Banana Oat Pancakes
This fluffy banana oat pancake recipe is made with 100% oat flour, so it's gluten free. These pancakes are a delicious, healthy and easy-to-make breakfast.
Updated by Kathryne Taylor on August 30, 2024
Good morning! I’m sitting cross-legged on my hotel bed in San Antonio, next to a big window overlooking the Tower of Americas. It’s so cloudy I can barely see the top of it. The fog in my head is slowly lifting as I sip on my cup of coffee, and I just scraped the last bits of my “all natural, super premium” (what does that mean?) instant oatmeal off the sides of its disposable cup with a plastic fork. It’s not bad.
That oatmeal and these photos of fluffy banana pancakes take me back to last Saturday, when I took my time making breakfast, with Cookie by my feet. Cookie loves bananas almost as much as she loves cheese, did you know that? I couldn’t resist making her twirl around on her back feet for bites of banana. Sometimes I think she escaped from the circus, that dog.
These banana pancakes are a little more time consuming than the average from-scratch pancakes, but my oh my, was my work rewarded on my lazy Saturday morning. After making, photographing and fending the cakes from Cookie, I sat down and slid the side of my grandmother’s old fork through three layers of the most creamy, fluffy, heavenly sweet pancakes I have ever tasted.
To my pleasant surprise, I realized that the pancakes inherited oatmeal’s creamy texture thanks to the oat flour, and that the bananas contributed such a lovely, natural sweetness that they hardly needed any syrup. I topped my banana pancakes with sliced banana, toasted coconut flakes and a drizzle of maple syrup, but peanut butter or coconut butter would be a natural fit as well.
So reward yourself after a hard week of work with these banana pancakes while you sip on some freshly brewed coffee from your own mug. You deserve it!
Gluten-Free Banana Oat Pancakes
These fluffy banana oat pancakes are a deliciously healthy, naturally sweetened breakfast for lazy mornings. The recipe is made with 100% oat flour instead of wheat flour, so it’s gluten free, as well as dairy free. Recipe yields about 8 pancakes.
Ingredients
- 1 cup oat flour*
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- Scant 1 ¼ cup mashed bananas (about 3 small bananas, mashed, or 9.5 ounces)
- 2 tablespoons melted unsalted butter or coconut oil, plus more for cooking
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 2 eggs
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the oat flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg.
- In a small mixing bowl, stir together the mashed bananas, melted butter, maple syrup, and lemon juice. Add the eggs and whisk until blended. (If your butter or oil goes back to its solid state like mine did at this point, just warm the mixture for short 15-second bursts in the microwave, stirring between each, until it is melted again.)
- Form a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour in the wet ingredients. With a big spoon, stir just until the dry ingredients are thoroughly moistened. Do not overmix!
- Let the batter rest for 10 minutes to give it time to thicken. If you’re using an electric griddle, heat it to 350 degrees Fahrenheit now. Otherwise, you can wait a few minutes before heating your skillet.
- Warm a large skillet (stainless steel or nonstick) over medium-low heat. You’re ready to start cooking pancakes once a drop of water sizzles on contact with the hot surface. If necessary, lightly oil the cooking surface with a pat of butter or oil, carefully wiping up excess with a paper towel (nonstick surfaces likely won’t require any oil).
- Scoop ¼ cup batter onto the hot skillet, leaving a couple of inches around the pancake for expansion. Cook until small bubbles form on the surface of the pancake and the underside is golden, 2 to 3 minutes.
- Flip the pancake, then cook until lightly golden on both sides, 1 to 2 minutes more. Repeat the process with the remaining batter, adding more butter and dialing down the heat if the pancakes turn dark on the outside before they’re cooked through on the inside.
- Serve immediately or keep warm in a 200 degree Fahrenheit oven. Leftover pancakes can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 4 days, or frozen for up to 3 months. To reheat, stack leftover pancakes and wrap them in a paper towel before gently reheating in the microwave.
Notes
Recipe adapted from King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Baking.
