Banana Pancakes with Coconut Oil

I think cooking pancakes was one of the first kitchen lessons mom taught us.   We had an ancient round cast iron griddle that we heated on top of the stove.   It had a loose wooden handle so you always had to be careful with it.   I think it was warped a bit as well, either that or our electric burners were not straight which is more likely the case.

We would coat the griddle with a little vegetable oil, pour on the batter and listen to it sizzle.   Then, just at the precise moment when lots of bubbles appeared in the batter, we would carefully flip them.

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Most of the time we were successful.   Sometimes dad had to eat a mis-flipped pancake but he didn’t seem to mind.

For some reason, this early cooking lesson came back to me as I watched the bubbles appear to time my flips.

Today, I still use an old griddle, but this one is electric and is leftover from The Hubs’ bachelor days.  (I was really bummed during the holidays because I plugged it in and whipped up a batch of pancakes for the visiting relatives, only to find a cold, dead appliance.   Luckily, I didn’t throw it out immediately because we discovered a few weeks later that it was the electrical outlet and not the griddle).

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Banana Pancakes with Coconut Oil

1/4 c.  plus 2 T. melted coconut oil, divided
1 1/2 c. unsweetened vanilla almond milk
1 egg
1 1/4 c. flour
1 t. baking powder
1 t. baking soda
1/2 t. cinnamon
1/2 t. pure vanilla extract
1 T. honey
1 very ripe banana

Dump all 1/4 c. coconut oil (saving the extra 2 T. for cooking) and all other ingredients in a blender and process until smooth, scraping down sides of blender as needed.

Heat griddle and coat with coconut oil. (Depending on the size of the griddle you might only use 1 t. at a time, adding more between each batch.)

Top with pure maple syrup and enjoy.

2015-02-01 08.09.36These pancakes are thin yet creamy (if that makes sense).

The batch made sixteen three to four inch pancakes.

(This banana pancake batter is pretty thin so you will see bubbles forming.  On Valentine’s Day, I made Applesauce Pancakes which had a much thicker batter which worked well for my pancake molds.  I would be afraid this thin batter would run everywhere if you tried to pour them into molds.)

14 comments to Banana Pancakes with Coconut Oil

  • Angie@Angie's Recipes

    Coconut oil makes a big difference! These pancakes look awesome, Debra.

  • I’ve been making pancakes with egg whites and walnut oil these days, Debra. I’ve been wondering how Coconut oil would work as the walnut oil is a bit pricey:) They sure do look yummy!

    I remember showing both kids that trick about the bubbles on top. My son would be patient but Michele would always want to flip them before they were ready. Wonderful memories and yes, lots of misflips too, lol…

    Thanks for sharing, Debra…

  • mjskit

    I’ve made pancakes before with 1 Tbsp of coconut oil, but never 1/4 cup+. I love flavor it provides, but I can see that I’ve been way too conservative. Next time I’m going with your recipe. Your pancakes look awesome and describing them as “creamy” if so enticing. Thanks!

    • Now that you pointed it out, that does seem like a lot of oil, but it works. Makes me glad I didn’t use vegetable oil!

  • You have us already thinking of breakfast with these pancakes! The banana and coconut oil do sounds good together. Good thing you found out the outlet was broken and not the pan 🙂

  • I love bananas, and I like how coconut oil is becoming more common within baking recipes. Definitely going to make this for breakfast in the near future!

  • chrisscheuer

    I would probably have eaten all 16 of these, they sound wonderful and the coconut oil makes them super healthy, right?

  • I am a BIG pancake eater. They make a great dinner in my book. And yeah that was one of my first cooking lessons too. I love thin pancakes. I love bananas. I think we have a match here.