The Perfect Strawberry Banana Pancake Recipe

This strawberry banana pancake recipe is vegan, ultra fluffy, and filled with fresh strawberry and banana in each bite. The perfect spring take on a delicious breakfast favorite. 

Why This Recipe Works

Sure, you can just top pancakes with fruit, but baking them inside adds extra moisture and flavor that you just can’t beat. 

The natural sweetness and texture of the bananas help cut down on added sugars and oil too. 

This recipe is made vegan using a buttermilk substitute- soy milk mixed with vinegar. This adds the same extra leavening power for fluffy pancakes and tang that buttermilk has without having to actually use buttermilk.

Jump to:

• Why This Recipe Works
• 🛒 Ingredients
• 🥣 Step by Step Instructions
• 🛍Substitutions and Variations
• 🍽 Equipment
• 📦 How to Store It
• 🗯 FAQs
• ♻️ Make it Sustainable

🛒 Ingredients

• Flour - I used white whole wheat flour,  but wheat or all-purpose flour will also work. You can also use oat flour if you’d like but you may have to increase the liquid some as oat flour will quickly soak up the milk. 
• Baking powder 
• Salt
• Milk - I used soy milk. You can use regular milk, soy, or plant milk that has protein added. If you use a low protein plant milk like almond milk, it won’t have the same “buttermilk” effect when mixed with vinegar. 
• Apple cider vinegar - If you don’t have apple cider vinegar, you can also use an equal amount of lemon juice. 
• Maple syrup - sub with honey or brown rice syrup if preferred. 
• Light oil - Avocado oil and light olive oil work well here. 
• Vanilla extract
• Banana - Slightly overripe bananas are ideal, although since you’re not mashing them even “not as ripe” bananas that haven’t started browning yet will work. 
• Strawberries - You need fresh strawberries for this recipe. Using frozen will add too much moisture.  Feel free to top with thawed frozen berries if you’d like. 

See recipe card for quantities.

🥣 Step by Step Instructions

The first thing you’ll want to do is make your vegan buttermilk. Add the soy milk and vinegar to a small bowl or a measuring cup to save on dishes. Whisk lightly then set aside for 5 to 10 minutes. 

Dice your strawberries and bananas. You can use just sliced bananas or cut them into quarters for smaller bites. The strawberries are best diced into small pieces so you get a little bit in every bite! 

Mix the dry ingredients: flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl. 

Once the milk and vinegar mixture is slightly curdled, add the oil, vanilla, and maple syrup to the milk and vinegar mixture. Whisk to mix well. 

Add the wet ingredients to the flour mixture and stir until just combined. Gently fold in the diced strawberries and banana slices. 

Heat a griddle or large skillet over medium heat to low heat. These pancakes cook a little slower than regular pancakes, so you don’t want the heat too high or the outside will brown and the inside will still be raw.  

HINT: You’ll know when the pan or griddle is ready if you sprinkle a little water on top and it sizzles! 

Spray the hot pan or griddle lightly with oil. Using a quarter cup measuring cup, scoop the pancake mix onto the hot griddle. Spread out some if needed, but not too thin! Let sit for 3-5 minutes until the bottom side is browned and the top is bubbly and somewhat set. 

Flip and cook the other side for another couple of minutes for the perfect pancake. Repeat with the remaining batter. 

PRO TIP If the outside of the strawberry pancakes is browning too fast, turn the heat down. It’s better to cook these slower since the fruit on the inside slows down the cooking process. 

🛍Substitutions and Variations

While this recipe is top-notch just how it is, there are some easy substitutes you can make to use up what you have or to make it fit your tastes a bit better. 

• Milk - You can use regular milk for this recipe if you’re not worried about it being dairy-free. Just mix it with the apple cider vinegar as noted in the recipe. You can also use any plant-based milk that has any substantial protein content. If you want to just use buttermilk, you can skip the apple cider vinegar and just use that too. 
• Fruit - You can mix up your fruit combinations instead of using just strawberries if you’d like.  Blueberries, raspberries, or blackberries all work well. Just make sure the fruit is fresh. Frozen fruit will increase the liquid too much and cause the pancakes not to set as well. 
• Sweetener - use any liquid sweetener you want if you don’t have or want to use maple syrup. Honey or brown rice syrup are acceptable substitutes. 
• For silver dollar pancakes - Silver dollar pancakes - AKA small pancakes– are perfect for toddlers, kids, and brunch spreads. Just scoop out 1-2 tablespoons of batter at a time and reduce the cooking time. 

Try this amazing pancake recipe without bananas or flour for a fun variation!

🍽 Equipment

I have a stovetop griddle pan that fits my gas stove (which is amazing and so useful!), but you can use any griddle or large pan to make your pancakes. 

📦 How to Store It

After you’ve made these fresh strawberry banana pancakes, you might have a few leftovers. I actually like to double this recipe to make sure I have a few to save for another morning! 

They will keep in the refrigerator for 2-3 days, but any longer than that you’ll want to freeze them. 

The best way to freeze pancakes is to lay them in a single layer on a baking sheet and place them in the freezer for 2 hours. Once frozen, remove from the pan and place in an airtight container for up to 3 months. This way, each time you want one you can just reach in the freezer and easily grab one at a time. 

To reheat the pancakes: Remove from the freezer and place in the toaster or toaster oven until heated through and slightly crisped up. 

🗯 FAQs

Why are banana pancakes mushy?

Pancakes that use bananas can sometimes end up a little on the mushy side. 

For banana pancakes that are cooked through and fluffy you’ll want to either cut back on the liquid used for the pancakes and/or make sure that you cook on a lower heat so that the outside does not brown faster than the inside can cook. 

How do you add fruit to pancake mix?

There are two ways to add fruit to the pancake mix. You can stir your fruit into the pancake batter, like in this recipe, and then pour it onto the griddle and cook. Or, you can pour your batter onto the griddle and quickly add your fruit to the batter before it begins to cook through. 

The second method works best when you don’t want the color of the fruit to bleed into the batter or if only some people want fruit in their pancakes. 

What are the health benefits of banana pancakes?

Adding bananas to pancakes adds potassium, fiber, and vitamin B6 to the pancakes. Using bananas also helps the pancakes to taste sweet without adding a lot of added sugars. You can also use bananas to replace oil in pancakes. Using banana instead of oil helps increase tenderness without adding extra fat and calories. 

♻️ Make it Sustainable

Here are a few tips to add a little extra sustainability to this recipe!

Banana peels - Instead of tossing the banana peels in the garbage, reuse them! You can make banana peel bacon or banana peel carnitas. If you’d rather use them in a non-food way, they can be used in the garden to improve your soil and help your plants flourish!

Strawberry Tops - While you might think of strawberry tops as the not edible part of the berry, they’re actually perfectly safe and good to eat! 

Researchers from Croatia found that the leaves of strawberries are particularly high in vitamin C and beneficial plant compounds like chlorophylls and carotenoids. While you probably don’t want them in your pancakes, strawberry tops are a great way to add extra flavor and nutrition to smoothies. 

Are you looking for other seasonal early summer and spring recipes? Try:

Roasted Carrots and Asparagus with Balsamic Glaze

Iced Blueberry Matcha Latte

Instant Pot Asparagus Soup (Using the Woody Ends)

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