Hands down THE best Vegan Banana Pancakes. They are soft, fluffy, super delicious and so simple to make, from scratch, in a blender. This is an essential, keep handy in your back pocket, recipe that everyone needs for an easy, yet decadent breakfast!
Today is dedicated to simple, made from scratch, soft, fluffy and delicious Vegan Banana Pancakes that are just the right amount of sweet, and are hands down, melt in your mouth, YUM.
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As you are probably well aware, the not so perfect vegan pancake situation is all too common, especially when you add extra moistness in the form of banana. They often end up gummy and slightly damp.
My banana pancake game is strong though, and the texture of these and their Chocolate Banana Pancakes spin-off is absolutely spot on.
We really do have breakfast heaven right here, and once you've tasted a plate of this hot, banana-y, syrup soaked fluffy goodness, your ordinary, plain pancakes might well become a thing of the past.
We're talking a maximum fluff situation. Just call me the fluff-master.
Ok, maybe not ...
These Vegan Banana Pancakes are:
- Thick, soft and fluffy
- Full of yummy banana, cinnamon and nutmeg flavour
- Super easy and quick to make
- Hearty
- Satisfying
- And I think the best pancakes I have ever made!
How to make vegan banana pancakes
(For detailed measurements and instructions, see the printable recipe card).
Want to know how easy it is to make my Vegan Banana Pancakes?
Well here's how:
- Step 1 - Dump everything in a blender and blend it all up. If you don't have a blender, I have included instructions in the full recipe below for how to make them by hand.
- Step 2 - Leave the batter to sit for 10 minutes while you preheat the pan/griddle.
- Step 3 - Grease the pan/griddle. See my recipe notes regarding what works best.
- Step 4 - Pour the batter into rounds on the griddle/pan and let cook until bubbles form, then flip and cook a bit more.
Possible variations
Once the batter is fresh on the griddle/pan, if you want to you can add some optional extras. Chocolate chips or blueberries work particularly well. Just poke them into the uncooked batter before flipping.
Success tips
- Don't over blend/mix the batter. Just keep going until no dry flour is visible. A few small lumps are ok.
- Don't thin the batter. If you want thick and fluffy vegan pancakes the trick is to keep the batter thick.
- Cook the pancakes long and slow. Don't rush them. Vegan pancakes take longer to cook through and become fluffy than non-vegan pancakes do.
- Don't use more banana than the recipe calls for as it will affect the texture. The pancakes have been tested carefully and the amounts listed give the best results.
- Don't press the pancakes down with the spatula while they are cooking or you will push out the air and lose some fluff.
- For optimal visual appeal, I have found that vegan butter works much better than oil when cooking pancakes. You can see the difference between the 2 in my video and photos. The video pancakes were cooked using oil, the ones in the photos were cooked using vegan butter.
- These pancakes need the little bit of oil in them to have the perfect texture. If you omit it they won't be nearly as light and fluffy. Adding the nut butter as per my substitution suggestion provides a little bit of fat and helps somewhat for an oil-free version, but for the very best results, the oil is necessary.
- Measure the flour correctly. See below.
Measuring flour correctly
As always with any of my recipes involving flour, I highly recommend that you weigh it. Cup measurements are not accurate enough to get the best results.
If you do need to use cups, spoon the flour into the cup then level off the top with a knife without compacting it or shaking it down. By doing it like this you will get roughly the correct amount. If you scoop the flour up into the cup, you will end up with much more than is needed and it will affect the outcome of the recipe. Digital scales are available at most big superstores now and you can pick one up for around $10. They are a great investment and are so worth having!
Serving suggestions
I usually like all the toppings when I eat pancakes but I like to serve these vegan banana pancakes quite simply. We're talking a generous knob of vegan butter and a heavy-handed drizzle of maple syrup. The banana flavour comes through really well and is enhanced by the cinnamon and hint of nutmeg. It's almost like eating sticky, syrupy, banana bread.
