Vegan Banana Nut Pancakes
These decadent banana nut pancakes are fluffy, perfectly sweet, and stuffed with gooey banana and buttery walnuts. Easy to make, vegan and made with whole grains. The best treat for a fun weekend brunch or freeze for a tasty breakfast throughout the week.
If you loved my Lemon Poppy Seed Pancakes, you have every right to be super excited for these Banana Nut Pancakes. They taste like if regular pancakes had a love child with banana bread. Ultra fluffy, loaded with whole grains, and filled and topped with gooey cooked bananas.
Why These Are Incredible Pancakes
- They are fluffy, taste like you infused banana bread into a pancake, but surprisingly has it’s way of being nutritious with omega 3 rich walnuts and fiber rich whole grain flours.
- Easy to make with simple ingredients. There is a good chance you have a lot of the ingredients at home, and if you do, this will make for the perfect meal for your next brunch.
- Perfect to freeze in advance for breakfast. Make a batch and enjoy them for an easy breakfast throughout the week.
This Dietitian Added Whole Grains to Her Batter
And she’ll do it again too. Honestly, you wouldn’t really know based on how fluffy these pancakes come out. They are insanely delicious and feel so soft for something with whole grains in it. I’ll get to the how, but wanted to take a second to explain the why.
I love pancakes, and if I can have pancakes that also made me feel satisfied and full then that’s even better. So I love to make my pancakes with whole grain flours where I can. Using whole grains is a major benefit to our health. We should all be aiming for at least 50% of our daily grains to be whole grains. Whole grains give us a great deal of fiber, vitamins and minerals. They are also associated with reduced heart disease risk, so it’s an extra bonus to our overall wellbeing. Adding whole grains to our batter helps us to get these nutrients in first thing in the morning to help start your day on the right foot and get you closer to your goal.
Key Ingredients
- Whole Wheat Pastry Flour: Not whole wheat flour, use whole wheat PASTRY flour for these banana nut pancakes. It makes a huge difference as this flour is finer and softer, so it makes these pancakes super fluffy.
- Bananas: We’re getting bananas in the batter as well as caramelizing them for the topping. Having the bananas cooked makes them extra gooey, sweet and delicious.
- Vegan Yogurt: I like the addition of the yogurt for fluffiness and it also helps to give the pancakes a little zing that really elevates the flavors.
- Apple Cider Vinegar: This reacts with the baking soda and baking powder to give us the most fluffy pancakes.
- Almond Extract: These pancakes taste AMAZING with the almond extract. Honestly, try not to opt out of this ingredient if you can.
- Maple Syrup: For sweetening the batter and also to help with caramelizing the bananas. And obviously for pouring on your pancakes if you choose.
- Walnuts: Our nuts for this recipe because they are soft and buttery in taste, so they work perfect with the vibe of these pancakes.
How to Make Banana Nut Pancakes
Mash your banana in a large bowl and mix in the remaining wet ingredients.
Add in your dry ingredients and carefully whisk to combine while making sure not to overmix.
Fold in your extra banana and walnuts and then scoop up 1/4 cup of your batter and pour on to a preheated greased griddle. Allow your batter to cook for 2-3 minutes until golden then flip and cook for an additional 2-3 minutes to cook the other side.
You can prepare the caramelized banana in a separate pan by lightly greasing with oil and adding sliced banana coins and drizzling with a little maple syrup. Allow bananas to cook until lightly browned on one side then flip and cook to caramelize on the other side. Then serve your pancakes with the caramelized bananas on top.
Tips for the Perfect Fluffy Pancakes
Make sure that your batter is slightly thick. Not overly thick, just thickened enough that you don’t end up with a thin batter. If your batter is too thin your batter will spread as it cooks and you won’t get fluffy pancakes.
Spoon your flour into your measuring cup. Do not stick your measuring cup into the flour bag as you will scoop up more flour than needed and since it is packed, you will end up with a dense and non-fluffy pancake.
Don’t overmix your batter. Whisk at first to mix the wet into the dry ingredients, but if there are a few small lumps here and there, that is okay.
Frequently Asked Questions
This recipe was tested with whole wheat pastry flour and white wheat flour. You can also make this with regular white flour. This recipe was not tested with gluten free flours, but you can use this variation using oats and rice flour as a base and add the appropriate spices and mix ins from this recipe to compensate.
