Healthy 5 Ingredient Banana Pancakes Recipe (Vegan)

These fluffy 5-ingredient vegan banana pancakes are super simple to make, and are a rather healthy breakfast, given that they are sweetened naturally with bananas. Make these once, and you won’t ever have to look for another pancake recipe! The ingredients are incredibly simple! You don’t need eggs or even flax egg, only staple ingredients and bananas.

Ingredients

• overripe bananas as natural sweetener
• Baking powder to make them nice and fluffy
• Unsweetened oat milk (or other plant based milk of your choice)
• Vanilla extract gives it a little something special to the taste (can be omitted if you don’t have it)
• Baking oil (I use olive oil, but coconut oil is another good option)
• Salt to really bring out the sweetness
• Water for more liquid on top of the milk

• optional toppings, such as blueberries or chocolate chips, and maple syrup

Why You’ll Love It

Honestly, these vegan banana pancakes are perfect! They are absolutely delicious, vegan, easy to make using 5 simple ingredients, and, what is probably the best part about these pancakes is that they are naturally sweetened with bananas! Did I mention they’re easy to make?! They definitely can be made on a whim, one morning when you either suddenly feel like pancakes, or realize you have nothing ready to eat. Double up the recipe if you have the time. Either save the pancakes in the fridge for the next few mornings, or even freeze some for an unanticipated busy morning in the future. Having extra pancakes ready to go is always so helpful!

Background On These 5 Ingredient Banana Pancakes

I came up with this 5 ingredient banana pancakes recipe one day when I had overripe bananas I needed to use. You know, those soft bananas with a bunch of brown spots that no one wants to eat anymore? My go-to recipe for overripe bananas is banana bread, but that day I just wanted pancakes and didn’t have any fresh fruit to serve with them, which is how we prefer pancakes in my household. So, I figured, if bananas are a tasty topping on pancakes, then maybe overripe bananas can go into the batter? The first time I made banana pancakes, I added the bananas to this simple fluffy vegan pancake recipe of mine, and they turned out GREAT! In order to make these pancakes a little healthier, though, I then tried eliminating the sugar and adding an extra banana. And would you know it?! It came out delicious! The whole family thoroughly enjoys eating these 5 Ingredient Banana Pancakes.

How to Prepare

In a medium mixing bowl, mash the bananas with a fork until rather smooth.

In a large bowl, mix the flour (3 cups), baking powder (2 tbs), and salt (1 tsp).

Add the wet ingredients: milk (2 cups), vanilla extract (1 tsp), water (1 cup), and oil (4 tbs) into the already mixed dry ingredients. Combine until all dry ingredients are wet. A few lumps will remain in order to achieve fluffy pancakes. Now gently add the banana mixture.

Grease a pan with oil or vegan butter and heat over medium heat. Once hot, add a soup ladle full of pancake batter. Cook the first side until you can see bubbles coming through, then carefully turn and cook the second side for another 1-2 minutes.

Test with a spatula to see if the pancake can come off the pan or if it needs to be cooked further. Your pancakes should be a beautiful golden brown once done. Continue with the remaining batter until you’ve used it all up.

Serve with pure maple syrup and toppings of choice.

How to Serve

I can honestly say that these pancakes are delicious on their own, even without maple syrup! However, our preferred way to have pancakes is with maple syrup and a mix of fresh berries (such as fresh blueberries, raspberries, and blackberries). If you have the extra minute, try warm maple syrup. I always find the maple syrup coming straight out of the fridge cools the fresh pancake down a bit too much. Other topping options are chocolate chips (just check to make sure they’re vegan), and you could even add some more banana on top!

How to Store

Store these pancakes in the refrigerator in an airtight container for up to 5 days – but be sure to let them cool completely before closing the lid or placing them into the fridge!

These vegan pancakes also store nicely in the freezer. They will still be fluffy once you reheat them. For best freezing results, let them cool completely, then individually wrap each pancake in a baking sheet before placing them into freezer friendly ziploc bags. I’d suggest eating within 3 months, but I’ve gone as long as 4 months with mine, and they were still delicious. Freezing these pancakes is a great way to prepare for future busy days when you might not have time to prepare a fresh breakfast. Simply warm the frozen pancake in the microwave (or toaster oven if you have one), just be sure not to overdo it!

Other Recipes You Might Enjoy

Check out this simple fluffy vegan pancake recipe. It’s what this recipe is based off, but it uses sugar instead of bananas. Or, if you’re looking for another way to use up spotty bananas, then you will enjoy this simple 5 ingredient banana bread recipe!

Q&A

What Is The Secret To Good Pancakes?

Good pancakes start with a good recipe – which you’ve got here! Next, use fresh ingredients. Have you had your baking powder for who knows how many years? Try getting a fresh one, and you might just find that this makes a crucial difference to your pancake (and general baking) game. I promise you, you won’t let this baking powder go bad too! Once you tried these pancakes (and my other recipe that doesn’t use bananas) you will continue to make them, thus using up your baking powder long before it’s best by date! Then, don’t over mix your batter! A fair amount of lumps will remain in the batter. Cook your pancake on an already heated pan (I use cast iron) with the vegan butter or oil also already warmed. Don’t have your stove on too high. Medium or even medium-low heat is all you need. Otherwise, the pancakes will be darkened too much, too quickly.

Know when to flip! Flipping itself takes a bit of practice too, but you should feel pretty confident about your pancake flipping skills by the end of the one batch of batter from this recipe. As mentioned above, flip the pancake just after you see bubbles coming through from the first side. It should easily come off your pan and onto your spatula. Then cook the second side for 1-2 minutes until golden brown. The best pancake has crispy edges, in my opinion! Serve immediately. Next time you make pancakes from scratch, take your time and follow the above tips. I feel confident that your pancakes will turn out great!

What Makes Pancakes Fluffy And Rise?

The trick behind why these pancakes are so fluffy is actually a lazy one, you could say. Don’t over-mix! If you try to get all the lumps out of your mix, then you’ll go too far. Some clumps are fine, and I promise you, you won’t notice them once you have your cooked pancake on your plate. They will be smooth, fluffy deliciousness!

Another reason why some pancakes might end up dense instead of fluffy is if a bad recipe is followed or if too much or too little baking powder is used. And just FYI, in case you didn’t know: Baking powder and soda aren’t simply interchangeable! So if you thought you’d switch these two because you only had the wrong one on hand, that is probably the culprit.

Should Pancakes Be Thick Or Thin?

It’s up to your preference, whether you prefer thick or thin pancakes. Thin pancakes tend to be crispier than the thick ones, which can be a nice feature! This recipe makes fluffy pancakes, which is to say, they aren’t the thinnest version. I would say they are on the thicker side, but nice and fluffy, and not dense. And you can still get nicely crispy edges!

Can my kid help me make this?

Yes, this is a GREAT recipe to include your kids in helping prepare it (if you have the extra time to be slowed down a bit)! My first born daughter started helping me with this when she was only a little over one year old. A learning tower comes in super handy for this kind of activity. I find it important to teach kids early on how to prepare meals, and my daughter seems to especially like eating the foods she helped make. As of right now (at 2 years of age) she only mixes the ingredients for me. I measure them and place them in a large bowl, and she mixes them with a spatula (or sometimes her hands). The great thing is, the older your child gets, the more they can help with the preparation and cooking of the pancakes!