Gluten Free Banana Pancakes

A white plate with gluten free banana buttermilk pancakes and syrup.

5 from 1 vote

Gluten Free Banana Pancakes

Light and fluffy gluten free banana pancakes get their ultra-tender texture from plenty of buttermilk in the batter with oat flour to give them structure.

Prep Time5

Cook Time15

Resting time10

Total Time30

Course: Breakfast

Cuisine: American

Servings: pancakes

Calories: 152kcal

Author: Nicole Spiridakis

Ingredients

2 cups + 2 tablespoons oat flour (250 grams)
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon, more if you wish
½ teaspoon fine sea salt
1 ¼ cups buttermilk
2 tablespoons maple syrup
1 cup mashed banana, from 2 to 3 very ripe bananas
2 large eggs
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly, plus more as needed to fry the pancakes

Instructions

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. In a medium bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, maple syrup, banana, eggs, and melted butter until smooth.
Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients. Use the whisk to fold the batter together, but stop before the mixture is smooth and fully combined. The batter should be lumpy. Set the batter aside to rest for about 10 minutes.
Heat a skillet over medium medium. Add about 1 tablespoon of butter and let it melt and start to bubble. Working in batches, drop about a scant ¼ cup per pancake in the heated pan. Let cook until the edges are set and bubbles start to appear in the center, about 2 minutes. Flip and cook until the pancakes are set throughout, another 1 to 2 minutes. Serve hot.

Notes

Recipe adapted from the NY Times

Tips

Don't over mix the batter: Using a light hand with pancake batter is essential, and leaving in some lumps is more than OK! Lumps mean that the pancakes won't spread out too much during cooking. In addition, if you don't vigorously stir the batter this will keep some air in it, leading to lighter pancakes.

Rest the batter: This is a tip that should be included in every pancake recipe, regardless of whether or not the batter is gluten free! Why rest pancake batter? A short rest allows the flour to hydrate, the protein to relax, and any of those little lumps to dissolve. Resting the batter will also allow the baking soda and baking powder to activate. All of these things happening will make for lighter and fluffier pancakes.

Make sure the pan is hot enough: To test whether your pan or griddle is ready to cook off the pancakes, flick a few drops of water onto the surface. If they sizzle, the pan is ready. If not, give it a little longer to heat up.

Don't flip too soon: Look for a few bubbles in the top of the pancake as it's cooking on one side. The edges should be slightly set and the top should show broken bubbles. Then, gently flip the pancake over to finish cooking.

Oat flour substitute: Use your favorite 1:1 gluten free all-purpose flour mix in this recipe, or swap in sorghum or brown rice flour by weight for the oat flour.

Make them dairy-free: Use coconut oil or olive oil for the butter in the batter and the pan. Make dairy-free buttermilk by mixing in 1 tablespoon of vinegar to 1 cup of non-dairy milk.

Nutrition