Perfect Paleo Pancakes
September 15, 2012 in Breakfast, Nut-Free Baking
These hotcake-style pancakes were a serendipitous accident. I was working on a crepe recipe (which I will be posting soon!) and my first attempt was not crepe-like at all, but a light fluffy and delicious, if maybe a little too thin, pancake. Once my crepe recipe was perfected, my next priority became to take a step backward and see if I could thicken up the first batter variation to make an even better pancake. The results were more marvelous than I could have hoped for. These pancakes are awesome.
One of the biggest complaints about paleo pancakes is that they are difficult to flip. Because almond flour batters don’t hold together very well, you have to make small 2-3” diameter pancakes that also take an eternity to cook. Coconut-flour pancakes hold together marginally better, but many people don’t like either the texture or the flavor (including me) and they still take 15-20 minutes to cook over low heat so they don’t burn on the outside before cooking on the inside. Paleo pancakes also tend to be very dense. I have tried 7 or 8 different paleo pancake recipes from other blogs, looking for one that works or was at least close enough to use as a base to experiment with. I never found one I liked… until now!
These plantain-based pancakes are not dense; instead they are so light and fluffy. They cook quickly (about 6 minutes total, which is comparable to traditional pancakes). They are so easy to flip that you can make them as big as your pan (I made mine 5-6” in diameter) or as small and dainty as you like. They also happen to be nut-free (and you can sub any fat you want for the coconut oil to make them coconut free). See my recipe for plantain crackers for tips on picking and storing green plantains.
What can you top these with? My kids love maple syrup and butter (total shocker, right?), but berries, sliced peaches, sliced bananas, pretty much any sliced fruit would be delicious. Nuts or a dust of cinnamon would be good additions too! You could throw some coconut cream on top to be extra decadent (you can buy coconut cream in a box or you can take the thick fatty top part of a can of full fat coconut milk that has been sitting in a cool pantry or refrigerator overnight). However you choose to dress these pancakes, I hope you enjoy them! This recipe makes 6 large (5-6”) pancakes.
Ingredients:
- 2 large green plantains (about 2 cups pureed)
- 4 eggs
- 2 tsp vanilla
- 3 Tbsp extra virgin coconut oil
- 1/8 tsp salt (a generous pinch)
- ½ tsp baking soda
- Extra coconut oil for frying
- Peel plantains (I find it easier to quarter them before I peel them) and place pieces in your blender or food processor.
- Add the rest of the ingredients to the blender or food processor and process until it forms a smooth batter (about 1-2 minutes).
- Heat 1 Tbsp of coconut oil in a frying pan or on a griddle over medium-high heat. Pour batter into the frying pan until your pancake is the desired size.
- Let cook 4-5 minutes on the first side, until the top looks fairly dry with little bubbles in it (just like regular pancakes!).
- Flip! And cook on the second side for 1½-2minutes.
- Repeat with remaining batter, adding a little more coconut oil to your pan as needed.
You ARE amazing!
I wish Paleo recipes didn’t have so many eggs in them. I’m allergic.
I’m working on more egg-free recipes, but it’s hard with something like this. Sorry!
Yeah for egg free recipes!
I am in the process of researching Paleo for our family, and my youngest is allergic to eggs, peanuts and almonds. My husband has auto immune troubles, which led me to this site. So I am also interested in egg-free nut-free recipes!
BTW…I should have also mentioned this site is a wealth of information. Thank you!
With all the health issues your family has, you would ALL greatly benefit from the GAPS diet. It saved our family and cured ALL our problems. (Weston Price Foundation)
Generally you can replace eggs with flax meal. I am doing that with half of the eggs in this recipe. Not sure if that is paleo or not but it is a good source of Omega 3′s
soaked chia seeds are a GREAT replacement for eggs and subbing for some of the flax. they puff up muffins just like eggs.
