Authentic Vegan Banana Pancakes (20 Minutes)
- Updated on Nov 04, 2015
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This has been one of our longest recipes in the creation.
We’ve been testing various ingredients and methods for weeks now, and it was hard to get these vegan banana pancakes exactly how we wanted them.
But we did, and not without a little help.
Tasty, fluffy pancakes without eggs and are difficult to make. They tend to go soft and ‘boring’ in the middle, and they’re usually a pretty poor substitute for real pancakes.
We perfected these 2 Ingredient Banana and Egg Pancakes last year, and followed it up with these ridiculously High Protein Cottage Cheese Pancakes earlier this year.
We love pancakes!
And we were having trouble making good pancakes without eggs and dairy.
We tried many replacements – various starches, flax ‘eggs’ (flax seeds mixed with water), expensive flours, with varying results, but none really reached out to us. So we reached out.
We got some fantastic tips from fellow food bloggers, and we’re really grateful. So much of an awesome pancake is in the cooking.
We learnt that to cook an amazing vegan pancake there are few must-dos, and they couldn’t be simpler.
They are:
- Make sure the batter is smooth.
- Keep the pancakes small and thick.
- Cook on a low-medium heat. Don’t be tempted to go higher.
- Use a non-stick pan.
- Cook with a lid on.
- Flip the pancake when the face-up side begins to bubble.
And that’s it. That’s all there is to it.
By following those few easy rules you can have a pancake that tastes awesome alone or with a load of different topping possibilities, is fluffy and pancakey in the middle, is very healthy, and completely vegan.
Who’d have thunk it was so easy?
Health Benefits – Vegan Banana Pancakes
Where to start? Getting a banana down you is never going to hurt – just think of all that lovely fiber and potassium.
Fiber makes the world (and our insides) go round – and most people fall well short of the optimal amount (1).
Potassium lowers your blood pressure and is great for cardiovascular health. It is also believed to lower cramping in athletes (2).
Oats are awesome too – for a load of reasons – but the one I want to point out here is their blood-sugar stabilising properties.
Starting the day with a good blood-sugar balance is a reward your body will reap for the whole day.
The magnesium contained in oats also cuts your risk of type 2 diabetes (3). Great little things really, aren’t they?
And finally, another very important health benefit of these vegan pancakes is one for the health of all those animals not involved.
Yep, no animal product even gets close to these delicious banana pancakes. Everyone’s a winner!
Ingredients
- 1 cup rolled oats
- 1 cup soy milk (or your fave non-dairy)
- â…“ cup wholegrain flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- Salt to taste
- 1 medium banana (ripe)
- 2 tbsp chia seeds
- 2 tsp coconut oil (or vegetable oil work great)
Instructions
- Put all the items (except the oil) into a large bowl and blend them using a hand blender.
- Put your oil in a non-stick pan, and spread around with a paper towel. Heat on a low-medium heat (don’t go higher!).
- Pour in a small amount of the batter. The pancakes should be small and thick (see our pics for an idea).
- Pop a lid on and let the pancake cook gently. When the side facing you starts to bubble, the other side is done. Time to flip! A spatula is easiest.
- Once flipped, let the other side cook too. Have a peek at the underside using the spatula after a minute or so. When it’s nice and brown (but not burnt!) it’s ready. Woo!
- Repeat. If you have a large pan then it’s possible to cook two or three small pancakes at the same time. Alternatively, if you’re feeling particularly flash then you can cook with two pans at the same time too. Serve straight away or stack the pancakes on a plate in a warm oven ‘til you’re ready to eat.
NOTES
- Make-ahead? Yes, either just the batter or the pancakes themselves.
- Freezable? Yes! Again, either the batter or the pancakes.
Nutrition
Comments
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179 comments
Can you clarify the 0.3 cups wholemeal? Seems i may be the only one confused. Is it 3 cups, 1/3 cup… Thanks
Hi Angelica! Yep, 0.3 = 1/3 cups. I’ve changed it in the recipe so it’s clearer 🙂
I made these pancakes this morning, and, although I did not have a powerful enough blender to do the mixing for me, they were still delicious and I think they turned out perfect! Instead, I just blended my rolled oats separately so that they were a finer texture, then I mashed the oat flour with my banana until the mixture was as smooth as possible, then I added my liquid and seeds. Then, I thoroughly mixed my dry ingredients in a separate bowl. I added the wet to dry and folded them together until they were only just mixed. I let the batter sit while my frying pan heated up to let the baking powder activate and let the chia seeds get more gooey. Then, I fried them for 7 minutes on the first side and 8 minutes on the other side. To let one side a get a little crispier, I took the lid off for the last 2 minutes of cooking. My pancakes were golden brown and they went perfectly with a bit of peanut butter, vegan icing, and maple syrup! 🙂
It sounds like you absolutely nailed the technique there Brianna, thanks for sharing! I’m sure that will help many people without strong blenders – I broke my main one a while ago and was lost without it! Luckily I have a replacement now :). So glad you enjoyed the pancakes! I love them with peanut butter especially too!
