Banana Cinnamon Pancakes

It’s easy. It’s vegan. It’s soft, fluffy and tangy banana cinnamon pancakes. Perfect for breakfast, brunch or a snack, the blender recipe makes excellent use of your sourdough discard!

You buy bananas and before you know it a few of them turn a little too brown. It’s inevitable, and it happens to everyone, right? Well, I swear my home has reached a whole new level. The sole reason we get bananas is that I can create delicious treats out of them once they are overripe.

Banana bread is the obvious answer, and I’ve baked quite a few. But this time my sourdough starter discard jar was getting a bit full, and I decided to make pancakes. 

What’s sourdough discard?

Sourdough discard is that part of your sourdough starter that you have to get rid of. Why? Because you have to keep feeding the sourdough starter and that involves removing a certain amount. A whole lot gets collected. A whole lot. And since its perfectly usable, why waste it, right?

The good thing is you can cook up a storm with a sourdough starter discard. With it, I’ve made paranthas, baked waffles and now pancakes! 

How to Make Banana Cinnamon Pancakes?

This is a blender recipe, the kind I like best – all you have to do is chuck in overripe bananas, whole wheat flour, baking powder and a tad bit of salt, oil and, of course, the discard of sourdough starter. Trust me on the discard; it beautifully balances the sweetness of the bananas with a bit of tang!

As ever, I prefer a vegan recipe, so in went almond milk, and coconut sugar along with vanilla extract and a whole lot of cinnamon. Regular sugar and milk are just fine if that’s your preference. 

Blend it all to get a thick, creamy batter. That’s how I like it because the endlessly hungry stomachs at my home need a filling breakfast. If you want thinner pancakes, go ahead and add some extra milk to thin out the batter a bit.

Cooking the vegan banana cinnamon pancakes

Once the pancake batter is blended, let it rest. After about 30-40 minutes, oil a griddle and scoop the batter on it. When you see bubbles on the top side, flip the pancakes and let the other side cook. 

The trick is not to press them with your spatula, and you’ll enjoy the softest and gooiest pancakes.

Quick notes

I make about four or more pancakes simultaneously because I keep the size small. And I have a big sized griddle. It saves me a ton of time. Based on the size of your griddle, you can make a handful of them at the same time too. 

When you’re picking bananas, select the most heavily speckled ones, and you’ll have the perfect amount of sweetness and a lovely flavor. Although, you can always up the sugar to make the pancakes a touch sweeter. 

Banana cinnamon pancakes refrigerate well. So, make extra on the weekend. During the week, when the mood strikes or you need a quick evening snack or breakfast, simply reheat them, and serve!

How to make banana cinnamon pancakes without sourdough discard?

Pancakes, as everyone knows, can be made without the sourdough discard. But if you love the tangy edginess and don’t have a sourdough starter at home, add in homemade yoghurt. 

The yoghurt imparts the banana cinnamon pancakes with the same delightful tang and zest as the discard. Any regular yoghurt will do. Just make sure to use the thick part. You can get rid of any excess water by draining it. 

Serving the banana cinnamon pancakes

I recommend chopping up any fresh fruit you have or topping the pancakes with some nuts. If you’re in the mood for some chocolate, sprinkle a few cocoa nibs. Nutella or peanut butter is also lovely with them. 

I served them with a bit of honey, cause we are all out of maple syrup and the only fresh fruit I had is papaya – not a satisfying combination with pancakes. But these vegan banana cinnamon pancakes did not disappoint! 

The scent of sizzling pancakes mingled with the cinnamon was amazing. The only thing better was eating them. They were soft, heartily filling and made everyone’s Sunday a whole lot better.  

Variations of banana cinnamon pancakes

The great thing about pancakes is that it gets my lazy kids out of bed and in the kitchen before I even finish saying the word. But the same recipe gets old fast. So, I switch it up by stuffing the pancakes with chocolate chips or making gluten-free pancakes.

And, oh, if you don’t have bananas at home, just make cinnamon pancakes! 

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Print Recipe

Banana Cinnamon Pancakes

It’s easy. It’s vegan. It’s soft, fluffy and tangy banana cinnamon pancakes. Perfect for breakfast, brunch or a snack, the blender recipe makes excellent use of your sourdough discard!

Prep Time45 mins

Cook Time15 mins

Total Time1 hr

Servings: 12 small pancakes

Author: Natasha Minocha

Ingredients

• 1 Banana, peeled and sliced Over ripe bananas work the best here
• 1/4 cup Sourdough discard You can use plain yogurt if you don't have the sourdough discard
• 1/3 cup Almond milk You can use any milk
• 1 tbsp oil
• 1 cup Wholewheat flour you can use any flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp Coconut sugar You can use any sugar
• 1 tsp Cinnamon
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Instructions

• Place all the ingredients in a blender and blend until you get a smooth batter. This will be a thick batter. You can thin it a bit with some extra milk if you want thinner pancakes.
• Let this batter rest for 30 -40 minutes.
• Grease a griddle with oil and heat it. Pour a small ladle full of batter on the griddle. Let the pancake cook for 1-2 minutes more till the underside is golden. Carefully flip it over. Cook on the other side till golden brown. Repeat till all the batter is used up.
• Serve warm with maple syrup or honey. Enjoy!