I replaced the eggs with ground flax meal : 1 tbsp + 3 tbsp water for each eggs so 4 tbsp of flax 12 tbsp of water. It had more if a crepe like consistency. Also for those wanting Creoles- thin the batter down with water. Easy peasy!
Crepes! Not Creoles! Darn autocorrect!
I tried this way with the flax/water..and,sadly, it didn’t turn out so well:( Not enough liquid to blend in the blender and batter was really thick! So I added just a bit of coconut milk and another tbs or 2 water it turned out just like a crepe! I added strawberries and agave to mine and it was like a dessert, bet it would have tasted even better with cream or ice cream:)
My boyfriend wasn’t as crazy about this version as he was with the last time I made them (with eggs) so i added 2 eggs to the remaining batter and whipped up his batch. Not bad, bot not as good either.
I think I will just stick to the original recipe next time, or until someone invents an amazing egg substitute!
agave nectar is not recommended on paleo, because its a lot of fructose… supposedly honey is a better option.
Can’t wait to try this. My boys love pancakes but have HATED every paleo version I’ve tried. Fingers crossed! Thanks!
I can’t do eggs either….bummer. Sure looks yummy though!
Would green bananas work or something else? I’ve never seen plantains anywhere in our area. Might just try it and see cause these look great!
I think so but I haven’t tried. I’m guessing 4-5 bananas would be equivalent to 2 plantains. If you try it, please comment back and let everyone know how it works!
Coming to this late but I have to say, I doubt green bananas will work, their consistency is totally different, and they don’t cook up anything like plantains. Love the idea of this recipe, though, can’t wait to try it.
I’ve found this recipe to work with just about everything. It’s definitely our favorite gluten free pancake recipe. Ever.
all plantains
half plantains/half rice flour (maybe I added a little water when I did this?)
half sweet potato/half rice flour (water again?)
all sweet potato
all regular white potato (maybe added a little water)
I always add 1/2 tsp vinegar as it reacts with the baking soda and eliminates any baking soda taste (which I can taste otherwise). And no vinegar taste remains either.
I was going to ask about egg & nut free too! It sure is hard to bake egg free and paleo. Thanks for all the tasty recipes
I want to create an AIP-friendly pancake recipe. Still in the “hmm I wonder if this would work” phase. If you can handle seeds, these might work with flax or chia as egg substitutes.
I only have yellowish/brownish plaintains, will that work still?
Yes, it works well. The flavor is a little different, but the texture is still great!
Thank you. I can’t wait to try this. I had my son go gluten free about 6 months ago, and we are working towards grain free. Unfortunately, his school is not only nut free, it is coconut and date free as well! This has made it nearly impossible to find grain free breads or snacks to pack him. He loves when I make him little sandwiches out of pancakes, so I’ll pick up some plantains this week to try these.
As for the eggs, we thought he was intolerant, but I have started baking with soy-free eggs and so far he seems to be doing ok with them. He won’t eat them plain though, so either he just doesn’t like them or his gut is telling his body not to over do it. I’ve learned to listen to him.
Why on earth is a school date free? Also you should talk to them about coconut. Many people just assume it’s a nut but it’s obviously not. And by informing the school of this piece of information many have since allowed coconuts.
some people with nut allergies are also allergic to coconut. My s-i-l is severely allergic to both, so please don’t assume they are not aware of a difference. It could mean life or death for people with nut allergies!
I am allergic to all tree nut, seeds, and peanuts, as well as many legumes, soy being the worst. In 2006, the FDA classified coconuts as tree nuts. It is a very big allergy for many people. It is very hard to keep to a strict Paleo diet, with this.
Allergists separate coconut since the majority of people with tree nuts allergies don’t have an issue with it (it has very different proteins in it because coconut palms are not actually trees, compared to all other tree nuts). I follow a strict paleo diet without nuts or coconut (or even eggs). It is definitely doable.
These were amazing! The texture was unbelievable. I added 20 drops of liquid vanilla stevia & a little more salt & served with cooked apples. Realllly easy to put together & extremely filling. Thx
Is there really no flour whatsoever in these? They look delicious!
