Banana pancakes: thick, fluffy and with no sugar at all
A breakfast that rescues three overripe bananas from the counter and needs no sugar — a ripe banana carries enough to sweeten the whole batter by itself. The thickness and lift come from two things most recipes leave out: the batter must not be mixed smooth, because developed gluten makes pancakes dense, and it needs to rest five minutes so the baking powder can start working.
Your own work in that: 25 min.
- Batter 8 min
- Resting 5 min
- Cooking 17 min
Step by step
0 / 6 doneMash the bananas
Mash the bananas with a fork coarsely, leaving pea-sized pieces. The darker the skin the better: in an overripe banana the starch has already turned to sugar, which makes it far sweeter and much more fragrant.
Ingredients: 3 pcs bananas · 220 g plain flour · 2 pcs eggs · 200 ml milk · 2 tsp baking powder · ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda · 1 tsp cinnamon · ½ tsp salt · 40 g butter
TipGreen or merely yellow bananas lack the sugar and the pancakes come out bland. If that is what you have, add a spoon of honey to the batter.
Coarsely mashed, with pieces left inMix dry and wet separately
In one bowl combine the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate, cinnamon and salt. In another beat the eggs with the milk, melted butter and bananas. Mixing them apart spreads the raising agents evenly instead of leaving bitter pockets in the finished pancake.
Combine briefly, keep the lumps
Pour the wet into the dry and fold with a spatula no more than 10 strokes. The batter should be lumpy, with streaks of dry flour still visible. It looks unfinished, and that is the point: every extra stroke develops gluten and the pancakes turn flat and rubbery.
TipThe lumps disappear by themselves during cooking. A smooth, thoroughly mixed batter is the commonest cause of tough pancakes.
Ten strokes, lumps stayRest for five minutes
Leave the batter alone for 5 minutes. The powder and bicarbonate start releasing carbon dioxide and the flour hydrates and thickens. It should be thick enough to fall from the spoon slowly, in sheets, not pour in a stream.
Cook over medium heat
Heat a pan over medium heat and wipe it with a little butter. Spoon in about 4 tablespoons of batter (a small ladle) per pancake. Cook 3 minutes, until bubbles appear on the surface and start to burst and the edges look matt. Flip and cook 2 minutes. Work in batches of 3–4, about 15 minutes in all.
Ingredients: 3 pcs bananas · 220 g plain flour · 2 pcs eggs · 200 ml milk · 2 tsp baking powder · ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda · 1 tsp cinnamon · ½ tsp salt · 40 g butter
TipHigh heat burns the base before the middle of a thick pancake sets. If the first one comes out dark and raw inside, lower the heat before you cook the rest.
Bubbles bursting, edges matt: time to turnServe in a stack
Pile them on a plate, loosely covered so they stay warm without steaming. Pour over honey, add sliced banana and blueberries. Serve at once.
Ingredients: 3 tbsp honey · 1 pcs banana · 100 g blueberries
Golden on both sides — straight onto the stack
Before you start
Wholemeal version
Swap half the flour for wholemeal and add 30 ml more milk. The pancakes are darker and slightly nutty, and just as fluffy.
Dairy free
Plant milk and coconut oil in place of butter work with no change to the proportions. Keep the bicarbonate — it reacts with the mildly acidic banana, helps the rise and browns the pancakes nicely.
Freezing
Cool, interleave with paper and freeze. Straight from the freezer into a toaster for 3 minutes and they are as good as new — hard to beat as a breakfast stash.
For small children
Without honey and salt they suit a one-year-old. Thicken the batter with an extra spoon of flour and cook small, coin-sized pancakes.