Other toppings that would work:
- vegan butter and maple syrup
- vegan yogurt
- fresh fruit
- date caramel
- chocolate sauce or chocolate chips
- vegan ricotta
- vegan whipped cream
Storage, freezing & reheating tips
Leftover vegan banana pancakes can be refrigerated for a day or two then reheated in a pan over medium heat, in the microwave, or in a toaster.
To freeze banana pancakes, allow them to cool completely on a cooling rack then stack them up with parchment paper between them so they don't stick together. I sometimes don't use the parchment paper and they stick together a little but are easily released. Place in a freezer bag or freezer-safe container and freeze for up to 3 months. Reheat in a toaster from frozen. You might need to put them in for a couple of rounds to make sure they are heated through properly. You can also microwave them on low until they are warmed through.
Hungry for more?
Love pancakes? Then be sure to check out my:
- Vegan Blueberry Pancake
- Vegan Spelt Pancakes
- Vegan Pumpkin Pancakes
- Vegan English Pancakes
- Vegan Sweet Potato Pancakes
Ooops. I think I might have a slight pancake obsession....
📖 Recipe
The Best Vegan Banana Pancakes
Author:
Ingredients
- 240 ml / 1 cup unsweetened non dairy milk
- 2 tablespoons + 1 teaspoon oil of choice , or cashew butter for oil free but they won't be quite as light and fluffy
- 1 medium banana, peeled , weighing around 170 g in it's skin
- 200 g / 1½ cups + 2 tablespoons all purpose flour (plain flour in the UK) , Or spelt flour but you must weigh it and use 200g - the cup measurements given won't be accurate for spelt as it's lighter than all purpose flour)
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda (bicarbonate of soda in the UK)
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
RECOMMENDED EQUIPMENT
INSTRUCTIONS
- Add all of the ingredients to a blender . It blends up much easier if you add the liquid ingredients first, followed by the dry ingredients. If you don't have a blender you can make them by hand. I will include instructions at the end.
- Blend the ingredients until smooth. Don't over blend. turn it off as soon as everything is smooth and combined. It should take less than a minute.
- Leave the batter to rest for at least 10 minutes. It will be thick. Don't be tempted to thin it. While it rests, preheat your griddle to medium (about 325 °f) or use a skillet or frying pan .
- Lightly grease (with a little oil or vegan butter) the pan/griddle with a brush, then pour the batter on in rounds, about 1 ladle full per pancake or roughly ⅓ of a cup. Leave to cook until bubbles appear all over the top and begin to pop, then flip very gently.
- Allow to cook for another 2 to 3 minutes until golden then remove from the pan and serve immediately.
To make by hand:
- Mash the banana really, really well until it is a puree consistency. Beat it together with the milk and oil until combined well.
- Add all of the dry ingredients to a bowl, whisk them together, then gradually pour in the milk, stirring as you go to work out the lumps. Stir until all of the flour is absorbed and the batter is smooth, then leave to rest for 10 minutes before carrying on as above.
NOTES
- Don't over blend/mix the batter. Just keep going until no dry flour is visible. A few small lumps are ok.
- Don't thin the batter. If you want thick and fluffy vegan pancakes the trick is to keep the batter thick.
- Cook the pancakes long and slow. Don't rush them. Vegan pancakes take longer to cook through and become fluffy than non-vegan pancakes do.
- Don't use more banana than the recipe calls for as it will affect the texture. The pancakes have been tested carefully and the amounts listed give the best results.
- Don't press the pancakes down with the spatula while they are cooking or you will push out the air and lose some fluff.
- For optimal visual appeal, I have found that vegan butter works much better than oil when cooking pancakes. You can see the difference between the 2 in my video and photos. The video pancakes were cooked using oil, the ones in the photos were cooked using vegan butter.