Yep. Really no flour.
You are incredible! I was just telling the hubs this morning that I really wanted pancakes for my birthday breakfast tomorrow – now I can! Thanks so much!
I hope this was ok! Let me know if it’s not
http://bestmein2012.blogspot.com/2012/09/day-259.html
LOL! Well, I guess it’s good to know that these pancakes won’t work with bananas! How green were they and how many did you use?
I also tried to use bananas…mine didn’t look like Beth’s but were flat and “greasy” ..so night, made them again using plantains and they are now my NEW favorites!! even my husband, an extreme critic, loved them!! thanks for the recipe!!!!!!
I used two bananas and they were pretty ripe lol. I had no idea what I was doing
I’ve actually made them twice since the disaster (with green plantains!) and they were PERFECT. Yum! I topped with crunchy almond butter, blueberries, cinnamon, and a smidge of maple syrup! Mmm….
Wow! These were unbelievably delicious! My father is a new Paleo eater (due to cancer) and has missed food like this. Everyone who ate them, paleo and non-paleo eaters alike, raved about them. Thank you for this recipe. It will be on heavy rotation.
I eat the Specific Carbohydrate Diet which identifies that plantains are not SCD legal due to too much starch. That surprised me since SCD is very similar to Paleo, GAPS, Primal. My SCD pancake recipes separate the egg whites and whip them until stiff peaks form. These are gently folded in last and the resultant pancakes are more “normal”. This processing modification may help in your pancake recipe tweaking.
This recipe was very easy to make, and we loved the results! I had just that day started looking for a Paleo pancake recipe. I’m definitely going to be sharing this with my gluten-sensitive friends.
We tried them, but my boys rejected the plantain flavor (they prefer almond flour pancakes) though they did eat what they were served. I, however, thought they were quite good. They cooked wonderfully and were easy to make. I also don’t care for coconut flour pancakes so if there is a nut allergy, this would definitely be the way to go.
Just made a half batch using one plantain … and ate them all. Really yummy! Thanks!
Fantastic! Easy to make and the kids gobbled them up! Thank you, thank you, thank you!
[...] new grant, my daughter loving kindergarten, some great feedback on some of my recent recipes (like Prefect Paleo Pancakes and Plantain Crackers!), some exciting potential new projects, and me finding time for more [...]
Made these this morning and my toddlers loved them. First time I have used plantains. These are much better than the almond/coconut flour pancakes.
Hi, I just discovered your blog and I LOVE it! You are amazing.
I am on 3rd time of healing my gut after taking strong meds (this time steroids), while also going through a stressful time (double-wammy!). Stomach burning, early satiety, and heartburn these days but Mastic Gum and DGL seems to knock out the symptoms. My naturopath has me on a strict grain-gluten-dairy-sugar free diet (Basically candida diet) while my gut heals – which I have done before, but really getting bored with my options.
Would you suggest the recipes on your page, like this one and others for someone in my condition (ie are plaintains ok to eat as I was told no bananas?) Would be great if you could highlight some of your faves or items you think would help me get through the next 2-3 months!
Thanks and keep up the great work!
J
Are you eating starchy vegetables? Green plantains would be somewhere between winter squash and sweet potato as a complex carb load. They are excluded on GAPS and SCD, which are very similar to what you’re doing. My favorite recipes of mine are hidden liver meatloaf, salmon with herb butter (you can use coconut oil), bacon braised brussel sprouts, stuffed artichoke, herb crusted pork and slow roasted lamb (I love meat, so they’re all good). Also the pad Thai and stir fries. I also have some great soups. Curry carrot is my favorite. For treats’ you can try some frozen fruit if there are any low sugar fruits that are okay. Also if you take the top half of a can of full fat coconut milk and mix it with a little honey, you have an awesome topping for fruit or a pudding to eat straight!