Gluten-free notes: These pancakes are gluten-free, so long as you used certified gluten-free oat flour or certified gluten-free old-fashioned oats.
*How to make your own oat flour: To make oat flour out of old-fashioned oats, simply pour one cup of oats into a food processor and process until it looks like fine sand. See pictures here.
Preparation tips: This whole grain batter is thicker than most, so it’s more difficult to gauge when the pancakes are ready to flip. I learned that it’s easier to go by the timer: set it for 2 minutes for the first side, then gently check underneath to see if it’s golden (if not, wait up to 1 more minute). Flip and wait another 90 seconds for the other side to finish. The time will vary depending on your temperature setting and subsequent pancakes will cook more quickly, but that’s about the time it should take.
Freeze it: These pancakes freeze well. (I’ve never met a pancake that doesn’t.) Commenter Megan had good luck making the batter the night before, refrigerating it overnight, and proceeding with the recipe the next morning (add a splash of milk to thin out the batter).
Make it dairy free: Just use coconut oil instead of butter.
Make it egg free: Replace the eggs with flax eggs (I’ve heard this works well from other commenters, but haven’t had a chance to try myself).
Nutrition
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice. See our full nutrition disclosure here.
Simply delicious!
Thank you, Melissa!
I love this recipe. I have been making it for years out of the King Arthur cookbook. It makes great soft pancakes without any refined flour. I have found that the lemon juice is key to getting a nice reaction with the baking soda so the pancakes have some lift.
This recipe is so delicious!! My granddaughter loves them so much with mini chocolate chips (of coarse she does she is 9). They freeze very well and they are her go to food she would eat them fo BLD if I let her
⭑ ⭑ ⭑ ⭑ ⭑
Loved this recipe!! Definitely recommend to gluten free + dairy free people (i happen to be both). Give it a try!!! :)
Thank you, Faith!
We love these! Was thinking about making them into a sheet pancake – has anyone tried that?
these are my new favorite pancakes!! I love that it’s easy to make them for one (just me) if no one else is around (I half the recipe–I’m a long distance runner and a big pancake eater!). I usually change up recipes and there’s nothing to change up here–they are perfect!
I’ve been making these for my son since he could eat – he loves them! I usually add vanilla, mini chocolate chips and frozen blueberries, (and a little less butter), so it’s like breakfast and dessert in one! They freeze well, too, so if I have a ton of bananas, I make them ahead of time.
Thanks for the recipe!
Love this recipe, my go-to pancake recipe!
I love it! Thank you for your review, Hannah.
Loved them, but if I’m trying to reduce fat, can I substitute out the butter?
Hi, For these to turn out the best, they really need coconut oil or butter. I’m glad you enjoyed the, Karen!
At 60 years old, I am fairly new into my GF and DF journey. I love cooking breakfast for my 16 and 18yo sons, (yes, I was late into that journey too), but I find it hard to find GF pancake recipes that they actually enjoy. I’ve tried a number of banana/oat pancake recipes only to find them rather one-note, flat and hard. Well, the search is over!! These are flavorful, fluffy, delicious and easy – made from ingredients I always have on hand. This morning, in reply to my “Are they any good?, my eldest son said, “They’re very good!” I concur!! Next time, as one commenter suggests, I may grind up some pecans into the batter. Thank you, Kate, for sharing the “fruit” of your labors with us. My sons and I appreciate it.
I’m glad you can enjoy these! Thank you for your review.
The absolute best! We make these almost every weekend in our house – delicious every single time. Thank you!
I made these flapjacks and omitted lemon juice (forgot!) and they turned out splendid! Everyone loved em.
Such a yummy recipe!
Tried it yesterday for my elderly mom breakfast and she LOVED it (which is sooooo hard to achieve)
Thanks Kate
You’re welcome, Marian!
Excellent and filling!
Thank you, Lisa!
Delicious! I have made it twice and both times it turned out great.
That’s great to hear, Cat!
We eat these nearly every single weekend. Thanks so much for your fabulous content! Just love your little pup, Cookie.
