Banana Oat Pancakes
Tender, lightly sweet pancakes built from blended rolled oats and mashed banana, bound with a flaxseed gel, enriched with coconut milk, and warmed with cinnamon and a little maple syrup.
Why You'll Love This Recipe
These are a relaxed weekend-morning pancake for anyone who cooks without eggs, whether by allergy, by choice, or because the carton is empty. Everything comes together in one bowl from a short list of whole-food ingredients, and the batter is forgiving enough that a beginner or a helping child can stir it. The result is a soft, comforting stack that tastes like banana bread cooked on a griddle.
Two binders working together, not one. Ground flaxseed whisked with water forms a gel that traps air and holds the batter together the way an egg white would, while mashed ripe banana adds moisture, natural sweetness, and body. Blending rolled oats into flour gives structure without any wheat, and letting the batter rest lets that oat flour drink up the liquid so the pancakes hold their shape and cook through instead of staying gummy in the middle. Cooking over steady medium heat, rather than high, gives the insides time to set before the outsides darken.
Substance is what sets these apart from most pancakes. Oats and flaxseed make them high in fiber, which slows digestion and keeps you full well past mid-morning, and they carry a good amount of plant protein for a breakfast this simple. The sweetness comes mostly from real banana with a little maple syrup, and the cinnamon and coconut milk give them a warm, rich flavor that needs little more than a drizzle on top.
Ingredients
- 2 cups rolled oats, blended to flour
- 2 ripe bananas, mashed
- 1/4 cup ground flaxseed + 1/2 cup water (flax eggs)
- 2/3 cup coconut milk
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 2 tbsp maple syrup
Instructions
- Make the oat flour: Add the rolled oats to a blender and blend until they turn into a fine, powdery flour with no whole flakes remaining, about 30 to 60 seconds, since a stray flake stays chewy right through the finished pancake. Pour the oat flour into a large mixing bowl.
- Make the flax eggs: In a small bowl, stir the ground flaxseed together with the water. Let it sit undisturbed for about 5 minutes, until it thickens into a gel with the loose, gloppy texture of a beaten egg.
- Mash the banana: Peel the ripe bananas and mash them on a plate with a fork until mostly smooth with just a few small lumps. Use the ripest ones you have, because almost all of the sweetness here comes from the fruit.
- Mix the batter: Add the mashed banana, flax gel, coconut milk, cinnamon, and maple syrup to the bowl with the oat flour. Stir just until no dry flour remains and the batter is thick and pourable. Let it rest for about 5 minutes so the oat flour absorbs the liquid and thickens; if it becomes too stiff to pour, loosen it with a splash of coconut milk.
- Heat the griddle: Set a griddle or nonstick skillet over medium heat and lightly grease it. Let it come fully up to temperature, since batter poured onto a cool griddle spreads thin and sticks. A drop of water should sizzle when it lands.
- Cook the pancakes: Ladle rounds of batter onto the griddle, leaving space between them, and gently spread each into a circle with the back of the ladle. Cook until the tops look set and dull and the undersides are golden brown, about 2 to 3 minutes. Slide a thin spatula fully under each and flip once, then cook the second side until golden and cooked through, another 2 to 3 minutes. Regrease the griddle between batches.
Variations
- Berry-studded: Fold fresh or frozen blueberries into the batter just before cooking, or press a few onto each pancake once it hits the griddle so they do not tint the whole batter.
- Warm spice blend: Add a pinch of ground nutmeg, ginger, and cardamom alongside the cinnamon for a deeper, spiced-cake flavor.
- Chocolate chip: Stir in dairy-free chocolate chips for a sweeter, dessert-leaning stack; this adds sugar.
- Nutty crunch: Sprinkle chopped walnuts or pecans over the batter as it cooks for texture and a toasty flavor; this adds nuts.
- Citrus lift: Stir a little grated orange or lemon zest into the batter to brighten the banana and cut the richness of the coconut milk.
Storage & Leftovers
Let leftover pancakes cool completely, then keep them in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to four days. Stacking them with a small square of parchment between each one keeps them from sticking together.
Reheat in a toaster, toaster oven, or dry skillet over medium heat until warmed through and the edges crisp slightly; this brings back more of the fresh texture than a microwave, which tends to leave them soft. If you do use the microwave, heat in short bursts so they warm evenly without turning rubbery.
To get ahead, cook a full batch, cool the pancakes on a rack, and freeze them in a single layer on a tray before transferring to a freezer bag. They keep for up to two months and reheat straight from frozen in a toaster or oven, making a slow morning much faster.
Notes & Tips
- Use very ripe bananas: Choose bananas that are heavily freckled or nearly all brown. They mash more smoothly, taste sweeter, and let you rely less on the maple syrup.
- Grind your own flaxseed: Buy ground flaxseed already milled, or grind whole seeds in a spice grinder; whole flaxseeds pass through the body without releasing their nutrients or gelling properties.
- Let the batter rest: The short rest is what firms up the batter. If your pancakes spread too thin, the oat flour has not fully absorbed the liquid yet, so give it a few more minutes.
- Keep the heat moderate: Because these are dense and set slowly, high heat browns the outside before the center cooks. Medium heat, adjusted down if they darken too fast, gives you a fully cooked interior.
- Flip only once: Wait until the tops look dull and set and the underside is golden before flipping. These are more delicate than wheat pancakes, so flipping too early or too often can tear them.
- Serve with a topping that adds protein: A spoonful of nut or seed butter, or a dollop of dairy-free yogurt, rounds out the plate and makes the meal more filling alongside the usual maple drizzle.
Nutrition & Mindful Eating
- Oats, banana and flaxseed do the work together here. The oats blend into a soft batter, the banana gives sweetness and body, and the flax holds it all in place so the pancakes cook up tender rather than crumbly, with fiber and plant-based omega-3 fats along for the ride.
- Ripe banana is what makes these taste sweet before any syrup touches them. The darker the peel, the softer and more fragrant the batter, and the fruit brings potassium in with a sweetness that carries all the way through.
- Rolled oats give the pancakes their gentle, slightly nubby texture and most of their staying power. The beta-glucan fiber in oats is a good part of why a short stack sits so comfortably through a morning.
- Coconut milk gives the batter its richness and cinnamon warms the whole thing, so the kitchen smells the way the pancakes taste. A drizzle of maple syrup at the table adds its own darker, caramel note on top of that.
- Cook them low and slow so the middles stay creamy and the edges go golden and a little lacy. That contrast is a big part of why a plate of these eats like a real breakfast.
- As you eat, notice how soft the middle stays and how the cinnamon comes forward as the pancakes cool, and give yourself enough time at the table to feel when you have had enough.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why are my pancakes gummy in the middle?
This usually means the heat was too high or the batter was too thin. Cook over steady medium heat so the centers set before the outsides brown, and let the batter rest fully so the oat flour thickens it before you ladle it out.
Can I use quick oats or steel-cut oats instead of rolled oats?
Quick oats work and blend into an even finer flour, so the pancakes may be a touch softer. Steel-cut oats are too hard to blend into a usable flour here, so stick with rolled or quick oats.
My batter is too thick to pour. What happened?
Oat flour keeps absorbing liquid as it sits, so a long rest can stiffen the batter. Stir in a splash more coconut milk until it loosens back to a thick but pourable consistency.
Can I make the batter the night before?
It is best mixed fresh, because the oat flour and flax gel continue to thicken overnight and the banana can darken. Instead, cook the pancakes ahead and refrigerate or freeze them, then reheat in a toaster or skillet.