Just seeing this comment. Thanks so much for the tips! I made the pancakes last weekend and my boyfriend is already asking for more! They were so yum! But I see people are making them when they are actually still green – we waited for them to be very very ripe. How do you open when they are green? We had a mess just from opening when they were ripe haha.
As for this coconut milk fat….please do tell more! Sounds delish:)
Perfect as advertised. I made them for my toddler’s snacktime today and he was very grateful.
Just made these tonight. Served them as desert with a side of local honey. The hubs and college freshman son loved them. Son even asked if there was enough left over for his breakfast in the morning. He offered to go to the store if I needed more plantains! There are plenty left, will see how they taste reheated in the morning.
[...] Lunchbox Foods This is the recipes that I was trying to perfect when I accidentally created my Perfect Paleo Pancake recipe. Creating a paleo crepe has been a goal of mine for a few months and I am so happy to [...]
I just tried these. They are AMAZING, and so simple to make!!! I sprinkled shredded coconut on then when the first side was cooking. My 7yr old daughter declared them ‘awfully tasty’ and asked for me to make them for her birthday breakfast.
Just made these; yummy! Never thought I’d be making pancakes without flour! Btw, the printer-friendly version of this recipe seems to be missing the ingredient list.
Sorry about that. The print-friendly version is generated automatically so I’m not sure what I can do to fix it.
Just made these for breakfast – yum. Thanks for the recipe!
I didn’t have vanilla or coconut oil, so I used maple syrop and melted butter instead. These pancakes are so amazing. I made pancakes yesterday and they burned on the outside and were mushy in the middle. These ones cook up perfect! The texture of these plantain pancakes are amazing. I love that I can make them as big as I want! The kids loved them too, so thank you do much for making my weekends easier!
I’ve been waiting for a week for my plantains to ripen so I could try this recipe and finally made a 1/2 batch tonight. Kids were lukewarm but didn’t totally reject them so I sprinkled a very few Enjoy Life chocolate chips on them (maybe 3 or 4 mini chips per pancake). They were fighting over them after that. I think these would be lovely with homemade nutella or some berries but I’m doing the whole 30 right now so will have to wait to try that myself
I did try one plain pancake to see what it would do to my blood sugars (seem OK) and found it had a lovely hint of banana taste, not overpowering. I’m going to try adding some ground chia or flax next time to see if the batter can be a bit thicker. I had to keep a close eye on them while cooking as they go from nice light brown to near burnt in a second, even on very low heat.
These are amazing! Probably the best grain-free pancake yet. Sometimes I get sick of coconut flour and I’m allergic to almonds. I added a few shavings of very dark chocolate to the batter. Delish. Thank you. I’ve passed these on!
Another winner! Thanks!
Hi Sarah! I’ve been Paleo for a while and I’m devouring Paleo recipes for my kids. I really appreciate all the recipes you post! I made your pancakes last week and I thought they were great. The consistency was really nice – I used plantains that were pretty ripe (yellow and black) because they didn’t have any green ones. What is the difference between using the green vs. ripe ones?
The main difference is the flavor. Green plantains have a very neutral starchy flavor whereas ripe plantains have a banana apple combo taste.
[...] I wanted my family to like these pancakes. They were just as advertised: easy to make, easy to cook, easy to flip. And completely grain free. No almond flour, no coconut flour. I highly recommend you try this recipe. [...]
Had these tonight, so yummy!! Thank you for the recipe!
Followed the recipe, but my pancakes are flat and thin. Nothing at all like your photo or description. Suggestions?
Maybe your plantains were on the small side? Or eggs on the very large side?
Wonderful! Plantains are cheap here too. Kids loved them topped fruit. Success and a recipe to add to the paleo box!!!
Loved Them! First Paleo pancakes that my kids have even finished and they also asked for more! I am freezing the extra for school mornings. You and The Paleo Parents are teaching me so much! Almond meal based recipes leave my stomach feeling sick afterward so I am grateful for the nut-free recipes. I have never noticed a problem with hazlenuts – have you ever used Hazlenut meal? I know it is available through Bob’s Red Mill.
