Banana, blueberry and pecan pancakes
The reason I became an expert on banana pancakes is a bleak but ultimately happy story. During an enthusiastic surfing lesson on the first day of a holiday in Bali I got burnt to a crisp, and in order to stay out of the sun I spent the rest of the holiday swathed in sarongs perfecting banana pancakes.
This is the result, though they are some way from the honey-drenched Indonesian ones that we ate on holiday. These have something of a banana bread feel to them, and are vegan and gluten free, thanks to using pecans and oats instead of flour and mashed bananas in place of butter.
A note on coconut milk: most supermarkets sell a ready-to-drink coconut milk, which comes in a carton and lives next to the soya and rice milk. Look out for the KoKo brand. It works in most recipes instead of milk and lies somewhere between thick tinned coconut milk and cloudy coconut water. I have it on my morning cereal and in tea. This is the coconut milk I use in most of my cooking, as it is lighter in fat and calories than the heavier tinned version. If you can’t get your hands on it, dilute tinned coconut milk 50/50 with water or just use your normal milk.
MAKES 8 LITTLE PANCAKES
FOR THE BATTER
100g oats
a good handful of pecan nuts (about 50g), roughly chopped
1 teaspoon baking powder
a pinch of sea salt
1 ripe banana, peeled and mashed
150ml coconut milk or almond milk (see note above)
a 200g punnet of blueberries
TO SERVE
2 bananas, peeled and cut into thin slices
a little coconut oil or butter
a few pecan nuts, crumbled
lime wedges
honey or agave syrup
First turn the oven to 120°C/fan 100°C/gas 1⁄2 to keep everything warm. Blitz the oats until you have a scruffy oat flour. Add to a bowl with the pecans and throw in the baking powder and salt. Mix the mashed banana with the milk (you can do this by blitzing them together in the food processor, if you like). Beat the banana mixture into the flour and leave the batter to sit for a few minutes. Heat a non-stick pan on a medium heat, then add the banana slices and fry on both sides in the dry pan until brown and caramelised. Keep warm in the oven.
Put the pan back on a medium heat and add a little coconut oil or butter. Drop in a healthy tablespoonful of batter for each pancake. Once the sides are cooked and bubbles have risen to the top, scatter over a handful of blueberries and flip the pancake over. Cook for another couple of minutes on the other side. The pancakes will stay a little moist in the middle because of the banana, so don’t worry. Keep them warm in the oven while you cook the rest.
Serve the pancakes piled with the banana slices. Add some crumbled pecans and a squeeze of lime, and, if you like, a little touch of honey, agave or maple syrup.
A scoop of coconut and banana ice cream turns these into a feel-good pudding too.
Comments
Posted by Lili at 8:45 on the 23.02.16
mmmhm, these sound super delicious, gonna try them tomorrow! thanks for putting this recipe online 🙂
Posted by Jen Coles at 10:48 on the 04.06.16
I love these so much! Crispy on the outside, fluffy on the inside. Lighter than eggy pancakes and with all the benefits of oats. For one, and with no scales, I put 75ml oats, half a teaspoon of baking powder, salt and pistachios into a blender. Blended to a flour. Then poured in 75ml coconut milk (the thinner one she specifies) and added half a banana, blended again as she suggested, spooned into hot coconut oil. Easy!
Posted by Kirsten at 12:07 on the 28.09.16
Hi Anna, I wonder if you could substitute the oats with ground almonds or similar?
Posted by Emma at 6:07 on the 01.10.16
Anna, these are wonderful and a great addition to the snacks my toddler will eat and can share with her cousin (who is allergic to eggs). Thank you!
Posted by Emma at 11:39 on the 02.10.16
These are a delicious treat my toddler can share with her cousin (who is allergic to egg and dairy). Thank you!
Posted by June hembrow at 6:22 on the 28.02.17
These pancakes are wonderful done them twice now and think they are good for slimming world the only sin is if you use maple syrup I think unless anybody else knows thank you also my husband loves them as well please try
Posted by britt elmes at 1:17 on the 13.06.17
This recipe has just become my favourite Breakfast! Is it possible to make the batter and keep it in the fridge though so I can make a big batch every couple of days rather than making it every day?
Posted by Anna at 2:44 on the 13.06.17
So pleased to hear that. It’s definitely best to use the batter fresh if you can, especially because of the banana. You could certainly try it the next day – and add a few more blitzed oats if you wanted to thicken it up a little, but I think they are at their best when made fresh. AJ x
Posted by Natasha at 12:48 on the 22.02.18
I love these pancakes! I made them for my mom and she went nuts.
Posted by Franzi at 3:20 on the 02.03.18
Have you ever tried to make waffels out of this batter?
Thanks x
Posted by Ann at 2:19 on the 16.02.21
Just wondering what pan you use? I don’t like non stick coatings so use an old cast iron but it’s often a bit of a fight with the first bunch and wonder if you have any tips on this front?
Posted by eli at 3:24 on the 30.10.22
delicious! i used boiled plantains because i didn’t have bananas