Almond Banana Pancakes
Try as we might, many of us find the temptation of pancakes too hard to resist. Maybe it’s the sweet, buttery aroma of the batter on the griddle or the soft doughy texture, or that eating something with the word “cake” in it for breakfast just feels so deliciously naughty. But it doesn’t have to be. There are decent Primal substitutes. Pancakes made with almond meal or coconut flour are a good option, but can be pretty heavy and, for some, overly filling. And then there’s this dish sent in by Jack Etherington for the Primal Cookbook Challenge. His Almond Banana Pancakes contain just three ingredients: banana, egg and almond butter. You can whip up a batch in five minutes flat and top the pancakes with a pat of butter, a scoop of nut butter, or fresh berries.
Almond Banana Pancakes are slightly delicate so you’ll want to keep the size fairly small and wait until the edges are nicely browned before flipping them. This shouldn’t deter you from trying the recipe – the delicate texture of Almond Banana Pancakes is the very thing that makes them so irresistible. If you’ve tried pancakes made from almond or coconut flour and find them slightly grainy, you’ll really love the silky, airy texture of these cakes. The flavor is sinfully close to banana bread; add a little vanilla and cinnamon to the batter if you really want to get decadent.
As is evident from the comment board of last week’s recipe, this (very similar) recipe may be too carb-centric for some of you. For those that are no-carbers or are restricting carbs for weight loss purposes this recipe might not fit into your personal Primal plans. For others it might be part of your 20%. And for others that are extra active or have already achieved your preferred body composition this recipe might be a perfect fit. In any case, remember that the Primal Blueprint is primarily about guiding principles. It’s up to each of us to adapt recipes and fitness choices within the context of the PB as it relates to our personal goals and circumstances. Enjoy!
Ingredients:
- 2 ripe bananas
- 1 egg
- 1 heaping tablespoon of almond butter
Instructions:
Mash the bananas, add the egg and mix well.
Stir in the almond butter, adding more than a tablespoon if you want a more pancake-like texture.
Warm butter in a pan and pour batter into small cakes.
Brown on each side and serve warm.
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Posted By: Worker Bee
Just made these…kind of messed up the first two…but with a little trial and error…the others turned out great.
These are excellent! I went with an extra egg and some cinnamon and ground cloves. I like them with butter, or with a little pureed berry “syrup” (any combination of berries blended with a little water; sometimes a few kale leaves thrown in too).
My nephews and mother loved them as well, and they all subsist on high-carb grain-based diets.
These sound great – but I can’t keep egg yolks down. Do you think egg whites would work instead?
Definitely. I used egg whites in these (I had a carton about to expire) and they were fine. A little more delicate than if you had the binding-power of the yolk but still delicious and fluffy.
The best recipe I have tried in years! I read the “too much carb” comments with mixed feelings. I understand for those that are diabetic, or are trying to lose weight these might be a little high on the GI scale. And I do realize that the PB diet is very low carb centric. However, there are a lot of us PBers who are more focused on the no grains/processed food aspects for whom this is a perfect occasional treat. BTW on the John Stewart show last night he interviewed an author who stated that the average American gets 20% of their calories from HFCS and eats 240lbs of sugar a year! Sure puts eating the odd banana from time to time into perspective!
Does anybody know a good alternative to almond flour? I’m allergic to all nuts including coconut. Thanks
Bummer!
You might have to go for flax meal or maybe settle for some other gluten free or sprouted flour. Check out the local health food store or Bob’s Red Mill website for alternatives.
Just starting to read through this site, so please excuse the fact that this a response 6 months after the questions, hehe
I have a friend who is allergic to all nuts (though I don’t know about coconuts) and he uses sunflower seed butter. We have it in Andronico’s here… which makes me assume it would be in a store like Whole Foods as well. Hope that helps!
My husband and I love these pancakes – but I decided to fiddle with the recipe a bit and used the following:
2 bananas
2 tbsp almond butter
2 egg yolks
~6 egg whites beaten until stiff
1/2 cup coconut flour
1 cup raspberries (or other fruit) on top
I folded the beaten egg whites into the rest and they gave the pancakes a great fluffy consistency, and the coconut flour make them more pancake-y.
I love the original recipe for simplicity, but these modifications made them a bit more like traditional pancakes, and a bigger yield – more than enough for two hungry people! YUM!
Wow. Primal has gone gourmet! This sounds yummy with a cup of oolong tea.
I love bananas. When they are perfectly ripe, they are the best candy on earth. I have eaten four in one day in the not so distanct past. Maybe I shouldn’t do that. I just love them so much. =)
i made these this morning. i basically failed. they were either burnt or too gooey but i will try again because i think it was an operator error. but, i wanted to say that next time i will be making them blueberry banana almond pancakes and i think that will be just perfectttt!! i wish i could make them right now.
I made these finally but added some unsweeten coconut flakes, cinnamon, hit of nutmeg and a dash of vanilla…. yummy… kind of bunt one side of them. but they were still good. two is actually really filling.
Hey guys, how often do you guys eat these? Okay to have once or twice a week? I’m not looking to lose weight really, just body fat. Currently doing weights etc.
Thanks.
I made these this morning using one banana instead of two. It made more of a banana almond flavored egg patty but they were really good and held up well when cooking.
Those and a trout fillet made for one amazing breakfast.
I tried this recipe this a.m. and it completely fell apart upon flipping. Actually, there was nothing cohesive about these little “cakes” to flip. Thought cooking longer on lower heat would help… not! Tried both a griddle and a non-stick pan. Any suggestions?
Use more egg and less banana. See my comment right above yours.