I don’t do well with large quantities of any nuts, so I haven’t branched out much into other nut flours (although I do experiment with homemade nut meal and chopped nuts for recipes).
Made these delectable pancakes for the first time this morning. They were a huge hit! Thank you so much for posting this recipe. You rock!
Thank you for another wonderful recipe, these were very good! I added blueberries to the second batch, yum!
I commented on these on my FB page they are really crazy good & the texture is incredible! But this is why I’m writing. I use stewed apples w/cinnamon as my topping. I had some leftover cakes & threw them in the fridge without parchment paper in between so the next day looking for something good to eat quick..i spied them but they came apart in bits & pieces. Lightbulb! I layered the pieces with leftover stewed apples Heated in the nuker til very warm then poured a little almond milk in wahlah a hot cereal like dish VERY satisfying & kept me very full for hours.:)
Yum! Thank you for this great recipe!
I just made a similar recipe … but i used bananas as i couldn’t get hold of plantain (i liked that bananas made them sweet) and they turned out amazing … what i did was mash 2 large ripe bananas … i added cream cheese and three eggs … a pinch of cinnamon … baking powder and that’s it … i buttered the pan and cooked them kind of slowly and that made them really easy to flip … they were so delicious …
I made these as waffles for my kids and my 5 year old declared them “the best waffles I’ve ever tasted” and asked me to make them for his school lunches.
THANKS!
We just made them last night for dinner and then today for lunch. We used coconut oil to cook them the first time then used organic full fat butter the second time. Both times were great, but we really liked cooking the pancakes in butter!!! These by far are the best pancakes ever!! Thank YOU!
Just made these this morning. Girlfriend…these are awesome!
I’m new to eating like a cave women (8 days grain and dairy free!!) and in my family, Sunday is pancake party breakfast day.
I was the guinea pig today for this recipe, but next week I will introduce them to the gang.
Thanks for such a wonderful site full of so much information!!!
Regards,
Ana
I’ve adapted the recipe as follows: 1 ripe plantain, 1/2 c. pumpkin puree or apple sauce (or once I just threw in a peeled apple), fall spices, salt, vanilla, baking soda, 2 T. arrowroot (the ripe plantain batter doesn’t seem to hold together as well as the green plantain), melted coconut oil. Then I eat them all myself!
I made these last night without telling my boys what we were having for supper. They devoured them! I loved them, also. My mom makes Swedish pancakes for my boys everytime they stay there and they are close to that consistency. Thank you!
So good!!! I think they are better then the “real” thing!! So quick and easy, too!! I also added some cinnamon to the batter and drizzled with maple syrup!
Wow these are amazing…my girls goobled them faster than I could make em. Thanks for an awesome recipe. Imgonna trying freezing them.for a quick breakfast during the week.
These are wonderful! Bless you!!
Thanks for a great website.
I made these for the first time over the weekend and then went right out and bought more plantains for more batches. They are amazing!! I happy been less than satisfied with recipes for pancakes with almond or coconut flour but these are perfect!!! I substituted 2 of the eggs with “flax eggs” (I TBS ground flax meal to 3 TBS water for each eggs substituted.) I like the nutty flavor the flax adds. Having some now warmed up for my breakfast.
These were really good. The texture was great. The taste could have gone either sweet or savory. They’re wonderful. And no “once-in-awhile-only” ingredients! This recipe is a keeper for sure. I feel brave enough for Mafongo next!
Mine turned black instead of that lovely golden like yours. My plantains had a little yellow on them, could that be why? They still seemed very firm and unripe, though.
Maybe try lowering your cooking temperature…
Sorry, forgot to mention that I already tried lowering the temp. They don’t seem to taste burnt, either. They just turn black by the time they’re cooked enough to flip.
I was skeptical at first after trying the almond flour versions, but FINALLY, a paleo pancacke that actually looks and tastes like a pancacke. Well done.
