana. We enjoyed them. Will definitely make again
Add 1 1/2 cups of milk and an extra half of banana if you want these to turn out decently
These pancakes were amazing! Only had almond milk on hand and they still turned out great. I think the banana masked the almond milk flavor. Would definitely make again.
Easy to follow recipe, 2 thumbs up from my pregnant wife.
One of the best banana pancake recipe I have ever made. It is simple, easy and it just tastes so good. I add an extra banana in it as well. And I store the left over inside freezer, and my 4 years old just loves having them for breakfast and snacks.
These are the BEST pancakes ever in my opinion! So easy and for the first time I think EVER, I didn’t burn pancakes! The butter-vegetable oil combo is BRILLIANT and I feel is the key to them coming out perfect!
Simple and delicious!
Excellent pancakes I added a little bit of cinnamon to the batter they turned out wonderful
Really good. Everybody in my family loved them. Will make again. Super easy.
Really good and easy!
Such an easy pancake recipe to make. Love that includes banana in it so I feel somewhat #healthy
Instead of sugar, I use agave honey and mixed it in with the egg/milk mixture.
I also used almond milk instead of regular milk.
And while the pancakes were cooking on the griddle, I sprinkled cinnamon over them. Just a little extra touch 😉
Thanks for this recipe!💕
Delicious!!
This is the best banana pancake recipe by far (and I’ve tried a few!). The pancakes are light and fluffy. The banana flavour is not overpowering and they have just the right amount of sweetness. The whole family loves them!
The pancake has a bitter taste. I am not sure why. Please help me to get rid of it. Is it because of the baking powder. I am not sure. Should I add some more banana or flour or can I add oats powder
Hi Gen, these definitely should not have a bitter taste. Did you make any adjustments to the recipe? Did you whisk the dry ingredients really well?
If you followed the recipe exactly as written, my guess would be that the bananas weren’t ripe.
same thing happened to me! i think it was the banana that wasn’t fully ripe!
Crispy on the outside, soft and fluffy on the inside, as promised.
My 6-year-old kid made this today, so easy and tasty, will definitely make it again!
I like them, it is a good recipe. I lean toward more bananas and less baking powder type of bananas pancakes but it is a good recipe.
Made these today, a double batch due to house guests. Very very good, everyone loved them. Thank you for a great recipe.
I have a regular pancake recipe, but I tried these out and very much enjoyed them. Usually I stick with all butter in the batter, but the addition of oil in these gave them a nice crisp outside, so I’m glad I used both as the recipe calls for. The one thing I did find as I cooked them was that they cooked better in smaller pancake sizes. I did a couple larger pancakes and they were either burned or slightly raw in the middle. Follow the recipe as is and keep the size somewhat small and you’ll have an excellent pancake!
Perfect every time
First time making pancakes that aren’t from a package. These were really good.
good pancake, kinda dry
Yes true especially in the inside
The best banana pancake recipe out there!
I have been making these pancakes for my family for 2 years. It is a favorite breakfast, nothing goes to waste as we serve any remaining cakes from the weekend before school. These pancakes have just the right amount of flavoring, nothing is overwhelming, and consistency. Well done!
Made these today for my kids and I. I divided the recipe 2/3 with flour for my kids and 1/3 with almond flour for myself. I had to add extra almond flour to mine as it was runny and since I am still in transition to keto with recipes i did add a teaspoon of regular flour also. Pancakes were out of this world! The almond version rose almost just as high as regular ones. Very pleased. My only mistake was I added salted butter and forgot to omit the salt. Wish I could post a side by side comparison on this recipe.
I’m never going to make any another pancake recipe ever again! These are totally amazing! I’ve made them several times and they just seem to get better every time! Always perfect and never dry 😀
These are the most amazing pancakes I‘ve ever eaten. They‘re so fluffy and delicious. Whole family loves them! Really easy to make too. Thanks for sharing this recipe!
These are the best pancakes ever. Bold statement? Sure- but so true. I followed the recipe and doubled it. I know it says it makes 12 but every other recipe says that and you end up with seven. This one was totally accurate so we ended up with extra. They’re crispy on the outside and buttery and soft on the inside.
As if being super yummy isn’t enough of an awesome reason to make these – they’re so crazy easy. My toddlers ( 3&4) helped. This is our new go to.
Thanks soo much!! Love your recipes!!
Disgusting salty mess.
Operator error. Silly, salty man, you obviously used regular, “salted” butter, which is what you had on hand. This recipe specifically calls for “unsalted” butter. Of course your results were salty- you used twice the amount of salt. These pancakes are phenomenal. Take a look at all the reviews- they speak volumes. This recipe is absolutely perfect exactly as written, but you must follow the directions. It is quite a simple recipe, originally written for children (who follow directions).
Making pancakes is as close to baking as you can get, therefore following the recipe to the letter is a must. I made these pancakes with ripe bananas and they were phenomenal. Try it again.
Great recipe. Kids loved them. Added half spelt flour as didn’t have enough plain. Delicious
Really tasty pancakes. A definite go to recipe for me and I’m not the biggest fan of bananas plus the kids love them too.