The Banana Pancakes That Saved My Saturday Mornings

Okay, can we talk about those bananas? You know the ones—sitting on your counter, getting more brown by the hour, silently judging you for not eating them when they were perfectly yellow three days ago?

I used to throw them away. I’m not proud of this, but it’s true. Brown bananas = trash bananas in my brain. Until my sister came over one Saturday morning, took one look at my banana graveyard, and said, “Seriously? You’re throwing away pancake gold?”

Pancake gold. Who talks like that?

But then she whipped up these incredible banana pancakes that were somehow fluffy AND packed with actual banana flavor, not like those sad pancakes from the diner down the street that taste like they’ve only met a banana in passing. And I’m standing there in my kitchen, coffee mug in hand, watching her work magic with my rejected fruit.

That was eight months ago. Now I actually get excited when my bananas start turning brown. Character development, people.

My Pre-Banana Pancake Era :

Before I discovered the joy of banana pancakes, my weekend breakfast situation was… let’s call it tragic. We had:

Phase 1: The Cereal Years – Because opening a box is cooking, right? Except I’d always run out of milk and end up eating dry Lucky Charms like some kind of college freshman.

Phase 2: The Frozen Waffle Rebellion – Thought I was being fancy by toasting Eggos. Sometimes I’d add peanut butter if I was feeling wild. The bar was underground.

Phase 3: The Pancake Mix Disaster Period – Bought those “just add water” mixes thinking I was being domestic. They tasted like cardboard had a sad baby with disappointment. My boyfriend at the time actually asked if we could just go to IHOP instead. Fair point.

But banana pancakes? Game changer. Complete game changer.

The Learning Curve :

Don’t think I nailed these on the first try. Oh no. I had some spectacular failures that I’m still emotionally recovering from:

Attempt #1: The Banana Soup Incident Used bananas that were basically liquid. Like, I should have just made a smoothie instead of pretending they could hold their shape in batter. Ended up with pancakes that looked like someone had sneezed banana onto the griddle. Texture of wet paper towels.

Attempt #2: The Overmix Massacre Read somewhere that you should mix pancake batter until “just combined.” Apparently my definition of “just combined” was more like “beaten into submission.” Made pancakes so tough I could’ve used them as frisbees. My dog was interested. I was mortified.

Attempt #3: The Heat Situation Cranked the heat because I was impatient and hungry. Got pancakes that were charcoal on the outside and raw batter in the middle. Like a really depressing s’more. Took three tries to get the temperature right, and honestly? I still mess it up sometimes when I’m rushing.

Attempt #4: The Flour Explosion Decided to double the recipe for meal prep purposes. Didn’t double the size of my mixing bowl. Flour everywhere. EVERYWHERE. Found flour in places flour should never be. My cat had flour paw prints across the kitchen floor. It looked like a cocaine bust gone wrong.

But here’s the thing—even my disasters were closer to real pancakes than anything I’d made before. Progress!

The Recipe That Actually Works (Finally) :

After months of trial and error, here’s what I’ve figured out. And please, learn from my pain and don’t skip steps because you think you know better. Trust me, you don’t.

What You Need:

• 2 ripe bananas (not green, not liquid, just perfectly spotted)
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (don’t get fancy with almond flour unless you want dense hockey pucks)
• 2 tablespoons sugar (or honey if you’re feeling healthy)
• 2 teaspoons baking powder (check the expiration date—learned this one the hard way)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/4 cups milk (whatever kind you’ve got)
• 1 large egg
• 3 tablespoons melted butter (plus more for the pan)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (don’t skip this!)

The Method (That I Wish I’d Known From the Start):

Step 1: Mash those bananas in a large bowl. And I mean really mash them. I use a fork and get out all my weekend frustrations. You want them mostly smooth with just a few small chunks for texture. Don’t use a blender—learned that lesson when I made banana baby food instead of pancake batter.

Step 2: In a separate bowl (yes, another bowl, we’re not animals), whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. This is where my sister taught me about the “dry ingredient whisking.” Apparently it prevents lumps. Who knew?

Step 3: In your mashed banana bowl, add milk, egg, melted butter, and vanilla. Mix it up until it’s combined. Don’t overthink this part.

Step 4: Here’s where it gets tricky—add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. But here’s the key: MIX GENTLY. Like you’re folding laundry made of dreams. Stop as soon as you don’t see flour anymore. The batter should look lumpy and weird. This is correct. Resist the urge to keep mixing.

Step 5: Let the batter rest for 5 minutes while you heat your pan. I use this time to make coffee and mentally prepare for potential pancake carnage.

Step 6: Heat your pan or griddle over medium-low heat. Add a little butter and let it melt. Not sizzling, not browning, just melting.

Step 7: Pour about 1/4 cup of batter per pancake. Don’t spread it around—let it do its own thing. You’ll see bubbles form on the surface after a couple minutes. When the bubbles pop and don’t fill back in, flip that bad boy.