Besides halving the recipe, the only change I made was leaving out the vanilla (I ran out), and they didn’t come out quite right. The flavor of the unripe plantain came through and the batter needed to be thinned out quite a bit. Maybe I should have let the green plantain become a little less green? I’ll try again sometime and let you know how it goes. These look too yummy to not give it another shot.
This is the most amazing recipe! I love the pancakes as is, but also, I can make excellent waffles just by adding 2 extra eggs and a tad bit more of the other ingredients. (Still 2 plantains.) Thanks to my 10-year-old daughter, I now know that you can put the “waffle” batter in a mini donut maker and in 4 minutes have fluffy and lovely little donuts that you can dust with cinnamon and sugar. Tastes a lot like yeasted donuts. Mmmmm. My favorite way to eat eggs and plantains, by far. Thank you, and Happy New Year!!
Just made these today for lunch! So good! I am the only one eating them, so I have some left over, I am going to put them in the fridge for a snack later or tomorrow for breakfast! Thanks for such a great recipe and awesome blog!!
have you tried to seperate the egg whites and beat them seperately to make the pancakes lighter and fluffier? when i would make traditional homemade pancakes that is what i would do and works well. im new to the whole paleo thing;) just starting!
I used to do that for waffles! Haven’t tried it with this recipe though.
What do you think of using plaintain chips crushed and hydrated?
You could try it. I have no idea if it would work.
These might be the best pancakes I’ve had in my WHOLE LIFE. For real. I wish I could start over and eat them again – and not share with anyone else at the table. LOL
I made these over the weekend. I made them with yellow plantains, added cinnamon into the mix and it was very good. They go really well with adding banana on top. I have a feeling that other tropical fruits like pineapple would also go really well with it. Unfortunately blueberries not so much, changes the hold of the batter drastically, fruit should be added AFTER the pancake is made, wheat pancakes you can get away with adding the blueberries in while they cook, these not so much. But they where very good.
I’m trying to find a Paleo pancake that goes well with blueberries.
Try them again with green plantains. We make them with blueberries all the time and they are terrific! Let the batter cook a half minute in the pan and then sprinkle in blueberries – we use frozen. They stick in the pancake and do not conflict with the flavor of the plantain. Green plantains ones are practicaly flavorless like a potatoe
I want to make these! I have a question, do you put the coconut oil in the batter and then use additional oil for the skillet? Thank you!
yes
Thank you. = )
I’m going to try this as soon as I figure out where to find green plantains!
Can you tell from my recent influx of comments that I’ve discovered (and am loving) your blog and recipes? Haha. Anyway, I’ve made many paleo pancake recipes–almond flour, coconut flour, arrowroot/tapioca flour, combinations, etc. I’m not a big pancake eater, but my husband likes them on occasion for breakfast. He has hated pretty much any version I’ve attempted, so we resorted to a gluten free pancake mix on the days we wanted pancakes. I finally found plantains at the grocery store, and I attempted this recipe tonight, cutting it in half. The first pancake tasted good, but it was very flat and dense (my batter was very thick). My husband declared the taste ok, but he thought they needed to be “fluffier” (picky man–ha!). I added an egg yolk and a tablespoon of milk to the batter then whipped the egg white and folded it in. The resulting pancakes had the lift the first was missing, and we ate them with a bit of maple syrup. Very very tasty. Thank you so much for providing such great, tasty recipes and ideas that are flexible and adaptable!
Thank you so much for the multitude of recipes! My son loves pancakes and that was one thing I was afraid of when switching…these are so delicious and I can make a huge amount and freeze them. Thank you so much!
We were starving and, just starting out on the paleo diet, having a hard time finding something to eat that would be satisfying and in that old way! These were amazing and fun – my son loved how they turned green/blue after cooking!