Thank you, BC! I appreciate your review.
These pancakes are really good! I tried a few healthy recipes and this one is my favorite by far. Every time I have a few ripe bananas, I’m excited to make these again. I’m also going to print the recipe and it’s going in my recipe book. Excellent!
That’s great, Simona! I appreciate your review.
Is old fashioned same as steel cut oats? Please advise, Kate.
Thank you.
Hi Dyan! They are different. Steel cut are harder, denser. Old fashioned are flat and look like what you would expect an oat to appear like. I hope that helps!
Copy, Kate. Thank you for clarifying! :)
Hope you make recipes using steel cut oats.
TYIA! :)
Im surprised the texture is as good as ,,normal” pancakes! Not gummy at all, you dont really even taste the oats. Perfectly sweet from the bananas. I’ll tru adding some protein powder next time. My new to-go pancake recipe:) thank you, your recipes never dissapoint♥️
Question: I am on a low acid diet to heal esophegal burns and regulate acid in my stomach. I cannot have citrus or vinegar. What could I substitute for the lemon in the recipe?
Hi Nese, I would recomment Blender Oatmeal Pancakes
We absolutely love all your recipes! This one is a favourite. Thank you!
You’re welcome, Sanmarie! I appreciate your review.
I just want to say that I have been making this recipe for pancakes since it first came out, and I always have the best memories even when I was still in college it was my favorite pancake recipe. To this day I continue to make it and it just makes me so happy, besides the fact that they are delicious of course!!
I’m not a morning person. Any chance you can make the batter the night before and put them in the fridge?
I would not mix the wet and dry then store. I would suggest Blender Oatmeal Pancakes. It might be a quicker option. Just blend it all in the blender!
Just made these for me and my flatmate this morning and they were so fluffy and so tasty!! Look great too. Definitely gonna have to be making them again :)
Wonderful to hear, Jessica! I appreciate your review.
I personally prefer your blender banana oat pancakes recipe. This one tasted good too but the blender pancakes are faster and the batter is easier to work with in my humble opinion. Thanks for all your hard work, Kate. I’ve been using your website and cookbook for years and constantly recommend it to friends.
This is delicious! Can i substitute half of the baking soda for baking powder? I want you get a not consistent rise. Is there a reason this recipe uses baking soda and not powder?
Hi! I find it produces the best result. I hope you try it!
The recipe was great! I only made a few changes. Instead of cinnamon, I added some vanilla extracts and some chocolate chips when I cooked it. I also added more than just a splash of milk before cooking the pancakes. Maybe around 1/4 cup of milk to make it more of a traditional pancake batter consistency.
Thank you for sharing, Lina! I appreciate your review.
These were easy to make and delicious! Just moist enough and very guilt free! Served with fresh berries, lemon curd and maple syrup!
Sounds delicious! Thank you for sharing, Audrey.
I have been doing this recipe for a few years… and it’s the best!!! We are enjoying it every time!!! :-)
That’s great to hear, Josee!
Have you substituted pumpkin purée for bananas?
I haven’t, sorry!
I have made this recipe a few times and liked it. Today I tried adding 2 Tbsp of chia, and extra egg, and 2 Tbsp of PB2 to increase the protein amount. I blended the chia with the oats while making my oat flour. It’s definitely good. Next time I think I’d blend the chia separate and/or add it to the bananas to soften up.
I’ve been gluten/dairy/sugar free for ten days, and while I’ve surprisingly been doing really well on it, I was going to make my kids some pancakes this morning and I found your recipe which means I could partake as well! Kid and mom approved, these were delish!!
I just made these and they are a big hit. I subbed in walnut oil because I’m trying to use it up before it goes rancid. Really delicious!
These tasted great! I went without the nutmeg for my batch. I also found that cooking for a minute on each side worked for me making these in a pan on the stove on medium low (not on a griddle). Longer than that and they burned. My toddler also liked them!
That’s great to hear, Sommer! Thank you for your review.
Would this recipe work if I used Coconut Flour, instead of Oat Flour?