Step 8: Cook the other side for like 1-2 minutes. They should be golden brown and smell like weekend mornings and good life choices.

The Things That Make All the Difference :

Banana ripeness is crucial. Too green and they won’t mash properly or add much flavor. Too ripe and you get banana soup (see disaster #1). You want bananas with brown spots but that still hold their shape when you poke them.

Don’t overmix the batter. I cannot stress this enough. Pancakes want to be tender, not tough. Mix until you can’t see dry flour and then STOP. Your batter should look lumpy and possibly concerning. This is normal.

Temperature control is everything. Medium-low heat. Be patient. High heat gives you burnt outsides and raw insides. Low heat gives you pale, sad pancakes. Medium-low is the sweet spot.

Fresh baking powder matters. If your baking powder is older than your last relationship, throw it out and get new stuff. Old baking powder makes flat, dense pancakes that taste like regret.

My Current Obsessions :

Now that I’ve got the basic recipe down, I’ve been experimenting:

The Chocolate Chip Situation: Add 1/2 cup of mini chocolate chips to the batter. Feels like dessert for breakfast but somehow still counts as fruit intake because bananas.

The Cinnamon Roll Version: Add 1 teaspoon of cinnamon to the dry ingredients. Drizzle with cream cheese glaze (powdered sugar + cream cheese + splash of milk). Fancy enough for company, easy enough for my disaster-prone self.

The Nuts About It Combo: Fold in chopped walnuts or pecans. Adds this great crunch and makes me feel like I’m eating something healthy-adjacent.

The Elvis Special: Peanut butter and banana pancakes with a side of bacon. Sounds weird, tastes incredible. Don’t knock it till you try it.

The Mistakes I Still Make :

Even eight months later, I’m not perfect:

• Sometimes I still overmix when I’m distracted by podcasts
• Occasionally burn the first pancake because I’m impatient with the heat
• Made them without salt once and they tasted like sweet cardboard
• Tried to flip them too early last week and created abstract art on my stovetop

But you know what? Even my mistakes are edible now. And my kitchen doesn’t look like a flour bomb exploded anymore, so we’re calling it progress.

Real Talk About Weekend Mornings :

There’s something about making banana pancakes on a Saturday morning that just feels… right? Like you’re adulting properly. The smell fills the whole apartment, and suddenly you feel like the kind of person who has their life together.

Even if you’re standing there in yesterday’s pajamas with bedhead that defies physics, making banana pancakes somehow makes you feel domestic and capable. It’s like cooking therapy, but with immediate delicious results.

Plus, using up those brown bananas instead of throwing them away makes me feel environmentally responsible. It’s the small wins, you know?

The Questions Everyone Asks Me Now :

“Can I make these ahead of time?” The batter doesn’t keep well, but you can make extra pancakes and freeze them. They reheat surprisingly well in the toaster. Game-changer for busy weekday mornings.

“What if my bananas aren’t ripe enough?” Stick them in a 300°F oven for about 15 minutes. They’ll soften up and get sweeter. Kitchen hack courtesy of my sister.

“Can I use whole wheat flour?” You can, but they’ll be denser. If you’re going that route, maybe use half whole wheat, half regular flour for your first attempt.

“My pancakes are flat. What happened?” Probably old baking powder or overmixed batter. Check your expiration dates and be gentler next time.

My Saturday Morning Ritual :

These days, Saturday morning means banana pancakes. I put on music, make coffee, and actually take the time to do it right. Sometimes I’ll make extra batter and freeze pancakes for the week, but usually I just make enough for right now.

Last weekend, my neighbor could smell them through the walls and knocked on my door asking what I was making. Ended up making a double batch and having an impromptu breakfast party on my fire escape. Not the Saturday morning I planned, but definitely the Saturday morning I needed.

My mom visited a few weeks ago, and when I made these for her, she said, “Finally! You can cook something other than toast!” High praise from the woman who taught me how to boil water.

The Bottom Line :

Look, banana pancakes aren’t going to solve all your problems. But they will solve your overripe banana problem and your “what should I make for breakfast” problem. And honestly, on a Saturday morning when you’re trying to convince yourself that the weekend exists for more than just recovering from the week, that’s enough.

They’re fluffy, they taste like actual bananas (novel concept, I know), and they make your kitchen smell like a place where good things happen. Plus, you get to use fruit that you would have otherwise thrown away, which makes you feel responsible and slightly superior to your past self.

If you’re still buying frozen waffles or eating cereal for weekend breakfast, give these a try. What’s the worst that could happen? You waste a couple bananas that were already headed for the trash anyway.

And if you nail them on the first try, congratulations—you’re officially better at weekend breakfast than I was for most of my twenties. Enjoy your fluffy, banana-filled victory. You’ve earned it.

Now excuse me while I go check if my bananas are brown enough yet. It’s only Wednesday, but a girl can hope.

Happy pancaking! 🥞

(P.S. – If you have any secret pancake tips, please share them. I’m always looking to up my Saturday morning game even more!)