- These pancakes need the little bit of oil in them to have the perfect texture. If you omit it they won't be nearly as light and fluffy. Adding the nut butter as per my substitution suggestion provides a little bit of fat and helps somewhat for an oil-free version, but for the very best results, the oil is necessary.
- Measure the flour correctly. Weighing with a digital scale is always best for accurate results.
NUTRITION
Nutritional information is provided for convenience & as a courtesy. The data is a computer generated estimate so should be used as a guide only.
Talya says
I think someone else commented that they don't normally post reviews of recipes, but this was an exception.. And totally exceptional! I've never made pancakes and wanted a quick, pain-free option. This delivered! They looked incredible and tasted yum! Perfect served with vegan butter and peanut butter. Yummy!!! Thanks for a fab recipe.
A Virtual Vegan says
Thank you so much for coming back to leave a review and I'm really pleased you enjoyed them!
Valerie Vanasse says
This is my first time commenting on a recipe. These are the only vegan pancakes I make. They are hands down the best I've ever had and so easy to make!!
I was just wondering if you've ever doubled the recipe?
A Virtual Vegan says
I'm really pleased you enjoyed them! I take my vegan pancake game very seriously ;O) You can safely double or triple the recipe. I do regularly.
Sherry says
These pancakes were the best ones I’ve ever tried. My 6 year old loves them and is now requesting them all the time. I’ve always struggled with making vegan pancakes fluffy, but these ones turned out so big, fluffy and delicious they are now on rotation.
A Virtual Vegan says
I'm really pleased you enjoyed them Sherry!
Kim says
So delicious! I followed the directions and these came out beautifully. The only changes I made were to add a little less sugar because I don’t like things very sweet and I added blueberries. This was also my first time using spelt flour. It was so quick and easy to make this in the blender. Love this recipe. Thank you! I shared this recipe with a Facebook group “Pampered Chef Deluxe Cooking Blender” which is the blender I used for this recipe. Worked great.
A Virtual Vegan says
I'm so pleased you enjoyed them Kim and thanks so much for coming back to leave a review/rating. It's much appreciated!
Myrtle says
These pancakes were a bit too salty for me, but other than that they were completely delicious and easy to make! I will definitely make these again, probably adding less salt.
A Virtual Vegan says
The ratio of salt to flour/bananas in this recipe is pretty low so you really shouldn't be able to taste it. Just in case you didn't, be sure to weigh the flour and use measuring spoons for the salt, baking powder, soda etc. If you don't you can end up with the ratios of everything being slightly off and too much baking soda or powder can have a kind of "salty" taste. You can certainly decrease or omit the salt though. It won't affect how the recipe turns out. Hope that helps!
Naomi Simpson says
Lovely pancakes, think I added to much baking powder as I was out of bicarbonate but still tasted amazing! So fluffffy
Yvette A says
Can you make the batter ahead of time and have it in the fridge?
A Virtual Vegan says
No. The baking soda will lose its power and they won't be as fluffy. This pancake is great for making ahead. Cook as per the recipe and it reheats beautifully in the oven or microwave because it's so big and fluffy, almost like a cake! https://avirtualvegan.com/giant-blueberry-vegan-pancake/
Also the batter for these English pancakes can be made ahead the night before if you want to because they aren't fluffy: https://avirtualvegan.com/vegan-english-pancakes/
Hope that helps!
Leah says
I’ve literally never commented on a recipe but I feel I absolutely have to after seeing a few negative reviews... I had to come and say - these pancakes are flipping incredible!!! Best vegan ones I’ve ever made. I used spelt and followed every step (including weighing flour) - wow. Thank you. Love love love!!!
A Virtual Vegan says
Thank you Leah!
Carmen Guzman says
I will try this. Are the calories per pancake? Or the whole batch?
A Virtual Vegan says
per pancake
KJ says
Amazing recipe! The pancakes turned out perfect, I think the banana to flour to milk ratio is spot on here.