Thank you.
Hi Jan, coconut flour isn’t a good 1:1 as it tends to just soak up moisture.
Hello,
Can I use gluten-free flour blend if I don’t have coconut flour?
Coconut flour won’t work. It may work with a gluten free flour, although I haven’t tried it. Sorry!
I made these pancakes with a bit of skepticism, because my previous attempts making any pancakes with bananas turned out less than desirable. Boy was I surprized! These were actually really good. I loved the idea of letting the batter sit for 10 minutes to thicken, and the pancakes turned out really light and fluffy. The fact that they are gluten free is like the icing on the cake! I have friends who are allergic to gluten so will definitely recommend!
I make a double batch of these delicious pancakes once a week. I have tried every other banana oat pancake recipe on the internet and these by far beats them all. Fluffy, freezes wonderfully, and the taste is amazing. Thank you so much!!
You’re welcome, Abbie!
Hi Kate. Me again! I just made them as per written and they were very tasty. The first few did stick to the pan but the last ones were fine so will tweak that next time around. Thank you for posting a much healthier alternative to regular pancakes!
Amazing recipe!! My favourite for pancakes now. I added a cup of blueberries. Thank you for sharing this!
You’re welcome, Vanessa!
Best pancake recipe ever. Since I stopped eating wheat I’ve missed having pancakes. These were delicious and surprisingly light and fluffy I liked the addition of lemon. Thank you. If I had taken a better picture I would have posted it.
I absolutely love these pancakes. I even made them backwoods camping here in Canada over thanksgiving weekend. Huge hit!
The only thing I had to adjust was the liquid ratio to dry.
I don’t know why but my batter consistently has come up much too thick. I had to thin with water or soya milk initially. Now I just cut back on the dry ingredients. We usually like to have a side of scrambled eggs with our pancakes/waffles anyway.
Love your blog!!
Like every Cookie and Kate recipe, these are a regular in our egg-free household (my 3yo is allergic). So another review to confirm the flax-egg substitution working wonderfully!
Love your recipes, but this one didn’t work out for me…the pancake centres were mushy banana and didn’t cook through. Cannot figure out what I did wrong lol! I used flax eggs, but otherwise used and measured all the other ingredients as written.
had the same. i’ve put a lid on the pan after turning the pc’s. sort of steams them so they cook properly.
Just made this and they turned out so delicious!! Pancakes are one of my favourites, but I want to eat something more nutritious for breakfast, so this recipe was perfect! I was skeptical about the lemon juice haha, but they turned out wonderful :)
Best gluten free pancake recipe I’ve tried and my daughter will actually eat. Thanks!
These were tasty! I had a bit too much banana and batter was really moist, so I added bit more oat flour til it was the right consistency. They were sweet enough without putting syrup on top. Made them plain, as well as blueberry & chocolate chip for my daughter. Thanks Kate!
These are wonderful!! Definitely saving in my recipes folder!!
I must have done something wrong. I am new to making GF pancakes, so I am struggling a bit. Mine did not turn out very much like pancakes. The batter was so thick I couldn’t pour it. I had to scoop it and try to flatten it with a spatula so they’d cook properly. I made my own oat flour out of Bob’s Red Mill Old Fashioned oats. The only difference from this recipe was that I used vegan egg substitute, since I can’t have eggs. Could that be the reason why?
Hi Annie, with gluten free and vegan substitutes, they can yield different results. I test and include variations. Others have commented that flax eggs have worked in this recipe, but I’m not sure what type of substitute you used. This should actually be a bit thick for a batter. You can review the extensive notes and see if there are any helpful tips that will improve the outcome if you try again.
I figured after the 50th time making these pancakes, I should probably leave a review. I make these all the time – either on weekends to use up my bananas or even as part of meal prep by making a double batch for my husband and I to eat throughout the week. Always delicious!
This was a very nice recipe. I added two large mashed bananas, much more organic olive oil,walnuts, and a teaspoon of vanilla. My husband enjoyed them and I shared the recipe with family. Thank you.
Rita