Banana Pancakes

These delicious banana pancakes are perfect for a weekend breakfast or brunch. They’re easy to make and only require a few simple ingredients.

In the mood for something different for breakfast? Why not try banana pancakes?

These are a delicious and easy variation on traditional pancakes, and they’re perfect for a weekend morning when you have time to relax in the kitchen.

The recipe below is my favourite version, but feel free to experiment with your own variations – blueberry banana pancakes anyone? Enjoy!

Why you will LOVE these Banana Pancakes!

• Soft and fluffy homemade pancakes.
• Crisp outside edges!
• Great way to use up bananas
• Just the right amount of warming spices
• So easy to make, you’ll forget about box mixes.
• Perfect Saturday morning treat.
• Made with basic pantry staples.
• Easy to double or triple for a big batch.
• Freeze well, so make them ahead and enjoy on busy weekday mornings!

Tips for the Best Banana Pancakes

• Use real buttermilk for your batter.
• Make sure your eggs and buttermilk are room temperature before starting.
• Carefully spoon and level your flour, and measure them exactly.
• Always start by combing your dry ingredients together to make sure your leavening ingredients are evenly distributed.
• Mix your pancake batter until just combined. Small lumps are OK.
• If you prefer thinner pancakes, add more regular milk to the batter. Start with a Tablespoon at a time until desired consistency.
• Let the batter rest for 5 minutes. Resting the batter allows the gluten to relax resulting in pancakes that are more soft and tender. This is when you should start pre-heating your pan.
• Fry the pancakes with clarified butter for the best flavour, without burning.
• The perfect pancakes start with a pan at just the right temperature.
• It’s important to cook banana pancakes at a lower temperature than you’re probably used to, this ensures that the middle is cooked through and not mushy
• Bubbles will form and burst on the pancakes when they are ready to flip. Don’t flip prior to this.
• Don’t be afraid to use your first set of pancakes as a test batch to gauge the heat of your pan.
• Serve with real maple syrup, not table syrup. As a maple syrup loving Canadian, yes, it makes a huge difference.

How to Make Fluffy Pancakes with Crispy Edges

The key to light and fluffy pancakes is using fresh baking powder. They should be no more than 6 months old to ensure you get the best reaction! The other detail is to make sure you don’t over-mix your batter. Over-mixing can result in rubbery or dense pancakes.

To make sure you get those amazing crispy edges, you just need to make sure you pan is just hot enough. If your pan is too cool then your pancakes will be rubbery and weird, too hot and they will burn.

Heat your pan over medium heat, then add your oil or butter, and allow that to get perfectly hot before adding your batter. Then let them fry until you not only see bubbles form on the top, but see those bubbles pop and form holes that stay open on the surface of the pancake. Voila! Perfect crispy edges.

What is the Best Oil to Make Pancakes with?

The best oil to make pancakes with is one that can handle high heats and has a fairly neutral or buttery flavor. There are many different types of oils to cook with, but I would really only recommend using either clarified butter or vegetable oil.

Butter is probably the best type of oil to make pancakes with because it not only has a delicious buttery flavor, but when clarified it also can handle high heats and will give your pancakes a rich flavor. Butter is best for frying with when it is clarified.

you can clarify your own butter. All you would need to do is melt the butter and let the milk solids and whey settle at the bottom of your mixing bowl. Pour off the liquid (the clarified butter) and save, discarding the sediment in your mixing bowl.

Clarified butter is also known as Gee, and you can also purchase it at the grocery store.

Vegetable oil and canola oil are two oils that work well to make pancakes with. They can be used to fry just about anything and they both have a very neutral flavour. Most vegetable oils can be used at high heat which makes them excellent choices for frying.

That said, using oil you will almost definitely miss that buttery flavour to the pancakes. To make up for this though, you can serve butter on top of your pancakes.

What is the Best Pan to use for Making Pancakes?

When it comes to making pancakes, there is a huge debate on which pan will give you the best results. I have seen people use everything from cast iron pans or non stick pans to griddles, but what is truly the best pan for cooking pancakes?

The best pancake pan for making pancakes is either an electric griddle or a cast iron griddle pan. I personally prefer using a cast iron griddle pan because not only does it give you that nice and crispy edge around the outside of the pancake but it also helps develop that golden brown colour we all know and love.

When I use any other pan, the pancakes don’t tend to be consistent as they don’t hold heat the same way as a griddle or cast iron. So while, yes, you can use any non-stick pan and end up with OK pancakes, you will get better results using an electric griddle or a cast iron griddle pan.

With an electric griddle, you can make larger batches which is nice when cooking for a crowd. However, electric griddle pancakes tend to make pancakes without the crisp outside edges that I love about pancakes. I tend to prefer cast iron griddle pans for this reason.

The heat distribution on both an electric griddle or griddle pan is consistent and they make beautiful pancakes every time! A cast iron griddle pan will give you a gorgeous pancake with the buttery-crisp edges and texture everyone loves about pancakes!

