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
- Author:
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 8 pancakes 1x
- Category: Breakfast
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Gluten free
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
- Scant 1 ¼ cup mashed bananas (about 3 small bananas, mashed, or 9.5 ounces)
- 2 tablespoons coconut oil or butter, melted
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice (about 1 small lemon, juiced)
- 1 teaspoon honey or maple syrup
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup oat flour*
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
Instructions
- In a small mixing bowl, stir together the mashed bananas, coconut oil (or butter), lemon juice and honey (or maple syrup).
- Beat in the eggs. (If your coconut oil goes back to its solid state like mine did at this point, just warm the mixture for short 20 second bursts in the microwave, stirring between each, until it is melted again.)
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the oat flour, baking soda, salt and spices.
- 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 sit for 10 minutes. You may want to thin out the batter a bit with a touch of milk or water.
- Heat a heavy cast iron skillet/non-stick pan over medium-low heat, or heat an electric griddle to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Lightly oil the surface with coconut oil, butter or cooking spray. (If you’re using a non-stick electric griddle, you might not need any oil at all.)
- Once the surface of the pan is hot enough that a drop of water sizzles on it, pour ¼ cup of batter onto the pan. Let the pancake cook for about 3 minutes, until bubbles begin to form around the edges of the cake.
- Once the underside of the pancake is lightly golden, flip it with a spatula and cook for another 90 seconds or so, until golden brown on both sides. You may need to adjust the heat up or down at this point.
- Serve the pancakes immediately or keep warm in a 200 degree Fahrenheit oven.
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 is ground well.
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 for 3 minutes for the first side, then flip and wait another 90 seconds for the other side to finish. The time will vary depending on your temperature setting, but that’s about the time it should take for pancakes that are fully cooked and golden on each side.
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).
Vegetable enthusiast. Dog lover. I'm probably making a big mess in my Kansas City kitchen right now. 
Melissa
Simply delicious!
★★★★★
Kate
Thank you, Melissa!
Chris
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.
★★★★★
Julie Murray
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
★★★★★
Faith
⭑ ⭑ ⭑ ⭑ ⭑
Loved this recipe!! Definitely recommend to gluten free + dairy free people (i happen to be both). Give it a try!!! :)
★★★★★
Kate
Thank you, Faith!
Faith
We love these! Was thinking about making them into a sheet pancake – has anyone tried that?
Krista
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!
★★★★★
Hannah
Love this recipe, my go-to pancake recipe!
★★★★★
Kate
I love it! Thank you for your review, Hannah.
Karen
Loved them, but if I’m trying to reduce fat, can I substitute out the butter?
★★★★
Kate
Hi, For these to turn out the best, they really need coconut oil or butter. I’m glad you enjoyed the, Karen!
BeeTee
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.
★★★★★
Kate
I’m glad you can enjoy these! Thank you for your review.
kate h
The absolute best! We make these almost every weekend in our house – delicious every single time. Thank you!
Kaylee Jane Keim
I made these flapjacks and omitted lemon juice (forgot!) and they turned out splendid! Everyone loved em.
★★★★★
Marian
Such a yummy recipe!
Tried it yesterday for my elderly mom breakfast and she LOVED it (which is sooooo hard to achieve)
Thanks Kate
★★★★★
Kate
You’re welcome, Marian!
Lisa
Excellent and filling!
★★★★★
Kate
Thank you, Lisa!
Cat
Delicious! I have made it twice and both times it turned out great.
★★★★★
Kate
That’s great to hear, Cat!
BC
We eat these nearly every single weekend. Thanks so much for your fabulous content! Just love your little pup, Cookie.
★★★★★
Kate
Thank you, BC! I appreciate your review.
Simona
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!
★★★★★
Kate
That’s great, Simona! I appreciate your review.
Dyan Mercado
Is old fashioned same as steel cut oats? Please advise, Kate.
Thank you.
Kate
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!
Dyan Mercado
Copy, Kate. Thank you for clarifying! :)
Hope you make recipes using steel cut oats.
TYIA! :)
teo
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♥️
Nese
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?
Kate
Hi Nese, I would recomment Blender Oatmeal Pancakes
Sanmarie
We absolutely love all your recipes! This one is a favourite. Thank you!
★★★★★
Kate
You’re welcome, Sanmarie! I appreciate your review.
Jessica Perez
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!!
★★★★★
Jessica
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 :)
★★★★★
Kate
Wonderful to hear, Jessica! I appreciate your review.
Holly
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.
★★★★
Moriam
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?
★★★★★
Kate
Hi! I find it produces the best result. I hope you try it!
lina
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.
★★★★★
Kate
Thank you for sharing, Lina! I appreciate your review.