Banana Oat Pancakes
This fluffy banana oat pancake recipe uses 100% oat flour, so it's gluten-free. These pancakes are a delicious and healthy breakfast!
Updated by Kathryne Taylor on May 7, 2026
These golden pancakes taste like fluffy banana oatmeal on the inside! This recipe is made with wholesome ingredients, but tastes like a treat. Serve them on a regular weekend or add them to your brunch menu.
These pancakes are made with one simple flour—oat flour, which you can easily make yourself with oats in a food processor or blender. The pancakes inherit oatmeal’s creamy texture, and that the bananas contribute such a lovely, natural sweetness that they hardly needed any extra syrup on top. They’re gently spiced with comforting cinnamon and nutmeg.
I found the backbone of this recipe in a King Arthur Cookbook way back in 2012, and I’m sharing it again today with a couple of tweaks and tips that make even better pancakes. Enjoy!
“The absolute best! We make these almost every weekend in our house – delicious every single time. Thank you!”
Why This Recipe Works
You’ll find the full recipe at the bottom of the post, and an instructional video below. Here are the factors that make this recipe turn out so well.
Lemon juice reacts with baking soda. Fresh lemon brightens the flavor a bit, but mainly provides necessary acidity to counteract the bitterness of the baking soda. The combination of the two makes plenty of little bubbles that yield nicely fluffy, tender pancakes.
Maple syrup sweetens the batter. This recipe calls for maple syrup instead of sugar for an extra boost of flavor. The liquid sweetener also thins the batter a bit.
The batter needs a 10-minute rest before cooking. Oat flour needs some extra time to soak up moisture. Look at the photos below to the see the difference between just-mixed batter on the left and rested batter on the right.
Watch How to Make Banana Oat Pancakes
Pancake Tips
Start by making just one pancake to test the temperature of your pan, then you can make more at once. You’ll need to dial down the heat as time goes on. If your butter is browning upon impact, your temperature is too high.
Serving Suggestions
For these photos, I topped my banana pancakes with sliced banana and a drizzle of maple syrup. Peanut butter or your nut butter of choice would be fantastic as well. Make it decadent by adding a dollop of whipped cream or a pat of salted butter!
For some extra protein, serve these pancakes with some Greek yogurt or scrambled eggs.
Please let me know how your pancakes turn out in the comments! I love hearing from you.
Banana Oat Pancakes
These fluffy banana oat pancakes are a deliciously healthy, naturally sweetened breakfast for lazy mornings. The gluten-free recipe uses 100% oat flour instead of wheat flour, and it’s easily made dairy-free. Recipe yields about 8 pancakes.
Ingredients
- 1 cup oat flour*
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- Scant 1 ¼ cup mashed bananas (about 3 small bananas, mashed, or 9.5 ounces)
- 2 tablespoons melted unsalted butter or coconut oil, plus more for cooking
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 2 eggs
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the oat flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg.
- In a small mixing bowl, stir together the mashed bananas, melted butter, maple syrup, and lemon juice. Add the eggs and whisk until blended. (If your butter or oil goes back to its solid state like mine did at this point, just warm the mixture for short 15-second bursts in the microwave, stirring between each, until it is melted again.)
- 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 rest for 10 minutes to give it time to thicken. If you’re using an electric griddle, heat it to 350 degrees Fahrenheit now. Otherwise, you can wait a few minutes before heating your skillet.
- Warm a large skillet (stainless steel or nonstick) over medium-low heat. You’re ready to start cooking pancakes once a drop of water sizzles on contact with the hot surface. If necessary, lightly oil the cooking surface with oil or butter, carefully wiping up excess with a paper towel (nonstick surfaces likely won’t require any oil).
- Scoop ¼ cup batter onto the hot skillet, leaving a couple of inches around the pancake for expansion (if the batter is too thick to spread on its own, gently stir in a tablespoon or 2 of milk or water). Cook until small bubbles form on the surface of the pancake and the underside is golden, 2 to 3 minutes.
- Flip the pancake, then cook until lightly golden on both sides, 1 to 2 more minutes. Repeat the process with the remaining batter, adding more butter and dialing down the heat if the pancakes turn dark on the outside before they’re cooked through on the inside.
- Serve immediately or keep warm in a 200 degree Fahrenheit oven. Leftover pancakes can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 4 days, or frozen for up to 3 months. To reheat, stack leftover pancakes and wrap them in a paper towel before gently reheating in the microwave.
Notes
Recipe adapted from King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Baking.
Make it gluten free: 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 looks like fine sand. See pictures here.
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 2 minutes for the first side, then gently check underneath to see if it’s golden (if not, wait up to 1 more minute). Flip and wait another 90 seconds for the other side to finish. The time will vary depending on your temperature setting and subsequent pancakes will cook more quickly, but that’s about the time it should take.
Make it dairy free: 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).
Nutrition
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice. See our full nutrition disclosure here.
Ah man, these are a delight. I have made them as written. I have made them as written plus some toasted chopped walnuts (highly recommend), and I have made them with walnuts and only 1 tablespoon of maple syrup added (also a delight). Great recipe!
Hello,
I was wondering about how many dose this make ?
Hi Nora, this makes 8 pancakes.
Delicious. I’ve been making them for a few months now and now they are the only pancakes I prefer to eat. It’s quick and simple, easy to make on the weekends for my family.
Can you use “syrup” instead of maple syrup?
Hi Sam, if using pancake syrup where the main ingredient is corn syrup, you will have different results.
I made this recipe today and it was delicious. I added chopped up oat milk chocolate bars from Trader Joe’s. I forgot to add the butter (found it in the microwave later) but still delicious.
I have been making these pancakes for many years, ever since my boys were babies. They were the perfect breakfast and easy snack to pack for the playground. We have loved these from the beginning and still make them on a regular basis (my boys are 8 and 10 now) To make them even better for you I’ve started using extra virgin olive oil instead of butter/coconut oil they are still as delicious. One time I ran out of eggs and used flax eggs, they were still wonderful. Sometimes I add a handful of wild blueberries or grate in some orange or lemon zest and I never add maple syrup to the batter, we find the bananas make them sweet enough. Thank you Kate for all the wonderful recepies!
Made this recipe today, making my own oat flour. Absolutely delicious. I discovered only a non-stick pan works well (as the recipe stated). Family loved them. My only change was a decrease in salt.