Late to the game on this one, but just made it tonight. Wow, awesome. Coming into my fifth week of strict primal, this was a nice treat.
John
Anyone have a suggestion on how to make these without burning them ?
What temps did you use ?
Thanks !
Tried these for the first time this morning. Very tasty indeed. Had no almond butter so just went with the two bananas, egg and dropped a handful of mixed nuts in there.
Been primal for all of about a week now and these are the first things I’ve eaten that haven’t left me feeling hungry afterwards. Loving everything else though and feeling great!
I just made these this morning. My son Sam is DEVOURING them. He’s 2.5 years old. I haven’t added syrup of any type to them. I also fried them in copious amounts of grassfed ghee, so they didn’t need extra butter, either. I LOVE that these taste good and took less than a minute to whip up. They’re an excellent use for overripe bananas, especially when one can’t make banana bread anymore (though I’m sure Elena’s Pantry has a recipe for banana bread using almond flour). As a bonus, I’m intolerant to bananas and avocados (sad, I know), but I’ve discovered that COOKED bananas are OK. Must kill the enzymes/protein, etc in the bananas that bothers me. So I can eat these too! Of course, since I’m trying to lose weight, I shouldn’t. So I only ate half of one. My son–so far–has eaten 3!
For those having issues with the pancake falling apart or burning: I followed the recipe exactly (added a tiny bit extra almond butter). I used a generous amount of butter on a seasoned cast-iron skillet. Heat it up nicely at medium heat before adding the batter, then once it’s on the skillet and sizzling/holding shape, let it cook at medium heat. You can peak at the underside to check on the browning, but after about 20 seconds or so, I turn the heat to low to allow the inside to cook after the outside is nice and browned. The held together and came out looking exactly as pictured in the article. Added some homemade chocolate-coconut cream on top and wow! Rivals bacon and eggs for breakfast.
I just made these for breakfast, but I left the almond butter out of the mix and added some vanilla. Then spread the almond butter on top once cooked. They were amazing!!
Thanks for the recipe.
I have never come across a more simple recipe for pancakes. I love the coconut pancakes from the primal blueprint cookbook but will have to give these a try… tomorrow!
I make these for my kids and they love them. Adding 2 Tbsp of almond butter does make them less prone to falling apart. The only topping my kids want on these is plain greek yogurt. It cuts the sweetness a lot. Does anyone have more exact measurements for making it with pumpkin? I am going to give that a try tomorrow morning.
Tried these this morning and they were great. I first made them with almond butter and then decided to experiment with peanut butter. Both were excellent. I only used one egg though and they came out fine. I made the peanut butter one on my grill just to see what would happen and they came out less oily, due to not using any butter.
http://kristinefitness.com/2010/08/24/gluten-free-mini-cinnamon-cake-paleo-friendly/
Yummy paleo treat!
my friend is crazy about pancakes and I stumbled on this recipe and sent it to him
I used coconut oil, 5 bananas, 3 eggs, and 3 heaping spoonfuls of almond butter
I put all the ingredients into the food processor and it came out great
the “pancakes” held together perfectly and tasted fantastic
the coconut oil didn’t give any flavor, and it wasn’t butter, so that may be an option for people who don’t want to use butter
I just made these, i added some cinnamon and topped with sliced strawberries, FANTASTIC!
These are so yummy! I’ve been making them for my weekend breakfast treat during the 30-day challenge. Mmmmmmm, now I’m looking forward to Saturday again!
http://megansmuse.blogspot.com/2010/09/almond-banana-pancakes-grain-sugar-free.html
These are the best pancakes I’ve ever had. Simple as that.
One thing I’ve noticed though is that they tend to turn out better if the bananas are not so ripe. Yellow seems to work better than brown. If you want them soggy then use brown ones. If you want a more puffy one then use yellow ones.
I found this out by accident when I couldn’t wait to make the first ones and all I had was fresh yellow bananas. I was in disbelief at how dam good they were. The next time I waited for them to ripen a bit and it was a mess. Then I tried again with yellow ones and once again they were perfect.
If using soggy ones the workaround is to use really low heat and wait ages and it will help a bit. If you have yellow ones you can whip them up really quick on high heat. put more than one in the pan at the same time before it gets too hot though.
I found that too, but the biggest difference is that if you mash them by hand I find they come out a lot better than if you use something like a food processor.
I added fresh blueberries (even though they are not really blue) in for a change so I didn’t get burnt out eating the same type of food, and they worked well in this recipe too
I can’t seem to get them to turn over, no matter how long I cook them. Is there a secret? Could it be that I used Canola oil rather than butter? My Dr. told me to stay away from butter and I don’t have any coconut oil in the house.
It was tasty mush though.
I made 18 of them on the weekend and all turned out perfect. I’m not sure what you’re doing wrong. Just make sure the bananas are not too ripe and mash them by hand as Jeff points out. I don’t have a food processor so that is how I did it too.
Maybe try putting more almond butter. I use 2-3 tablespoons.
I don’t think the oil would matter but I have been using coconut oil. However I think the first time I made them I used olive oil (which I know is not good for high temp) and came out fine.
Thanks Michael. I think that the bananas were too big and I only used 1 TBSP of Almond butter. I baked the rest in small creme brulee pans and it made kind of a banana nut pudding. Hmmmm Ideas for another recipe!
Question,
I made this recipe this morning but couldn’t eat all of the pancakes (cooking for one here). Do you think if I left half the batter in the refrigerator it would stay good until evening or the next morning?
Hi Rebecca. If you cook all of them and put the left overs in the fridge they taste nice cold as well. Just have for a snack later.
Hi there Rebecca
I did that, and the only problem is that the bananas turn black very quickly.