Naturally sweet and bursting with blueberry freshness, banana blueberry pancakes are a weekday breakfast must in our home.
(Are you wondering how to pull off pancakes on a busy weekday morning?? Check out all the tips below!)
Banana Blueberry Pancakes
I’ve been making these pancakes for years. Blueberry waffles and pancakes have been a long-time favorite, (check out these blueberry waffles for proof of that – they’re just so good!) but when I started adding blueberries to the banana nut pancakes in my first cookbook? That combination became an immediate favorite.
Even with a house full of voracious eaters, I am baffled at how any food can possibly go bad in my household but bananas are my nemesis.
A few years ago a friend told me that when her my bananas get close to spoiling, she just tosses them into the freezer without peeling them or anything else and when they accumulate, she makes banana bread.
FYI that tip did NOT work for me, but peeling the bananas and dropping them into a freezer bag DOES work for me. You can grab however many bananas you need out of the bag and thaw them on a plate. It’s much simpler and less messy than dealing with a frozen and then thawed slimy banana peel.
Fluffy Banana Pancakes
While this is a super handy thing to keep in mind for dealing with over-ripe bananas, I am not even going to admit how many bananas often accumulate in my freezer. These easy banana pancakes are one way to avoid the banana backlog.
Fresh blueberries are my favorite to use in pancakes and waffles, but frozen will get the job done as well. One thing to note with frozen blueberries and pancakes is that the batter will sometimes be uncooked around those frozen blueberries.
To avoid these little pockets of batter I will set out frozen blueberries in a single layer on a plate before mixing up my batter. Then, by the time the batter is made and has had a few minutes to rest while the griddle gets hot, the blueberries are just slightly soft and everything cooks nicely.
Need more fluffy banana pancake ideas? Try these banana nut pancakes or these banana pancakes with coconut and pecans. They get requested at least every other month at my house.
Blueberry Banana Pancakes
Pancakes are a perfect breakfast, in my opinion, because they are so easy to mix up and always pull my kids out of bed with no grumbling. You’ll need these ingredients to make this recipe:
- eggs
- milk
- vanilla extract
- light brown sugar
- all purpose flour (see below for the gluten-free alternative)
- baking powder
- kosher salt
- cinnamon
- butter
- bananas
- blueberries
Whisk together all of your wet ingredients except the butter and mashed bananas. In a separate bowl whisk all your dry ingredients together.
You can skip this step of mixing separately, but with so much baking powder required I like to make sure it is well distributed in the batter, whisking it with the flour does this. It can clump if you put it directly into your wet ingredients.
Add the dry to the wet ingredients and stir. Just before it is completely combined add the melted butter and mashed bananas. Let the batter rest for just 5-10 minutes at this point, until the surface is covered with bubbles. This will give you the fluffiest most delicious pancakes.
You can make this recipe even simpler by combining the bananas, eggs, milk, and vanilla in the blender. Blend to combine. Pour the banana mixture into the dry ingredients and stir to combine. Last, you’ll stir in the melted butter. Easy peasy!
How to Freeze Pancakes
Extra pancakes can be frozen and reheated for a delicious, quick weekday breakfast. Let the pancakes cool completely on a wire rack. Place the pancakes in a single layer in a gallon size zip-close freezer bag.
Place a sheet of parchment or wax paper over the pancakes and stack a second layer over the first, repeat if desired. Seal tightly, removing as much air as possible from the bag.
To reheat, remove from the freezer and warm the frozen pancakes in the toaster or microwave.
Homemade Pancake Essentials
If you make pancakes often, nothing beats a great electric griddle for streamlining the cooking process. A few years ago, when my 15-year-old griddle finally died, I tested every single griddle I could get my hands on.
When I finally tried this extra large electric griddle, I knew I’d found THE ONE. It’s a little on the spendy side, but I am telling you now, it beats all the others hands-down.
This nylon flexible turner is a pancake-making must-have, as is a dough whisk. If you aren’t familiar with the awesomeness that is a dough whisk for pancakes and waffles, you are missing out. It’s a crazy-looking tool, but it stirs the batter just enough without overmixing it.
I’ve tried pretty much all of the nifty pancake-pouring gadgets out there, and I stand by a good old measuring cup as the easiest way to make pancakes. I use the ¼ or ⅓ cup sizes for most pancake making – this set that I use every day will allow you to improvise for all kinds of sizes.
Homemade Pancake Recipes
I know–light and fluffy aren’t two words you’d typically think of to describe whole wheat pancakes, which have a reputation for being dense and chewy.
Fluffy, buttery, nutty, pecan pancakes topped with maple syrup make for a tasty and easy breakfast we all enjoy. Tangy cranberry pancakes sweetened with maple syrup make getting out of bed on the weekend a little bit easier.
Amazingly thin and delicate, these cream cheese pancakes are much closer to a crepe than a traditional thick and fluffy pancake. I like these pancakes best when simply dusted with powdered sugar, but by all means, try my buttermilk syrup.
