Banana Pancakes that are Versatile and Comforting

“Maybe we could sleep in, make you banana pancakes, pretend like it’s the weekend now, we could pretend it all the time.” Whenever I hear or think of banana pancakes, Jack Johnson’s famous song comes to mind. To me, it’s the perfect banana pancake vibe. It’s that comforting, cozy feeling and sharing that with your loved ones. You know, that weekend feeling where things slow down, about midday the smell of homemade pancakes fill the air and everything is going to be okay.

These pancakes are absolutely delicious and sweet enough on their own. Filling you with that comforting nostalgia and what’s better, none of the refined sugar, wheat or dairy. All you need are five basic ingredients, a couple more if you want to mix it up. This recipe is very versatile. The base is actually the bananas, but you can easily make them chocolate pancakes, blueberry banana, strawberry banana, pecan crumble, and many others. Here I will share with you a few different ways to eat these pancakes!

Teen Approved Banana Pancakes

I coach at a high school, and one morning we decided to have a pancake breakfast, so I made these with (Lily’s refined sugar-free) chocolate chips! There was lots of positive feedback from students and requests for the recipe. Now that says a lot coming from teenagers! One of them said he didn’t need any maple because it was good by itself! I was pleasantly surprised and happy there’s a way to get teenagers to eat the “healthy” version of something that’s almost a breakfast staple in the S.A.D diet (Standard American Diet).

I prefer these now over diner pancakes because they don’t become so dry where they have to be washed down with loads of fake processed syrup. Let’s get real for a second, Log Cabin syrup contains these ingredients:  corn syrup, liquid sugar, water, salt, natural and artificial flavor, sodium hexametaphosphate, preservatives, caramel color, and phosphoric acid. I didn’t see any real ‘maple’ in there and it’s anything but “old-fashioned.” 

The Ingredients

Let’s get started with the ingredients you will need to have yourself a Jack Johnson Banana Pancake morning with all the cozy feelings and avoid the “sugar crash” after! The base, as mentioned earlier, are the bananas. The ripeness of the banana doesn’t matter too much. If you prefer more green bananas, they will have more resistant starch and less fructose in them. The more yellow and riper the banana, the more natural fructose they will have, thus the sweeter they taste. I like some green in my bananas so I get some resistant starch and they are still easy enough to mash up. If you have bananas that need to be used soon, they will work great also! 

Why Resistant Starch is a Good Thing

Resistant starch is in carbohydrates and resists digestion. Meaning it goes undigested through the body until it reaches the colon where it feeds the majority of friendly gut bacteria. It also helps lower blood sugar levels and promotes insulin resistance. These pancakes can start your day off with a happy digestive system! 

What else will you need? Eggs, cinnamon (ceylon), vanilla (optional, but I love the flavor it adds), and cassava flour. To make this recipe vegan, you can substitute the eggs with 3 tablespoons of choice nut butter per egg. Start by mashing the banana with a fork until it becomes a mush. Add the egg (or nut butter substitute), cinnamon, optional vanilla and whisk together. Sprinkle in the cassava flour while whisking so it does not clump up. Once well incorporated, begin warming up a flat top griddle or large saucepan over medium heat. Coat with coconut oil, and once warm, scoop the batter onto the pan. Cook for a few minutes each side until golden brown. Add more coconut oil if needed. Top with fruit and real maple syrup or raw honey!

A Note About Ceylon Cinnamon

If you are familiar with Ceylon cinnamon then you know how awesome it is! If not, then let me share what’s up with this type of cinnamon besides sounding fancy. I guess it is kinda fancy as it usually costs a little more than regular cinnamon. There are two types of cinnamon you can find in stores, Ceylon and regular cinnamon (typically known as “Cassia” cinnamon). Ceylon is a highly prized spice that is called “true” cinnamon.

Might I add it smells amazing, I remember first opening a jar of Ceylon cinnamon and smelling it. Then exclaiming, “This smells like Red Hots!” And proceeding to sniff it some more. It has a more delicate flavor as well. Both these cinnamons are delicious and provide health benefits such as increasing insulin sensitivity and reducing blood sugar levels (which makes it perfect for pairing with the banana in the pancakes since bananas are high glycemic index food item). The main difference between the two cinnamon types is cassia contains the toxin coumarin which can be harmful if consumed in large doses. Ceylon contains such a low amount it is almost undetectable and can be consumed more. So both cinnamons are wonderful, just something I wanted to share and to keep in mind if you plan on consuming a lot of it!

Banana Pancake Variations

To switch it up, here are some ideas of ingredients to add to your pancakes:

• Chocolate Chips – add 1/4 cup to batter and optional 1/2 tablespoon of some cocoa powder.
• Blueberries – add 1/3 cup to batter
• Chopped Pecans – add 1/4 cup to batter and 1 tablespoon of maple syrup
• Nut Butter – can make the vegan version replacing the egg with nut butter or spread some on top of the pancakes!
• Cocoa Maca with Sea Salt – add 1/2 tablespoon cocoa powder and 1 tsp maca powder to batter and sprinkle pancakes with sea salt
• Smushed Raspberries – smush raspberries with fork and spread on top of pancakes
• Coconut Shreds – either sprinkle some on top of pancakes or add 1/4 cup to batter

There are so many easy variations you can make with these pancakes, but the original is so good too! This is definitely a fun recipe to make with the kiddos. I hope you have fun with these while enjoying the tasty results and banana pancake vibe. Don’t forget to have some Jack Johnson playing in the background. 🙂

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