Sometimes we have plentiful of ripe (or overripe) bananas and we are left with the decision of what to do with them. I have already two banana recipes, Banana Cake and my One Ingredient Banana Ice-Cream. For a morning meal, I found a very nice recipe for Banana Wholewheat Pancakes that goes extremely well with some Canadian Maple Syrup. This recipe is from AllRecipes and I like it because it’s fluffy, but also slightly more healthier (without the maple syrup of course) because it uses wholewheat flour and oats which add another textural component to the pancakes. Check out the recipe below!

Whole Wheat, Oatmeal, and Banana Pancakes (AllRecipes)

Yield: 12 pancake

Ingredients

Dry ingredients
1 cup uncooked rolled oats
1 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons dry milk powder
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

Wet ingredients
1 egg
2 cups milk
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 or 2 bananas, mashed

Directions

1. Place the rolled oats into the jar of a blender and blend until the texture resembles coarse flour.

2. Whisk together the blended oats, whole wheat flour, all-purpose flour, brown sugar, dry milk powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a bowl; set aside.

3. Whisk together the egg, milk, vegetable oil, and vanilla. Stir in the mashed banana. Pour the egg mixture into the flour mixture and stir just until moistened. Let the batter stand for 5 minutes.

4. Heat a lightly oiled griddle over medium-high heat. Drop batter by large spoonfuls onto the griddle, and cook until bubbles form and the edges are dry, about 2 minutes. Flip, and cook until browned on the other side. Repeat with remaining batter.

Impressions

One of the comments on AllRecipes suggests that instead of adding brown sugar, you can add another mashed banana for that added sweetness. This will make the batter slightly dense and less fluffy but as shown in my picture above, it’s still reasonably fluffy. The original recipe only asks for one banana but two medium sized bananas seems to work quite well with no sugar. Of course, the sweetness of the banana doesn’t match the sweetness the brown sugar would, but if you are planning to add some golden syrup or maple syrup later on, then the brown sugar isn’t necessary at all.

You could also make the batter overnight if you don’t have time in the morning. The minor issue with this is that the oil starts to split from the batter. A gentle mix through again is all that’s needed.

This recipe has become my go-to pancake recipe but also made plenty of times when we have too many ripe bananas. The whole wheat flour adds a bit of graininess to the pancakes but a pleasant taste to it as well. If you’re interested in a slightly different type of pancakes that still retains its fluffiness, this is the one to try!