While you can use a regular cast iron pan for this job with great results, the higher sides of a cast iron pan make it tough to flip those pancakes. No matter which option you choose, just make sure to use a wide heavy-bottomed pan – if your pan is too thin, your pancakes will burn.

Bottom line – a cast iron griddle pan is your best bet and a great investment!

Can You Make Banana Pancakes Ahead of Time?

Normally you can make the batter in advance and store it up to 2 days in the fridge, however the bananas will oxidize and make the batter less than appetizing.

Also, your leavening ingredients won’t work as hard, so your pancakes may not be as light and fluffy.

Pancakes really are best when the batter is used within 5-30 minutes. If you do need to make pancakes ahead of time, you will get better results by frying them and storing the actual pancakes.

How to Freeze Pancakes

These pancakes are best eaten immediately after being prepared. However, you can store them in the refrigerator or freezer for later use.

To store, let the cooked pancakes cool completely then wrap each pancake tightly in plastic wrap followed by foil or place in freezer bags.

Place in the refrigerator for up to three days or freeze up to three months.

How to Reheat Pancakes from Frozen

When you are ready to eat, simply remove the wrapping and pop them in the microwave for 45-60 seconds or until warm. To help prevent overly soggy pancakes, place them on a paper towel on a plate when microwaving.

You can also reheat them from frozen right in your toaster – this is my favourite method! I find microwaving can make them soggy but the toaster makes them taste almost as good as fresh from the pan.

You can also reheat them in your frying pan over medium-low heat, turning frequently until heated through.

About the Equipment Needed to Make Pancakes

2 Mixing Bowls – Use a medium bowl to mix together the dry ingredients, and a large bowl to combine the batter.

Whisk – Use a hand whisk to combine the batter, you don’t need an electric mixer for this job.

Frying Pan or Griddle – Read my notes above.

About the Ingredients for Banana Pancakes

Flour – Spoon and level the flour when measuring it, otherwise you’ll wind up with pancakes. You can substitute the all-purpose flour, baking powder and soda, as well as half of the salt with self-rising flour. You can also swap with gluten-free flour for gluten-free pancakes.

Baking powder & soda – Leavens the pancakes, make sure they are still active so your pancakes rises perfectly.

Salt – Helps to balance all the flavours and make em shine.

Sugar – Just plain white granulated sugar.

Milk – You can use any type of milk you like, dairy or not.

Buttermilk – Make sure your buttermilk is room temperature before starting. If you don’t have any buttermilk on hand make it yourself by adding a tbsp of lemon juice to regular milk. While buttermilk substitutes might do the job, I’d recommend using real buttermilk if possible though. If using non-dairy you can use non-dairy milk in the same way.

Eggs – Make sure you have room temperature eggs to start with.

Bananas – If using really ripe bananas (the darker, the riper), you can omit the white sugar.

Vanilla – Real vanilla extract is best but feel free to use artificial if that is what you have on hand.

Oil – Any neutral flavoured oil will work, you can also use melted and slightly cooled butter instead.

Spices – Cinnamon ads a bit of warmth to these pancakes.

Looking for More Tasty Pancake Recipes?

Check out more of my favourite pancake recipes!

This easy pumpkin pancakes recipe uses real pumpkin, and has the perfect blend of warming spices for a delicious fall brunch or breakfast.

The best chocolate chip pancakes recipe ever! Made with buttermilk, these pancakes are soft and fluffy! Add berries for extra flavour!

Feed a crowd at the breakfast table with these Berry Sheet Pan Pancakes! These are quick and easy fluffy pancakes bursting with fresh berries!

How to Make Banana Pancakes

Yields: 30 pancakes | Prep time: 5 Minutes | Cook time: 25 Minutes

Ingredients:

2 cups All-purpose Flour
2 Tablespoons White Sugar
1/2 Tablespoon Cinnamon
2 teaspoons Baking powder
1 teaspoon Baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 ripe bananas
2 large Eggs, room temperature
1 1/2 cups Milk, room temperature
1/2 cup Buttermilk, room temperature
1 Tablespoon Vegetable Oil
3/4 teaspoon Vanilla Extract

Directions:

In a large mixing bowl, place the bananas and mash with a fork; add the eggs, milk,
buttermilk, vegetable oil, and vanilla extract.

Mix well with a fork.

In a medium sized mixing bowl combine the dry ingredients (self-rising flour, white sugar,
cinnamon, salt).

Add the dry ingredients to the bowl of wet ingredients.

Stir well to combine.

Pre-heat a griddle to 300 degrees Fahrenheit, or place a frying pan over medium-low heat and let it warm up.

Once you have a hot pan or hot griddle, add a little vegetable oil or butter and let that heat up.

Using a 1/4 cup measuring cup, spoon batter onto hot griddle or the skillet. Cook until you see bubbles popping up on the top of the pancakes, around 3-4 minutes.

Flip over, and then continue to cook around 3 more minutes. Repeat with the rest of the pancake mixture.