Banana Oatmeal Pancakes

Easy to make and full of flavor, banana oatmeal pancakes are the perfect family breakfast recipe! They are pancakes made without flour and are gluten free.

Please note that we do not follow a gluten free diet usually so not all of our recipes are gluten free, but these amazing pancakes are. You may want to be sure to check labels to be sure there is no possible cross contamination if you are gluten free.

We have friends who are gluten intolerant and love to cook things they can eat as well. I noticed that many recipes called for flour so it kind of defeats the purpose of using oatmeal, right? So I set out to try making oatmeal pancakes without flour.

Turns out they taste great and really don’t need the flour. The oats have a great flavor and all the other ingredients come together perfectly. These are a delicious breakfast!

We decided that you can have flour or oats, you really don’t need both for them to turn out amazing.

Ingredients

Bananas – I like to use over ripe bananas. Things like bread and pancakes are my way to use up bananas before going bad.

Vanilla extract – No substitution recommended.

Eggs – We have only tested these with eggs.

Brown sugar – Light or dark is good, we used light.

Yogurt – Greek whole milk yogurt is best, but you can use regular plain yogurt. You can also use sour cream in place of the yogurt.

Salt – Used to enhance all the flavors.

Oats – Quick oats are best but you can use old fashioned as well. I do not recommend steel cut oats.

Baking powder – No substitutions recommended, we have not tested these banana oatmeal pancakes with baking soda.

Milk – We use whole milk, but you can use a lower fat milk instead if you prefer.

Flax seeds – Optional, we add them for texture and flavor but you can leave them out.

Other great pancake recipes

Please note that all of these below are made with flour and not oats.

• Apple pancakes
• Strawberry blueberry pancakes
• Pumpkin pancakes
• Yogurt pancakes

Can I grind the flax seeds or oats?

We add the flax seeds whole for a little bit of flavor and texture. If you are looking to add them just for the nutrients, you may want to grind them. Either way works out in the recipe, we have made them with whole and ground flax seeds.

A lot of what I read is that you should grind them for the maximum benefits so your body can absorb all the nutrients. I am not a nutritionist so I only know what I have read online about them.

We do not use a lot of them in this banana oat pancake recipe and there is no harm in eating a small amount whole seeds in cooked foods.

The oats can be ground but do not have to be. We prefer the banana oat pancakes without grinding the oats, but we have made them with grinding them as well. The texture is slightly different.

If you are going to grind the oats, you may want to grind the flax seeds too. They can be ground together.

Making the banana oatmeal pancakes

They are an easy to make breakfast, here are some tips to help you make them perfectly.

The batter

The batter will look too runny at first, but needs to sit for 10-15 minutes before cooking. It will thicken up slightly upon sitting.

Start by mixing the bananas and brown sugar in a mixing bowl with a hand or stand mixer. Mix them for 30 seconds to a minute, until it appears to be mostly a thick liquid with a few small banana lumps.

Add in the eggs, milk, yogurt (or sour cream) and vanilla extract. Mix until thoroughly combined, about 20-30 seconds with the mixer.

In a separate bowl mix together the flax seed (optional), oats, salt and baking powder. If you are grinding the oats and flax seed, do that first before adding the salt and baking powder.

Pour the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and mix for about 20-30 seconds, until it is combined well. Set the batter aside for 10-15 minutes before cooking.

Cooking

You will cook these banana oatmeal pancakes similar to cooking regular pancakes, but I cook them at a slightly lower temperature. We cook them on a flat pan on the stove over medium low heat instead of medium heat. We have not made them on an electric griddle, but I would set it about 350 if you normally set it to 375 for regular pancakes.

Batter will be thicker so you will need to spoon it out onto the pan. Carefully spread it out with the spoon to an even layer. It won’t spread out the same as regular pancake batter, so I like to spread it out as I am spooning it only the pan.

Don’t make huge pancakes, they will not cook the same as regular ones. These are delicious and easy, but you are using oats instead of flour so they do cook a little different. I keep them at no bigger then 5 inches.

Cook on the first side for 2-3 minutes, they should be easy to pick up with a spatula and browned on the bottom. Flip and cook for another 1-2 minutes. We do 2 minutes on each side here, but stoves and griddles can vary.

Note that these banana oat pancakes will not bubble like regular pancakes do when cooking so do not wait for bubbles to flip them!

Serve with your favorite toppings and enjoy!

Frequently asked questions

Equipment

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• Cast iron griddle – Not everybody loves cast iron as much as we do, but if you do enjoy cooking with it this griddle is perfect!
• Electric griddle – This is a stand alone griddle that you can take anywhere with you, even camping as long as there is an outlet. It is non stick.
• Non stick griddle – This is a simple one that is non stick and goes across 2 burners on the stove.

You can also use a regular flat frying pan to make pancakes, we just find griddles to be more convenient.