Ciara Lowe says
I don’t know how these pancakes turned out well for anyone. There seemed to be way too much liquid and fat used so my “pancakes” were more like soup that spilled onto the pan and instantly started burning. I had to do a lot of tweaking on my own just so they would form on the pan. They are still too oily and not fluffy at all. I used almond flour and coconut oil and have not had issues with these substitutes before.
A Virtual Vegan says
Well there you have it. You didn't follow the recipe. You can't complain a recipe doesn't work if you didn't actually make it as written. Almond flour is not a direct substitution for all-purpose flour. Its qualities are totally different and it will not work well in this recipe or most others that call for all-purpose flour. It's nowhere near as absorbent and it has no gluten or strength so I'm not surprised the batter was runny and didn't make fluffy pancakes. Make the tried and very well tested version as it's written, and you'll have thick fluffy pancakes that work and are fluffy and delicious.
Andy says
Amazing recipe. It makes the fluffiest best tasting pancakes I’ve ever eaten. Highly recommend!
Veila says
These were absolutely vile! Made them for my husband’s birthday breakfast and we were so disappointed! Had to chuck them straight in the bin - which pains me as I became a vegan on environmental grounds, really goes against the grain! Tasted really chemical from the Bicarbonate/baking powder I think!
A Virtual Vegan says
This is such a popular recipe and it's never had a bad review before so something must have gone wrong when you were mixing the batter. To troubleshoot: Did you change anything at all, like use self raising flour maybe? That would cause you to have way too much raising agent in the mix. Is your baking powder and baking soda fresh and is it a brand you've used before successfully? Did you use measuring spoons and weigh the flour? If not that could be the reason. It's really important to be precise when measuring. Is there a chance you accidentally used too much baking soda? There's only 1/4 teaspoon in the recipe so it's really not enough to be able to taste. I know I've accidentally mixed up the baking soda and baking powder pots before when baking. It's easily done.
I can assure you though that when made exactly as listed with accurate ingredient quantities you really can't taste the baking soda and powder.
Lauren says
So amazing I love them more than regular pancakes .
Maureen says
Simply the BEST! My go to pancake recipe. Just made another batch and ate 4! So perfectly yummy!
❤️❤️
A Virtual Vegan says
Thank you Maureen!
marissa says
I only made half the serving size for one person because otherwise that would be a massive breakfast, and they turned out very dense and thick! Not very impressed, a lot of oil went into it but even despite that they didn't blend well at all, and were really difficult to spread in the pan. Disappointing, after reading all of the great reviews I was excited to try them out but I definitely won't be making these again.
A Virtual Vegan says
My recipes are very well tested by me and then are also tested by a team of recipe testers so that I know they will work well in other peoples kitchens as well as my own. I want everyone to have success, and am always happy to troubleshoot if you run into problems.
I'm wondering if you measured the ingredients correctly here as the batter shouldn't have been difficult to blend in any half decent blender. You mention a lot of oil. The entire recipe only has 2 tablespoons and 1 teaspoon, That's not a lot of oil especially if you scaled the recipe down. You would have had to use even less than that. Also did you weigh the ingredients? Particularly the flour? Cups are not an accurate measure of flour. For good and consistent results it really needs to be weighed. You can end up with over a third more flour than intended, particularly if you scoop the flour and don't spoon it into the cup lightly. That would explain why they could become dense and also why it might be difficult to blend. Over-blending/mixing also will make pancakes dense. You should only blend just enough that the dry flour is mixed in and no longer.
Did you substitute any of the ingredients, like use a different type of flour or forget either the baking powder or the baking soda?
It's also important to bear in mind that sometimes scaling recipes up or down doesn't work so well, and it also makes it very easy to make mistakes with proportions too. I'm pretty sure that's what happened here going by your description of them being difficult to blend and dense too.
I hope that helps!
Christina says
These were great! Moist and fluffy. Used 1/2 brown rice flour and 1/2 almond flour And 1/4 tsp guar gum and worked fine. This recipe is a keeper!