The yogurt helps with the binding, fluffiness of the pancakes. You can also replace with a flax egg, which is the combination of 1 tablespoon ground flaxseeds and 2 tablespoons water. Allow to mix and then sit for 5 minutes before adding to your recipe.
You likely scooped your flour from the flour bag instead of spooning it into the measuring cup. Measuring it from the bag will make the flour too compact and not make it airy enough, which will add more flour to the bowl then you need. This results in a heavy, dense pancake.
Storing Your Pancakes
You can obviously make these pancakes for the weekend to enjoy, but they also freeze really well. Just allow your pancakes to completely cool then place in a resealable bag or large airtight container lined with parchment paper and place in the freezer for up to 1 month. To reheat, pop in a toaster or toaster oven for 3 to 5 minutes or until warmed through. Then enjoy as desired.
More Pancake Recipes to Try
- Pumpkin Pancakes
- Gluten-Free Coconut Cardamom Pancakes
- Fluffy Cornmeal Pancakes
- Fluffy Gluten-Free Blueberry Pancakes
Vegan Banana Nut Pancakes
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 10 pancakes 1x
- Category: Breakfast
- Method: One Bowl
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegan
Description
These decadent banana nut pancakes are fluffy, perfectly sweet, and stuffed with gooey banana and buttery walnuts. Easy to make, vegan and made with whole grains.
Ingredients
- 3 spotted bananas
- 2 tbsp plain vegan yogurt (I used Forager Yogurt)
- 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 2 tbsp maple syrup, divided
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp almond extract
- 1 1/4 cups soy milk
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- Pinch of nutmeg
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour or white wheat flour
- 1/4 cup walnuts, chopped
- Oil for cooking
Instructions
- To a large bowl, add in one banana and mash really well.
- Add in the remaining wet ingredients including the yogurt, apple cider vinegar, 1 tablespoon of maple syrup, vanilla and almond extract, and soy milk and whisk to combine.
- Then to the wet ingredients, add in your baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, and flour. (NOTE: Make sure to spoon your flour into your measuring cup when measuring.) Carefully whisk your ingredients together, making sure to avoid overmixing.
- Chop half of another small banana in half and dice into small pieces and fold the banana and chopped walnuts into the pancake batter.
- Preheat a greased griddle to medium-low heat and spoon 1/4 cup of the batter onto your greased griddle and cook the pancake for 3-4 minutes or until golden before flipping to the other side to cook for about 2-3 minutes or until golden.
- Repeat this process with the remaining pancake batter. You can store your pancakes in a warm place while finishing the remaining batter.
Caramelized Banana Preparation
- To make the caramelized banana, slice your remaining banana into centimeter thick coins and add a little oil to a non-stick pan over medium low heat.
- Add in your sliced banana, making sure not to overcrowd the pan. Drizzle bananas with your maple syrup and allow the bananas to cook and soften for 2 minutes before carefully flipping and cooking again for another 2 minutes until browned on the other side.
- Once cooked, top your pancakes with this and extra walnuts as desired.
Notes
Make sure that your batter is slightly thick. Not overly thick, just thickened enough that you don’t end up with a thin batter. If your batter is too thin your batter will spread and you won’t get fluffy pancakes.
Spoon your flour into your measuring cup. Do not stick your measuring cup into the flour bag as you will scoop up more flour than needed and since it is packed, you will end up with a dense and non-fluffy pancake.
Don’t overmix your batter. Whisk at first to mix the wet into the dry ingredients, but if there are a few small lumps here and there, that is okay.
Change the ingredients at your own risk.
If you tried this recipe or any other recipe on the blog, then let me know what you thought in the comments below! And if you loved it, don’t forget to rate it too. Feel free to follow on Instagram, Pinterest, and TikTok for the latest nutrition tips and recipe videos.
★ Catherine
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So yummy!! I didn’t have the correct flour so I substituted 1/2 cup whole wheat and 1 cup all purpose and they’re still very fluffy and delicious! Saving this recipe for sure. Turned out great. Thanks so much!!
So glad it worked so well with the substitutions. Thank you so so much for making this Erin! Made my day to hear. 🙂