Just made these for my first post- 21 DSD meal—- AMAZING! Thank you so much for this recipe
I made these tonight – my first attempt at cooking with plantains! We loved the flavour but they were very runny and so difficult to cook. The plantains were quite ripe (as I said – my first time using them so I assumed they were to be yellow and ripe) and I blended the batter in my VitaMix. Any ideas on why they were so runny? I would love to perfect this recipe so that I can send them in school lunches. My kids’ school is also nut and coconut free so I am limited about the paleo baking that I can send in. Thank you – I love your blog
Riper plantains make runnier batter. Also, if your plantains were on the small side, that would happen too.
These are amazing exactly as written. We’ve been a GF household for over 3 years due to Celiac disease and my husband declared these the best GF pancakes I’ve ever made. Hooray! Tomorrow is Saturday, which means pancakes for breakfast!
Made these this morning and they were a big hit! I’ve tried several different paleo pancake recipes and these may be my new “go to” recipe. Not only because they tasted so good and worked so well, but because the ingredients list is cheap! I used ripe (almost black) plantains and a blender. Except for using ripe plantains, I followed the recipe to a T and they turned out perfect.
Made these this morning; I was skeptical but they were awesome!!! Agree that they were difficult to flip but well worth the effort of taking the time!!! Thank you for sharing.
Let them cook on the first side a little longer before flipping (you might want to turn down the heat slightly). Then, they are extremely easy to flip.
Tried them! They turned out awesome!
These are really good! I couldn’t get the plantains to puree in my blender, so I added everything but baking soda and then pureed it all. Added baking soda at the end of the pureeing process. Yum!
Made these today. Amazing! Thanks for the amazingly easy recipe. I’m following the Wahls Protocol pretty strictly so I don’t really eat eggs but this is a nice treat.
Have you ever tried baking your pancake batter in a cookie sheet? It is awesome and so time/effort saving! Set your oven to 350 f, use melted butter or coconut oil to grease the bottom of the cookie sheet, and then pour your pancake batter in and bake for about 15 minutes (longer if you think it’s not cooked through yet). No need to flip, both sides get cooked in the oven! Then just use a pizza cutter to cut into squares. (or cookie cutters for fun)
Great idea! I am definitely going to try it.
Thank you so much! I can’t have grain, soy, potatoes, sweet potatoes, or coconut, and can only consume beans and legumes in small amounts. I was having trouble getting the complex carbs I needed and feeling low on energy. Then I discovered cooking with plantains. These are a staple at my house now. Make them without vanilla, and they make excellent Gyro-style sandwiches. I hadn’t eaten a sandwich in months, and I used one of these with vegetables and hummus. It was great.
I made these today and wasn’t that impressed. I’ve tried several paleo recipes also and I think its because there is no added sweetner. Which is fine, I just prefer sweeter pancakes I guess. The consitency turned out good though a little dense. Even with maple syrup on top they just didn’t fit the bill. Thanks for the recipe, I will try tweaking it a little in the future.
I have used bananas, eggs, vanilla and flax seed to get a decent pancake also.
Not totally egg free but I tried a half batch today with 2 egg yolks & 1 “flax egg” (1T ground flax, 2T hot water, mix & let gel) & it worked. They were not as light & fluffy as the original recipe but if you need to avoid egg white they are decent. I imagine you could try all flax seed, but you might need to increase the fat and/or baking soda.
Holy amazing pancakes! Warning, peeling plantains is super tedious. There’s got to be a better way…
However, its totally worth it for the end result. I’ve found some pretty good almond flour and coconut flour pancake recipes, but this one trumps by far. This is sure to win over the hubs. Perfect texture, flavor, super easy to flip. And awesome with homemade coconut syrup. My life is now complete.
This is far and away the very best paleo pancakes going. We have tried many! Kids love them with chocolate chips!