Vegan pancakes are easy and some recipes consist of just 3 ingredients.
Being vegan I’ve made pancakes many times.
I made these and they turned out well but here’s what I did different:
Added 1 tsp apple cider vinegar to milk and let curdle (create buttermilk).
Sifted flour and baking powder together in a bowl and added 1/2tsp cinnamon (and I used brown rice flour which I believe makes the recipe GF).
Pureed all other ingredients in a blender.
Added wet ingredients to dry and whisked together until just combined.
Out of habit I would never blend flour (I’m not GF so usually use wheat flour) because over agitating flour will activate the gluten and ruin the end result, creating a rubbery-ness and reducing fluffiness.
Remembering that pancakes are literally a type of cake, the rules of baking still generally apply: don’t over beat, consider the leavening/acids/sugars and how they react together etc, don’t over cook, cook at the correct temp.
So besides the changes I made to the recipe and instructions I also used a lid which I normally wouldn’t. I honestly couldn’t see or taste any difference in comparison to the pancakes I make every other time.
So I can say that with the additions and modifications to the recipe I may have successfully turned your recipe into a GF recipe, it was moist, fluffy, soft, smooth, held shape and structure and you couldn’t tell it was vegan AND GF.
If I could upload a pic of the pancakes I made I would :/
It’s a cool functionality idea, but unfortunately not too easy to set up. Arr, actually, it would be so cool to have the pics from readers on the blog. Let me put it on my “investigation list”.
Toni! Wow, I do appreciate these kind of comments, thanks for your insights, seriously. I never worked with brown rice flour, but will definitely try it out soon. Honestly, I wouldn’t have thought it could cause a problem using the blender to make the batter when using wheat flour! It’s something I have to test myself 🙂
Can I substitute wholemeal flour with coconut flour? and if I can what would be the measurement?
Thank you!
Hi Bibi,
nope, that wouldn’t work well. The gluten of the wholemeal flour makes the pancake stick together. Coconut flour unfortunately is very dusty and your pancake will most likely fall apart.
You actually can but coconut flour takes up more moisture than other flours so you may need to increase the liquid content. You could add a small amount of chickpea flour with the coconut flour which will act as a binder just like egg.
Ultimately you’ll need to experiment but it certainly can be done.
Damn, you know your stuff, Toni! Out of curiosity: have you spent some time in professional kitchens?
How thick is the batter supposed to be?? There are no pictures of that. It would be helpful considering my batter is thick to the point that it does spread at all when i literally have to shake it out of the 1/4 cup holder I’m using and then spread it with a spoon to make it look round in the pan. The batter tastes good but it’s not cooking through at all even though I’m sitting here for ten minutes waiting on low medium. There is no bubbling either. Please help so that I just didn’t waste double the recipe that I just made? FYI I used all of the indgrefients as listed. Although ground chia seeds not whole. Is that the problem?? Should I add more milk? If so how much?? What is the consistency supposed to look like?
Thanks
I’m here for the rescue! I hope it’s not too late. Deffo add more milk until the batter spreads by itself!! I’d make the pancakes about half a centimeter thick, not more. Otherwise they won’t cook through! Good luck, Jessica!
Thank you! 🙂
Hi there 🙂 do you think a food processor could be used instead of a hand blender?
Absolutely, Yasmin! 🙂
Hi, just made this recipe. They looked amazing, but had this really bitter baking powder taste – I used 2 teaspoons. Nobody else had this problem? Will have to cut down on them next time, but love the recipe otherwise! Great tips.
Hi Whyny,
hmmm, it’s the first time I hear that, but yeah – too much baking powder can create a strange taste. I don’t think the recipe calls for too much though. I’ll make them again and focus on the baking powder. Thanks for pointing this out!!