Banana Buttermilk Pancakes

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These Banana Buttermilk Pancakes are so fluffy and perfectly tender. They’re made from a simple pancake batter that has mashed bananas so the banana flavor is evenly dispersed throughout – with no added sugar, the bananas sweeten it up just enough. Serve with a pat of butter and some maple syrup for a perfectly simple breakfast.

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Ingredients
Step by step instructions
Tips and tricks
Banana pancake mix-ins
Banana pancake toppings
Storing and reheating
FAQs
More pancake recipes
📖 Recipe

Ingredients

Most ingredients for these easy banana pancakes you’ll likely have on hand. If anything you’ll probably have to buy some buttermilk! The biggest planning element is getting your bananas just ripe enough.

Bananas: Half a cup of mashed banana so it incorporates into the batter and sweetens it up! Either one large banana or two small. Similar to banana bread, you want to use overripe bananas for this - so ones with a bunch of brown specks. As bananas ripen, they get even sweeter and the texture is more mashable.
Flour: Standard all purpose flour. Spoon and level to measure!
Baking powder: This is the leavening agent in the recipe. Baking powder has both the sodium bicarbonate and the acid (whereas baking soda just has the sodium bicarbonate), but the amount of buttermilk we use doesn’t offset the acidity enough, so we need a little more from the baking powder.
Buttermilk: A little thick, a little tangy, it’s a perfect balance with the sweet bananas.
Cinnamon: This warm spice makes all pancakes better in my opinion.
Vanilla extract: Similar to cinnamon, just to bring a little warm flavor.
Egg: One large egg to bind everything together.
Salt: A bit of kosher salt to balance out and bring out the flavors.
Butter: Unsalted butter gets used to cook the pancakes.

Step by step instructions

Instructions below will teach you how to make the best buttermilk banana pancakes. Full ingredient quantities are in the recipe card at the end of this post.

Overview: make the buttermilk batter by mixing all ingredients together in a large bowl. Melt butter over medium heat. Add ⅓ cup of batter, cook 3 minutes on both sides.

1. Mash the banana. Place the banana in a medium bowl. Smush it with the back of a fork until fully mashed.

2. Add the egg. Crack the egg into the bowl with the banana. Whisk until well combined.

3. Add the rest of the wet ingredients. To the bowl with the banana mixture, add the buttermilk and vanilla. Whisk until well combined.

4. Add the dry ingredients. Add the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and vanilla. Whisk until just combined - it’ll be a little lumpy because of the texture from the banana.

5. Pour the batter. Heat a medium sized non-stick pan over medium heat. Add a bit of butter to the hot skillet. Once the butter is melted and sizzling gently, scoop ⅓ cup of batter into the skillet. Cook on this side for about 3 minutes – until the edges have set, a few little bubbles are forming on the surface, and the side that is down is golden brown.

6. Flip. Once it's ready, carefully flip the pancake to cook the second side. Cook about 3 minutes and remove once golden brown. Add more butter if needed, and repeat until you've worked through all the batter.

Tips and tricks

To mash the bananas use either the back of a fork or a mini potato masher.
Don’t over mix the batter! If you over mix, you'll have flatter, more rubbery pancakes. Mix until everything is just combined and a few small lumps remain.
If the butter starts to brown or burn in the pan, wipe it out with a dry paper towel then replace it by adding a bit more.
Watch the temperature of your skillet – if the butter immediately browns when it goes into the pan your pan is too hot. Lower the temperature. You'll want to be around medium / medium-low heat to make pancakes.
Pancakes are ready to flip when the edges are set and a few small bubbles start to form on the surface.
To make homemade buttermilk – add 1 tablespoon of lemon juice to a measuring cup, then add just enough whole milk or 2% milk to hit the 1 cup mark. Stir it together, and let it sit for 10 minutes. Then it’s ready to use!
If you have a non-stick griddle, definitely use that instead of a skillet! There's more surface area so you can cook more pancakes at a time.
If you don't want to use butter you could alternatively spray a bit of nonstick cooking spray.

Banana pancake mix-ins

I like to keep these banana pancakes as is and play with the toppings (see below for some suggestions), but if you want to spice them up a bit below are some mix-ins you could add into the batter.

Semisweet chocolate chips
Chopped nuts such as pecans or walnuts
Chocolate or rainbow sprinkles
More fruit such as blueberries or cut up strawberries
In the fall add some pumpkin pie spice
Peanut butter

Banana pancake toppings

Similar to the mix-ins, you could totally play around with what you top these pancakes with! Below are some suggestions.

Pat of butter
Powdered sugar
Warm maple syrup
Fruit such as blueberries, strawberries, kiwi, or double-down and top with some banana slices
Chopped nuts – walnuts, pecans
Homemade whipped cream
Caramel sauce
Fruit jam or compote

Banana Buttermilk stack with bite cut out.

Storing and reheating

Storage: Keep any leftover pancakes wrapped tightly or in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.
Reheating: Warm in the microwave for a few minutes.
Freezing: Cooked pancakes can be stored in the freezer for up to 3 months. Wrap them individually and keep in an airtight container. Thaw in the fridge and warm in the microwave.

FAQs

Can I ripen bananas quickly?

A banana will ripen more quickly if you put it in a closed paper bag. To speed it up even further, add an apple, pear, or avocado in the bag with it.

Can I use frozen bananas?

You can, just defrost them first.

What if I don’t have enough banana?

You can round it out with some applesauce.

What is buttermilk?

Buttermilk is essentially fermented milk – it’s used often in baking because it helps produce a tender result. More on what buttermilk is here.