Best Banana Oat Pancakes (Vegan)
These vegan banana oat pancakes are a delicious choice because they blend ripe bananas and hearty oats to create a naturally sweet and satisfying breakfast option. Packed with fiber, nutrients, and a comforting texture, they make for a wholesome and tasty start to your day. They are light and fluffy, vegan, sugar-free, and gluten-free!
Pancakes are my husband’s favorite, and Saturday mornings are a great time to make them for us. Many times, I will cook a double batch and freeze the leftovers. They go perfectly with my smoked tempeh bacon and sometimes even this tofu breakfast scramble or vegan roadhouse breakfast hash.
Reasons you will love these pancakes
- Nutrient-Rich Ingredients: Vegan banana oat pancakes are made with wholesome ingredients like oats and bananas, providing a good source of fiber, vitamins, and minerals to fuel your morning.
- Low in Added Sugar: Using ripe bananas as a natural sweetener reduces the need for additional sugars, making these pancakes a healthier choice for a vegan breakfast option.
- Easy to Customize: You can easily customize these pancakes with add-ins like berries or nuts, offering variety and additional nutrients to suit your taste preferences and dietary needs. I cook my pancakes with walnuts in the batter and then top them with strawberries and blueberries.
- Freeze Well: We make pancakes on Saturdays, and I love to make extra batches to eat during the week for fast-paced mornings. They also freeze very well.
Ingredients you’ll need
The recipe card at the bottom of the page has the full list of ingredients with measurements and instructions.
- Oat flour- can be purchased in health food stores, but why do that when all you need is oats and a blender to make your own oat flour at home for a fraction of the cost?
- Ripe banana- It’s important to use a ripe or even overly ripe banana because this is going to sweeten the batter for these pancakes.
- Applesauce- To help sweeten and keep these pancakes. You can purchase this or make homemade applesauce.
- Maple syrup– This is for added sweetener to make a lovely batter.
- Walnuts- Nuts are optional, but I love the added nutty flavor and crunch they add to the batter. Pecans could be used as well.
- Vanilla– To add more warm flavor.
- Apple cider vinegar- Vinegar helps the batter rise, and you won’t taste it.
- Plant milk- My favorite choice is almond milk, but you could use any plant milk such as soy, cashew, or others.
- Baking Soda & Salt- These help make the pancakes fluffy.
Tips & Suggestions
- Ingredients– Thoroughly whisk together the dry ingredients before pouring in the well-mixed wet ingredients. This allows for a much smoother transition of ingredients.
- Batter- If the batter is allowed to sit for a few minutes, it will continue to thicken. So, the batter for the last few pancakes will likely need to be thinned out just a little by adding an additional 2-3 tablespoons of almond milk.
- Faster cooking- I put the pan lid on my pancakes immediately after they are poured to help them cook faster and thoroughly even in the middle. Once I flip them to cook on the other side, I leave the lid off because the middle of the cakes should be done by then.
- Storage- Before freezing, allow the pancakes to cool completely uncovered so they won’t develop condensation on the inside of your airtight container.
- More pancake recipes- For a different variation, try these Blueberry Cornmeal Pancakes by PlantPure Chef, Kim Campbell.
How to make banana oat pancakes
Making these healthy banana and oat pancakes begins with blending up your oat flour in less than 5 minutes, or you can purchase it already blended. Making it yourself saves money and keeps you from needing to store a large bag of it.
STEP #1: Simply add old-fashioned or quick-cooking oats to your blender, food processor, or even coffee grinder. I use a 5200 series Vitamix for all of my blending and highly recommend it.
STEP #2: Blend or pulse oats until they are ground into powdery flour, approximately 1 minute or less. Time will depend on the power of your appliance. If needed, stop and stir oats then pulse again to make sure they are completely blended.
One cup of oats makes just under 1 cup of flour. There is about 1 tablespoon difference, with the finished flour product being the lesser measurement.