I’m excited to try this this weekend since my hubs thinks my paleo attempt is going to ruin his life. He’s die hard for good pancakes/waffles. Does this have a particularly coconut-y or banana-y flavor? both of us hate the flavor of coconut (big problem with paleo it seems) and I dislike anything banana flavored (while liking actual bananas). Combined with the fact that I also can’t stomach the flavor of breakfast meats and breakfast on paleo has been pretty tough as I’ve started off, I’m already on egg overload
No, it doesn’t. If you’re really worried about a coconut-y flavor, you could use a refined (expeller-pressed) coconut oil. But I use extra virgin coconut oil and wouldn’t say there’s a coconut flavor at all. The greener the plantains, the more flavor neutral they are.
awesome! thanks so much for taking the time to respond. I’m going to mess around with this this weekend (the suggestion to bake it as one sheet as well as my griddle) and see if me and the mister have found new weekend brunch. so thrilled
last comment before I set out on my own on this…any chance you’ve had success altering this into a waffle recipe? i know you have the eat like a dinosaur ones that every paleo site mentions, but wondered if you’d tried out this gem in a waffle iron with the egg whites whipped perhaps?
I have not tired, but people who have say it works great!
Confused…..can you answer a question? Paleo likes to push away the starch foods, but I see Plantains are a starch? Am I missing something? Please explain. Thanks!!!
Paleo doesn’t push away from starches. In fact, many people are recommending the consumption of a large amount of starchy roots and tubers. It’s one of those aspect of paleo where opinions vary dramatically and individual experiences vary dramatically.
My 4 year old (super picky eater) loves these pancakes right off the griddle. She doesn’t like them reheated the next day – I think the plantain flavor gets stronger the second day) so I always halve the recipe! Thanks
I think they get dryer the next day. I always make a double or triple batch but freeze them all and my kids love them reheated that way.
Thanks I will have to try that. Do you just pop them from freezer to microwave?
Yep. 30 seconds on the first side, flip and then 10-20 seconds on the second side depending on how big they are.
These are great! Thank you for the recipes, my boys are really enjoying these. : )
Wow Sarah! Thank you!
Yum! These are awesome! How many servings do you believe this recipe makes. I could eat them all.
We used this recipe in the Belgian waffle maker and they’re wonderful! I think they would freeze well to go in the toaster but they don’t last long enough to find out! The recipe also makes a nice batter for muffins (just add in some other yummy/healthy stuff like grated carrot, chopped nuts, honey, and raisins then bake!! Thanks for sharing
Update: Made double batch in waffle maker the other day. Frozen leftovers, toasted up nicely!
Absolutely genius! Loved the texture.
I want to thank you for being such a “recipe pioneer”!! I never was much of a pancake person, but here lately I’ve been wanting pancakes for some reason. So, I searched for a good paleo pancake recipe. Tried a few that either were ok or not that great (but I certainly didn’t throw any away) and then I found your recipe. HOLY COW!! These are absolutely delicious!! I’ve been making them almost every morning now. I’ve discovered that making them with a ripe plantain (I cut the recipe in half) makes for a thinner batter and you have to watch more closely for burning, but the taste is fantastic! I lick that batter right up, too… I dream of eating these things!
I am so glad I found this recipe. I’ve made it three or four times now. My daughter loves them so I try to make a large batch and then save some in the fridge for a quick breakfast. (Tip: for storage, helps to separate them with wax or parchment paper or you may find they break apart). I love the fact that these require such healthy and inexpensive ingredients. The paleo pancake recipes I’ve found that have nut flours and coconut flour don’t hold a candle to these!
Wow these look so good, gotta try them on Sunday. Looking forward to see how they stack up against regular paleo banana pancakes.
Wow these were so yummy, and so simple to make (other than I had a hard time puréeing the plantains…need to get myself a magic bullet!)
I will definitely make this again, thanks for the recipe
Green bananas do work , you just have to use 2 more bananas , these were marvelous !!!!!!!!!!!
Hi.
This recipe came at a time when I was about to give up on paleo pancakes. I used the blank attachment of my omega juice extractor to puree the plantains, and I substituted the ground flax for eggs as I had no eggs. This resulted in a nuttier pancake that tasted oh so good. I especially liked that the texture was just like regular pancakes.
Thanks for sharing.