Best Banana Oat Flour Pancakes (Vegan)
Any given Saturday morning is likely to be a Vegan Pancakes morning at my house with these delicious banana oat flour pancakes. They are light and fluffy, 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.
You’ll love these pancakes because they’re…
- Delicious
- Dairy-free
- Vegan
- Gluten-free
- Healthy
- Perfectly sweet
- Freeze well
- Easy to make
These vegan oatmeal pancakes freeze very well and make a quick breakfast on fast-paced mornings. Top them with any fruit you have on hand and enjoy!
Ingredients needed
- Oat flour (made from oats in blender)
- Banana
- Baking soda
- Salt
- Vanilla
- Applesauce
- Apple cider vinegar
- Plant milk
- Maple syrup
- Walnuts (optional)
Oat flour can be purchased in health food stores, but why do that when all you need is oats and a blender? It can be made at home for a fraction of the cost.
How to make pancake oat flour in a blender
The recipe card at the bottom of the page has the full list of ingredients with measurements and instructions.
Making these healthy banana and oat pancakes begin with blending up your own oat flour in less than 5 minutes. No kidding!
Simply add old fashion or quick-cooking oats to your blender, food processor, or even coffee grinder.
Next, 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, Breakfast Waffles, Blueberry Oat Muffins, Tootsie Rolls, and more.
How to make banana oat pancakes
First, begin by making the oat flour as described above. It’s super simple!
Next, add all the dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, salt, walnuts) to a large bowl, and mix together. I love to use a really big bow for this because in a couple of steps we’ll combine wet and dry ingredients in this bowl, and I always like to have plenty of room for stirring.
In another smaller bowl, mash banana well with fork or potato masher. Add all other ingredients (vanilla, maple syrup (or unrefined sugar), apple cider vinegar, and almond milk). Whisk together thoroughly.
This is where the large dry ingredient bowl comes in handy. Combine both bowls–dry ingredients and wet ingredients, and stir well.
Heat large nonstick skillet. I use an Ozeri pan and am able to cook these with absolutely no oil. It’s my favorite!
Pour small amounts of batter onto the heated skillet and cook until the tops bubble and edges are dry.
Turn pancakes over and cook the other side for about 1 minute, until golden brown.
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!
*Originally published February 28, 2015.
Tips for making banana oat flour pancakes
- Ingredients- Thorough whisk together the dry ingredients before pouring 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.
Sometimes we top these best vegan pancakes with peaches and strawberries.
Other times it’s diced apples and strawberries. Or really just whatever fresh fruits we have on-hand.
Plant-based vegan sausage makes a great addition when serving this for breakfast. It is one of the many products that I like to order from MamaSezz meal delivery service. It comes ready to heat and eat, and it can also be frozen.
A great addition to these delicious pancakes is my Smoked Tempeh Bacon.
Original vegan banana recipe adapted from The Cancer Survivor’s Guide by Dr. Neal Barnard
Are oat flour pancakes vegan and gluten-free?
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 that need to be particularly careful, these certified gluten-free oats are a good option.
How can I cook pancakes without using oil in the pan?
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.
Can pancakes be frozen?
Absolutely! I freeze them all the time. When you’re ready, just defrost them be reheating in the oven or toaster. They are terrific and crisp right back up.
Other great breakfast recipes
- Best Vegan Blueberry Muffins
- Breakfast English Muffins
- Healthy Breakfast Scramble
- Fruited Quinoa
- Smoked Tempeh Bacon
- Vegan Cinnamon Rolls
- 15 Plant-Based Breakfast Ideas
- 15 Vegan Brunches
For those of you new to the whole food plant-based lifestyle, we’ve created a FREE 7-Day Plant-Based Menu Planner to help you get started!
This post may contain affiliate links. Read my full disclosure here.
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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. 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
- Ingredients- 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 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…
Looks great and I assume the measure for whole wheat flour is half a cup, but the measure is missing from the recipe. Can you please clear that up? Thanks!
Yes, it is 1/2 cup, and I’ve fixed it on the recipe now. Thanks so much for the heads-up! I noticed that the Banana-Oat Pancakes recipe is getting a lot of views today. Just curious where all the traffic is coming from. Did you see it on a forum? Thanks!
I was emailed due to my subscription to “VeggieBoards.com” , they featured your recipe!!! 🙂
Wow! That’s awesome! I had no idea, so thanks for letting me know. 🙂
@Terri, whole wheat flour?
Hi Laura- This recipe has been updated a number of times and, now I only use 1.5 cups of oat flour and eliminate the whole wheat flour altogether. Hope this helps.
I saw this on McDougall Friends today. Had a banana that needed to be used so made it, oh my, very good. Did not dry up when cooked so I was wondering if the measure of oat flour was after grinding the oat meal? I measured the oatmeal then ground it but did not remeasure. Maybe I needed more oat flour.
