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These vegan banana pancakes make a hearty, satisfying breakfast or brunch. They’re quick and easy to make from common pantry ingredients, and they taste just like banana bread.
Why we love this recipe
Whether you’re a longtime vegan or just craving pancakes right this minute but don’t have any eggs in the house, these vegan banana pancakes are a dream. They’re:
- Cozy and comforting
- Studded with the flavors of banana bread
- Tender yet hearty and satisfying
- Full of plant-based protein, fiber, and complex carbs
I first published this recipe here in 2016. I’ve since updated the post for clarity, but the recipe remains the same.
What you’ll need
Here’s a glance at the ingredients you’ll need to make this recipe.
- You’ll make “flax eggs” to help bind the pancakes (and add lots of great nutrition) by stirring together ground flaxseed and water and letting them hang out together for a little while.
- A couple of very ripe bananas serve so many roles in these pancakes, adding everything from sweetness to moisture to acidity that reacts with the leaveners. You can use them straight from the counter or frozen and defrosted.
- A combination of whole wheat pastry flour and all-purpose flour helps these pancakes hit the sweet spot between light and substantial.
- Among plant-based milks, I usually choose soy milk for its strong protein structure, neutral flavor profile, amenable fat content, and relative lack of additives. You can use oat milk instead if that’s what you’ve got.
- You can use vegan butter or coconut oil in the batter, whichever you prefer.
- For the skillet, safflower oil is my high-smoke-point, neutral-tasting vegetable oil of choice. You can substitute another oil that has similar properties, such as canola, sunflower, peanut, corn, or vegetable oil blend.
How to make it
Here’s an overview of what you’ll do to make vegan banana pancakes. You can see the steps in action in the video that accompanies this post, and get all the details in the recipe card below.
- First you’ll stir together the flax and the water and let it sit for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, whisk together the dry ingredients.
- Mash the bananas.
- Slowly and gently whisk in the bananas, flax mixture, soy milk, and vanilla, and then the melted vegan butter or coconut oil. Stop whisking when there are no more dry pockets but the mixture still has lumps.
- Cook the pancakes in batches on a lightly oiled skillet, regulating the heat and flipping when pancakes are browned to your liking on the underside and the bubbles on top stay popped.
Expert tips and FAQs
Pancakes are at their best right off the skillet, so I don’t recommend going out of your way to make them in advance. That said, leftovers are totally worth eating. They’ll keep, tightly wrapped, in the fridge for a week, or in the freezer for a year. You can wrap them in foil and reheat in the oven or toaster oven until warmed through.
More favorite vegan breakfast recipes
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Vegan Banana Pancakes
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons (14 grams) ground flax seed
- 6 tablespoons (90 ml) water
- 1 cup (120 grams) whole wheat pastry flour
- 1 cup (120 grams) all-purpose flour
- 3 tablespoons (40 grams) brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ⅛ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ⅛ teaspoon fine sea salt
- 2 very ripe bananas, about (450 grams) before peeling, (320 grams) after peeling
- 1 cup (237 ml) soy milk
- 2 teaspoons (10 ml) vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons (28 grams) vegan butter or coconut oil, melted
- Safflower oil, for the skillet
- Maple syrup, for serving
Instructions
- Place ground flaxseed in a small bowl and stir in the water.
- Let sit for 15 minutes or so, until the flax has soaked up some of the water and turned a little bit gelatinous.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the whole wheat pastry flour, all-purpose flour, brown sugar, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt.
- In a medium mixing bowl, mash the bananas.
- Add mashed bananas to the dry ingredients along with the flax mixture, milk, and vanilla.
- Whisk slowly and gently until there are no dry pockets but batter is still somewhat lumpy.
- Pour in the melted vegan butter or oil and whisk until incorporated.
- Let the batter sit for five minutes before proceeding.
- Set a skillet over medium heat. Brush it with a little bit of safflower oil.
- Dollop batter onto the skillet a scant 1/4 cup at a time, leaving plenty of space between pancakes.
- Cook until pancakes are browned to your liking on the underside, and the tiny bubbles on top don't fill back in after they pop.
- Flip and cook a minute or two more, regulating the heat as necessary to coordinate browning and cooking through.
- Continue cooking pancakes in batches until batter is gone. If you would like to serve them all at once, you can keep earlier pancakes warm on a baking sheet set in a 200°F oven while you cook the rest.
- Serve right away. These pancakes are great with maple syrup, sliced bananas, berries, a dollop of vegan yogurt — you name it.
Notes
- You can use bananas straight from the counter or frozen and defrosted.
- Among plant-based milks, I usually choose soy milk for its strong protein structure, neutral flavor profile, amenable fat content, and relative lack of additives. You can use oat milk instead if that's what you've got.
- You can use vegan butter or coconut oil in the batter, whichever you prefer.
- For the skillet, safflower oil is my high-smoke-point, neutral-tasting vegetable oil of choice. You can substitute another oil that has similar properties, such as canola, sunflower, peanut, corn, or vegetable oil blend.
- Pancakes are at their best right off the skillet, so I don't recommend going out of your way to make them in advance. That said, leftovers are totally worth eating. They'll keep, tightly wrapped, in the fridge for a week, or in the freezer for a year. You can wrap them in foil and reheat in the oven or toaster oven until warmed through.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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Can’t wait to try these!