Name: Fluffy Banana Pancakes
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 20 min
Ingredients: 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled; 1 tbsp granulated sugar; 1 tsp baking soda; 1/4 tsp salt; 1/4 to 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon (optional); 2 medium very ripe bananas, mashed (1 cup); 1 1/4 cups buttermilk; 2 large eggs; 3 tbsp unsalted butter, melted; 1 tsp vanilla extract; 1 tbsp butter, divided between batches; 1 tbsp olive oil, divided between batches; Sliced banana, to serve; Maple syrup and berries, to serve (optional)

Two very ripe bananas, mashed down to a full cup, go into one batch of these fluffy banana pancakes. That much fruit keeps them soft and moist, and buttermilk with baking soda keeps them from going dense.

I wait for peels covered in brown spots. Bananas at that stage mash smooth with a fork and taste sweeter.

What I watch most is the bowl. The whisk stops the moment the dry flour disappears, lumps and all.

At the skillet, the pancakes tell me when to flip. Bubbles break across the top, the edges look dry and set, and the spatula slides under without a fight.

Prep: 10 minutes · Cook: in batches, until both sides are golden · Total: about 10 minutes plus cooking time · Serves: 4

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How do you make banana pancakes fluffy?

Fluffy banana pancakes come from buttermilk and baking soda working together, plus a light hand with the whisk. Mix the wet and dry ingredients separately, combine them, and stop as soon as no dry flour shows. Lumps are fine. Flip once bubbles break on top and the edges look set.

What Makes It Work

Baking soda is the only leavening in the Natasha’s Kitchen batter. It reacts with the acid in buttermilk to make the bubbles that lift each pancake, so the buttermilk here does real work.
Two of the recipes I compared use the identical ratio of 1 1/2 cups flour to 1 1/4 cups buttermilk. That gives a thick batter that holds a full cup of banana without spreading thin in the pan.
Stopping the whisk while a few lumps remain keeps the pancakes tender. Extra mixing builds gluten and makes them tougher and flatter.

I fold in the last streaks of flour with a spatula instead of the whisk. The batter looks thick and bumpy, and that’s what I want to see.

Reasons to Make These Fluffy Banana Pancakes

It uses up bananas that are too spotty to eat out of hand.
The banana sweetens the batter, so it needs only 1 tablespoon of sugar.
One bowl for dry, one bowl for wet, and one skillet.
Toppings can be as simple as sliced banana and a drizzle of maple syrup.

What Goes Into Fluffy Banana Pancakes

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
1 tbsp granulated sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 to 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon (optional)
2 medium very ripe bananas, mashed (1 cup)
1 1/4 cups buttermilk
2 large eggs
3 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp butter, divided between batches
1 tbsp olive oil, divided between batches
Sliced banana, to serve
Maple syrup and berries, to serve (optional)

Picking the Right Ingredients

Very ripe bananas carry this recipe. Natasha’s Kitchen calls for 2 medium bananas mashed to 1 cup, the most banana of the recipes I compared.

Firm yellow bananas stay lumpy and taste starchy, so let them sit on the counter until the peels are well spotted.

Buttermilk is the one swap I wouldn’t make in this batter. With baking soda as the only leavening, plain milk doesn’t give it the acid it needs, and the pancakes come out flatter.

Measure the flour by spooning it into the cup and leveling it off, rather than scooping straight from the bag. A packed cup adds extra flour and turns the batter stiff.

The melted butter should be warm, not hot, when it meets the eggs.

Making Fluffy Banana Pancakes, Step by Step

Mix the dry ingredients. In a large bowl, whisk the flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon if you’re using it. Keep whisking until the baking soda is spread through evenly and you can’t spot any small white clumps.
Mash the bananas. In a second bowl, mash the bananas with a fork until they’re mostly smooth with a few small soft pieces left. It should come to about 1 cup. Keep a little sliced banana aside for serving.
Mix the wet ingredients. Add the buttermilk, eggs, melted butter, and vanilla to the mashed banana. Whisk until the eggs disappear into the mixture and it looks evenly pale yellow, with no streaks of egg white.
Combine gently. Pour the wet mixture into the dry and whisk just until no dry flour shows. Stop there. The banana pancake batter will be thick and lumpy, and those lumps cook out as the pancakes rise.
Heat the skillet. Add a little of the butter and olive oil to a large skillet and heat until the butter melts and foams. The sources don’t give a heat setting, so test with a drop of batter. It should sizzle at the edges right away.
Scoop the batter. Scoop batter into the skillet, leaving room for spreading. Natasha’s Kitchen portions hers with an ice cream scoop. Nudge each mound into a round with the back of the scoop until it’s even from edge to edge.
Cook the first side. Leave the pancakes alone until bubbles rise and pop across the surface and the edges look dry and set. If the underside darkens before bubbles show, lower the heat a little before the next batch.
Flip and finish. Slide a spatula under each pancake and flip it in one motion. Cook until the second side is golden and the center springs back when pressed. The batter has raw egg, so no wet batter should show at the edges.
Repeat and serve. Add a little more butter and oil between batches and keep going until the batter is gone. Serve warm with sliced banana, maple syrup, and berries while butter still melts into the tops.

Tips for Success

Don’t trade the buttermilk for regular milk in this recipe. The baking soda needs buttermilk’s acid, and without it the pancakes won’t rise the same way.
Breakfast For One mixes cinnamon into the dry ingredients of its banana pancakes. A small amount fits nicely with the banana here, but it’s optional.
If the first pancake browns too fast, it’s the pan and not the batter. Turn the heat down a notch and give the skillet a moment before the next scoop.
Wait for real bubbles before you flip. Turning too soon leaves a pale, gummy middle.
I don’t wipe the skillet between batches, and I’m not going to start. A fresh bit of butter and oil is all it gets.

How to Store It

Pancakes are softest right off the skillet. The recipes I compared don’t cover storing, freezing, or reheating cooked pancakes, so I can’t give you tested times for any of that.

When there are extras, I let them cool on a rack so the bottoms don’t steam and go soggy. As for the batter, I cook all of it in one go.

Natasha’s Kitchen has a batter storage tip in her video, but it isn’t written out, so I don’t mix it until the skillet is ready.

What Goes With Fluffy Banana Pancakes

Crisp bacon or breakfast sausage, salty against the sweet banana.
Scrambled eggs, for something savory on the same plate.
Fresh berries, which add a tart pop next to the soft banana.
A pat of butter and warm maple syrup, the plainest way to finish a stack.

What I Use to Make This

Two mixing bowls, one for dry and one for wet, so the batter gets mixed together only once.
A whisk for both bowls and a fork for mashing the bananas.
A large skillet, and cast iron is a good choice since it holds heat evenly from batch to batch.
An ice cream scoop or a measuring cup for even portions.
A wide, thin spatula for flipping in one clean motion.

Questions I Get About Fluffy Banana Pancakes

Can I use regular milk instead of buttermilk in banana pancakes? Not in this version. It rises on baking soda alone, and baking soda needs the acid in buttermilk to work.

How ripe should bananas be for pancakes? Very ripe, with lots of brown spots and soft flesh. They mash smooth, sweeten the batter, and blend in instead of leaving starchy chunks.

When do you flip banana pancakes? Once bubbles pop on top and the edges look dry and set. The bottom should be golden when you peek under it with the spatula.

Why are my banana pancakes gummy in the middle? The pan is usually too hot, so the outside browns before the center cooks. Lower the heat a little and wait for bubbles before flipping.

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