Denise, if it wasn’t quite dry enough, I think I would add a little more oat flour. I usually measure mine before grinding too, but definitely adjust it to what works to get the best texture. I’m so glad you enjoyed them!
I made these again tonight, and measured after grinding. Each cup did lose 1/4 cup measured post grinding so I added extra flour. But, after added the extra flour the mix was so thick it did not pour or cook like a pancake (it did not bubble) , so in the end they were defiantly better the first time. Next time I will just measure the oats, grind and make exactly as the recipe is written. Thanks again for a great pancake!
Denise, thank you so much for sharing this! I know it will be helpful to others as they are experimenting with the recipe. 🙂
I love your recipes; thank you for sharing them! I noticed that when I use the print option on your website, it prints the whole page with all the photos & ads & their photos. It uses a lot of ink & printer paper. On other recipe blogs the print option only prints the recipe itself without photos & ads.
Hi Karen, this particular recipe is an older one, posted before I installed a recipe plug-in on my blog, so it will print everything. Below, I’ve included the recipe so you can just cut and paste it into a document to print. Hope this helps! 🙂
Banana-Oat Pancakes:
1 cup oat flour (easily made by blending old-fashioned oats in blender, dry)
1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour (replace with oat flour for Gluten-Free)
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/8 tsp. salt
1/4 cup chopped walnuts
1 ripe banana, mashed
1 Tbsp. pure vanilla
1 Tbsp. maple syrup (or, I used 1 tbsp. unrefined sucanat sugar)
1-1/2 tsp. apple cider vinegar
1 cup vanilla almond milk (plain will work fine too)
Add all dry ingredients (flours, baking soda, salt, walnuts) to large bowl, and mix together. Make sure to only use oat flour if gluten intolerant. In another bowl, mash banana well with fork or potato masher. Add all other ingredients (vanilla, maple syrup (or unrefined sugar), apple cider vinegar, and almond milk). Whisk together thoroughly. Combine both bowls–dry ingredients and wet ingredients, and stir well. Heat large nonstick skillet. I use an Ozeri pan and am able to cook these with absolutely no oil. Pour small amounts of batter onto the heated skillet and cook until the tops bubble and edges are dry. Turn pancakes over and cook the other side for about 1 minute, until golden brown. Serve immediately with maple syrup drizzled over the top.
Delicious. Thanks for the recipe.
Please, does that pan really work w/o oil?
My new All Clad skillet doesn’t and i don’t want to invest in another pan, but I really want pancakes.
Edith, I didn’t believe it was possible to make pancakes without oil either. This pan was the first one I tried it with, and it definitely works. I use it all the time with zero oil. It won’t be a waste of money, I assure you. I love mine!
Suggestion for Edith: we used parchment paper and baked int he oven, they turn easily and are good. As another experiment, we used parchment paper in the skillet, that worked, too. Thirly, we tried “seasoning” our all clad pan, that worked, too, and added negligible oil to the pancakes.
Taste like they’re bad for you!!! This is our ONLY pancake recipe now!!! ??
I made these yesterday and my husband and son loved them, so definitely a hit at our house! Do you have any suggestions for tweaking the recipe for making waffles?
That’s terrific to hear! I haven’t made waffles out of this batter yet but think it would do just fine as is. Maybe, after mixing the batter up, let it sit for just a few minutes. It tends to thicken up a bit within 5 minutes or so, which should make great waffles. Would love to hear how it goes if you try the waffles!
I made waffles from the batter tonight and they turned out great! I did let it set for a little over 5 minutes. I peaked a little on the first batch but I cooked the second batch for six minutes and they were great! Love this recipe!
Wonderful to hear! Thanks so much for letting us know that the batter works well for waffles too.
My ninja blender is not powdering the past very well, they are still rather chunky. Any advice, do more or less at a time maybe? Or do you have a vitamix that you are using to create the flour?
Lynsie, I do use a Vitamix, but I’ve also used a lower powered blender for this with success as well. Perhaps, try stopping the blender after a short bit and using a spoon or spatula to scrape the flour from the sides, then blend again to ensure all of the oats have time to go through the blades.
This has become our goto pancake recipe!
These are delicious! I top mine with chia jam, homemade applesauce or pureed frozen (thawed) mangos.
Yum! Love your topping suggestions. Thanks so much for the great feedback!
Can you please tell me what kind of pan you are using. When I click on the picture to go to Amazon my computer won’t open it. I’d google it but I don’t know the name of the pan. Is it a Scan Pan?
Sure! It’s a 12″ Stone Earth Ozeri pan, and I love it. This is the amazon affiliate link for it. https://amzn.to/2StOb4r
I made these for the first time as pancakes, they were great. On the second time making this recipe, I made waffles… OMG .. I will never make pancakes again.. Seriously.
Thank you so much for helping make this transition fun and easy.
You are so welcome! Since you’re a waffle fan, maybe give my Waffle Recipe a try as well. Here’s the link https://eatplant-based.com/gluten-free-vegan-waffles/. Thanks so much for the great feedback!