Our families love pancakes, so we knew we had our work cut out to create a more nourishing version of the traditional pancake that they’d ask for time and time again. This delicious oat and banana pancake recipe is the result of many weekends of tweaking and they have the family’s stamp of approval!
These pancakes are made with oats, bananas, yoghurt and you can sweeten them with a splash of maple syrup but really they don’t need it – particularly once the toppings go on. Easy to make gluten-free by using gluten-free oats and we hope you’ll enjoy the versatility of the recipe too – by adding cacao powder, blueberries, cinnamon, vanilla extract or flavoured yoghurts.
Makes 20 small pancakes
Feel free to half the recipe quantities – we make a large batch and any that aren’t eaten are gobbled up the following day for breakfast or after school snack.
Ingredients
200g/2 cups oats
480ml/ 2 cups unsweetened dairy-free milk – we like coconut for pancakes as it’s sweeter.
2 ripe bananas
1 tsp. apple cider vinegar
1 tbsp. grade A maple syrup
1 tsp. baking powder
4 heaped tbsp. coconut yoghurt (or any you enjoy)
oil for cooking – we use rapeseed
optional flavour additions
1 tsp. of ground cinnamon powder
1 to 2 tbsp. of cacao powder
flavoured yoghurt
berries
Method
Tip the oats into a high powered blender (or a food processor) add the remaining ingredients and blend until a smooth batter is created. Set to one side and leave to stand for about 20 minutes, the batter will thicken.
Heat a medium frying pan, to a medium to high heat. Tip in a little oil and using a piece of kitchen towel carefully wipe around the base of the pan.
Once the pan and oil are hot, use a 1/4 measuring cup scoop to tip the pancake mix into the pan. The batter will form a circle in the pan. Cook until bubbles start to rise and pop to the surface of the batter and the edges turn slightly firm, then flip over and cook for around 3 minutes on the other side. Cook until both sides are lightly golden.
If you are trying to make sure everyone to eats the pancakes together and no one is hovering to pinch them as they leave the pan – place a plate in the oven on very low heat and every time a pancake is cooked place it on the plate to keep warm.
Toppings
There’s a myriad of pancake topping options! A simple squeeze of lemon juice and sugar sprinkle, but we prefer bananas, maple syrup, berries, melted/chopped dark chocolate and chopped nuts. If we’ve made nut butter icing for a cake or dessert that’s saved and swirled on the top of pancakes. Simply adding a tablespoon of maple syrup to a frying pan and raising heat, adding sliced bananas and watching them turn golden makes the perfect topping.
Pancake tips for speed and efficiency
To make sure the batter is smooth it is helpful to make the oats into a fine flour. We have a high powered blender so find we can put all the ingredients in together and blend. If you are uncertain as to your blenders capabilities it is a good idea to put the oats in first and pulse until they reach a fine flour consistency.
Depending on the size of the frying pans you own will depend on how many pancakes you can cook at one time – you will regularly find us with 3 random sized frying pans on the go to speed up the cooking process.
20 pancakes may seem like a lot but when trying to satisfy the pancake hunger of 4 or 5 greedy pancake addicts they soon go. We like to make extra whilst in the pancake making zone – so they can be kept in the fridge and enjoyed for following breakfasts, as after-school snacks or desserts.
For some reason, the first pancake never looks as good as the second, third, fourth, but it tastes great – as we are cooking the pancakes we just eat this one straight from the pan.
We hope you get as many mornings enjoyment out of these pancakes as our families do!