For more information on cooking with oat flour check out How to Make Oat Flour & 10 Recipes that includes Zucchini Fudgy Brownies, Healthy Vegan Oat Bar, Zucchini Fritters, Vegan & Gluten-Free Waffles, Blueberry Oat Muffins, Dairy-Free Tootsie Rolls, and more.
STEP #3: Add all of the dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, salt, walnuts) to a large bowl, and whisk together. I use a big bowl for this because, in a couple of steps, we’ll combine wet and dry ingredients in this bowl, and I like to have plenty of room for stirring.
STEP #4: In a small bowl, mash the banana well with a fork. Add all other ingredients (vanilla, maple syrup (or unrefined sugar), apple cider vinegar, and almond milk). Whisk together thoroughly.
STEP #5: This is where the large dry ingredient bowl comes in handy. Combine both bowls–dry ingredients and wet ingredients, toss in the walnuts, and stir well. Allow the batter to sit for about 5 minutes to thicken up. If it gets too thick, add a splash of plant milk.
STEP #6: Heat a large nonstick skillet. I use an Ozeri nonstick pan and can cook these with absolutely no oil. Pour small amounts of batter onto the heated skillet and cook until the tops bubble. I like to use a trigger ice cream scoop to scoop out the batter because it’s the perfect amount for each pancake and less messy. Put the lid on the pan to help them cook in the middle.
STEP #7: Turn each of the pancakes over and cook the other side for about 1 minute, until golden brown. There is no need to put the lid back on at this point.
Serve immediately with maple syrup drizzled over the top. We also love to add berries like strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, or blackberries. To really hit it out of the park, add a dollop of my Homemade Vegan Whipped Cream, drizzle this vegan caramel sauce over the top, or smear them with this delicious creamy vanilla vegan cashew cream.
*Originally published February 28, 2015.
Recipe adapted from The Cancer Survivor’s Guide by Dr. Neal Barnard
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes! These vegan banana pancakes are gluten-free. Oats are naturally gluten-free. The main problem with oats in gluten-free eating is contamination. Most commercial oats are processed in facilities that also process wheat, barley, and rye. The gluten in these ingredients can contaminate oats. For those who need to be particularly careful, these certified gluten-free oats are a good option.
You’ll need a nonstick pan, and I highly recommend this Ozeri pan. It keeps the pancakes from sticking to the bottom and makes them easy to flip.
Absolutely! I freeze them all the time. When you’re ready, just defrost them. Reheat them in your microwave, oven, or toaster.
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Banana-Oat Pancakes
Ingredients
- 2 cups oat flour easily made by blending old-fashioned oats in blender, dry
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1 ripe banana mashed
- 1 tablespoon pure vanilla
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup
- 1/2 cup applesauce
- 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- 3/4 cup plant milk (almond, cashew, oat, etc)
- 1/4 cup chopped walnuts
Instructions
- Making oat flour is simple. Just put whole oats into a blender or food processor. Blend oats until soft and powdery. This will take less than 1 minute.
- Add all of the dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, salt) to a large bowl, and mix well.
- In another bowl, mash banana well with fork or potato masher. Add all other ingredients (vanilla, maple syrup, apple cider vinegar, and plant milk). Whisk together thoroughly. You may need to add an additional splash (approximately 1 tablespoon) plant milk.
- Combine both bowls–dry ingredients and wet ingredients, toss in the walnuts, and stir well. Allow the batter to sit for about 5 minutes to thicken up. If it gets too thick, add a splash of plant milk.
- Heat large nonstick skillet. Pour small amounts of batter onto the heated skillet and cook until the tops bubble. I like to use a trigger ice cream scoop to scoop out the batter because it's the perfect amount for each pancake and less messy. Put the lid on the pan to help them cook in the middle.
- Turn pancakes over and cook the other side for about 1 minute, until golden brown.
- Serve immediately with maple syrup drizzled over the top.
Video
Notes
- Mixing the batter- Thoroughly whisk together the dry ingredients before pouring the well-mixed wet ingredients. This allows for a much smoother transition of ingredients.
- Flour substitution- If you want to make this recipe with whole wheat flour instead of oat flour, you'll need to add approximately 1/2 a cup more plant milk.
- Batter- If the batter is allowed to sit for about 5 minutes, it will continue to thicken. So, the batter for the last few pancakes will likely need to be thinned out just a little by adding 2-3 tablespoons of almond milk.
- Faster cooking- I put the pan lid on my pancakes immediately after they are poured to help them cook faster and thoroughly even in the middle. Once I flip them to cook on the other side, I leave the lid off because the middle of the cakes should be done by then.
- Storage- Before freezing, allow the pancakes to cool completely uncovered so they won’t develop condensation on the inside of your airtight container.
- More pancake recipes- For a different variation, try these Blueberry Cornmeal Pancakes by PlantPure Chef, Kim Campbell.
Nutrition
Disclaimer
To obtain the most accurate representation of the nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator. You are solely responsible for ensuring that any nutritional information provided is accurate, complete, and useful.
About Terri Edwards
Hi guys! I am the content creator behind EatPlant-Based and a licensed Food for Life instructor with the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine. I am passionate about sharing healthy recipes and tips to empower others to get healthy. I’m so glad you’re here! Read More…
Hi Terri I made these today and they turned out great, but did not rise like yours. Afterwards I’m thinking it could be because I used 2-1 cup oat flour, following the 2× portion in the recipe. Possibly I should have used 3 cups oat flour, by doubling the original 1×? I plan on using them for my granddaughters next week! They are so tasty, I will spread with jam and roll up for her! ❤️
Hi Donalda- I am so glad that you liked them and hope that your granddaughters will too! Usually the rate of rising has a lot to do with the baking soda and salt.
Thank you so much for your great recipes. Because of them, the change to a plant based diet was easy. And I could even convince my reluctant husband to gradually make substitutions in his diet. These pancakes are fantastic. They are now part of our breakfast almost everyday. We top them with soy yogurt and blueberries or raspberries. And my weight keeps slowly dropping ! Again, a big thank you from Portugal
Congratulations on your success with a plant-based diet! That is so awesome, and I’m glad you like the pancakes enough to make them regularly. Wonderful to hear!
These are our favorite pancakes!!! Eat them with an assortment of fruit, walnuts and pure maple syrup if needed. I grind the oats then put everything in the ninja blender and blend. Pour into cooking pan right from blender container. Less dishes to wash! LOL
My husband can not stop talking about ‘the pancakes’. We have been plant based for a little over 2 years and this was my first pancake try. I hit it out of the park!!! Thank you for the recipe. Tastes fantastic!! And he is still talking about them. I made a double batch and am freezing the extra so we can enjoy at a moments notice… thank you again.
Hi Lue- Your husband sounds like mine, lol! These pancakes are a favorite Saturday morning event that he looks forward to too. I’m thrilled that they were a hit at your house too. Thanks so much for letting me know! 🙂
Terri,
I’ve made these twice now following the recipe as is and using the Ozeri pan (which is wonderful – Ocean Robbins recommends it also) but…the pancakes just don’t cook all the way through. If I leave them in the pan too long they start to but. I’ve tried turning down the heat and cooking longer but am still not getting fully cooked pancakes. It’s very frustrating! I did not blend the oats because I already had oat flour on hand. Do you think that might be the problem. Maybe the store bought flour is too fine. I noticed that Barb (Aug. 15, 2020 comment) was having a problem also. I thought your recipe was going to be a winner but apparently it’s not going to be for me 🙁
Hi Brenda- It sounds like you might need to put a lid on yours while they are cooking. That would help with holding in the heat throughout the pancake. Maybe give that a try, and I’m betting you’ll have better luck.
VERY good Terri! Carole and I really enjoyed these this morning. I think next time I may use a half banana and add a bit more milk or applesauce. Nonetheless REALLY good! Thanks!
Hi Greg- It’s great to hear from you, and I’m so glad that you and Carole enjoyed the pancakes. They are weekend routine for Mickey and I. Hope you two are doing well!