These gluten-free banana buckwheat pancakes get rich flavor and whole-grain goodness from buckwheat flour. Buttermilk makes them tender and tangy, and a touch of nutmeg, vanilla, and maple give them dessert-for-breakfast vibes.
I've also included a dairy-free option. Serve these beauties up with maple syrup and toasted pecans and you'll be in breakfast heaven!
Note from Alanna, 2023: I originally shared this recipe in 2012, before I owned a dSLR camera, and the extent of my food prop collection was the yellow napkin and silver fork in this photo! But these buckwheat banana pancakes have remained a favorite over the years. It's a recipe that I never get tired of and usually have the ingredients on hand to make. I've added a DF option and buttermilk alternative to make them more accessible. I hope you enjoy it!
It takes a lot for a pancake recipe to impress me and I almost never order pancakes out. The pale griddle cakes I associate with diners are often bland and starchy, lacking in any nutritional value or staying power, and are in need of a deluge of syrup and butter to make them palatable.
Banana Buckwheat Pancakes FTW
But these gluten-free banana buckwheat pancakes are a different story. These pancakes excite me. They cause me to get as close as I ever do to to leaping out of bed in the morning; i.e., I only groan and fall back to sleep once before throwing off the covers and stumbling, at the crack of 10:00, into the kitchen to pull out the mixing bowls and measuring cups.
This recipe came of a happy coincidence that occurred one morning. I found myself with a couple of bananas that were riper than I wished to eat plain, some buttermilk left over from making lemon buttermilk pie, and an adorable boyfriend hopping up and down with excitement, declaring, "Oh boy! Pancakes! I can't wait!"
I opened up the book I always consult for such morning favorites as poppyseed brunch cake and cornmeal pound cake: Deborah Madison's Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone, a book designed to be a vegetarian version of the Joy of Cooking. Under a recipe for basic buttermilk pancakes, she lists several variations, one of which includes sliced bananas (rather than mashed, as I'm used to seeing) and toasted nuts.
I adapted the recipe to be gluten-free, added some flavorings of my own, and this recipe became an instant favorite.
Ingredients and Substitution Suggestions:
These pancakes use a handful of ingredients that you probably have in your pantry and fridge!
- Flours: a blend of buckwheat, oat, and sweet rice flours make these pancakes fluffy, flavorful, and gluten-free. Feel free to use more buckwheat flour in place of the oat and/or sweet rice flours if you want more buckwheat flavor. If gluten isn't an issue, you can swap the oat flour for whole wheat and the rice flour for all-purpose wheat flour.
- Baking powder and baking soda lift and spread the pancakes, helping them brown.
- Nutmeg, vanilla, salt, and a little maple syrup sharpen the flavors. I prefer freshly grated nutmeg for its bright, peppery flavor, but pre-ground works too. Or you can swap in 1/2 teaspoon or so of cinnamon if you prefer.
- Butter adds richness. Feel free to use plant butter, coconut oil, or ghee instead.
- Buttermilk moistens the dough and adds tangy goodness. If you don't have any (or if you want to go DF), thin some yogurt or plant yogurt with regular milk or plant milk to a buttermilky consistency.
- An egg lifts and sets the batter. I've had good luck using Just Egg (1/4 cup) and aquafaba (~3 tablespoons) instead of 1 egg in other pancake recipes and I bet they would work here too for egg-free.
- Sliced bananas stirred into the batter bake into jammy, sweet pockets. Blueberries would stand in nicely.
- Toasted pecans add a bit of crunch. Feel free to sub walnuts or omit the nuts if you prefer.
How to Make Gluten-Free Banana Buckwheat Pancakes
These buckwheat banana pancakes come together in 30 minutes, start to finish. The recipe makes a small-ish batch – about 3 servings – so feel free to double or triple the recipe for a crowd.
To make them simply:
- Combine the dry ingredients in a bowl.
- Combine the liquid ingredients in another bowl.
- Add the wets to the dries and whisk to form a thick batter.
- Stir in the bananas and nuts.
- Drop 1/4-cup scoops of batter onto a hot griddle coated with ghee or other cooking oil.
- Cook and flip until both sides are golden and the centers are cooked through, about 2 minutes per side.
- Serve up with the toppings of your choice!
Is Buckwheat Flour Gluten-Free?
This is a commonly asked question, and the answer is yes – buckwheat flour is in fact gluten-free!
Despite its name, buckwheat isn't related to wheat at all; it's actually the seed of a plant in the rhubarb family. Most buckwheat flour is made from toasted, ground grains which is what gives the flour its distinctively nutty flavor.
Find all my favorite buckwheat flour recipes here!
Pancake Breakfast for Everyone
These buckwheat banana pancakes are easy to mix up and even easier to nom! A bite of pancake, oozing with maple syrup and tangy, whole-milk yogurt reveals a pancake that's greater than the sum of its parts.
The edges, crisped in the buttered pan, give way to moist middles, while chunks of banana cook into warm, jammy pockets. The earthy buckwheat, nutmeg, vanilla, and maple all pack the dough with flavor, and the oat and rice flours create a tender texture that you'd never know was gluten-free. Buttermilk adds tenderness and a bit of tang, and nubs of nutty pecans add bite and healthy fats.
*Bojon appétit! For more Bojon Gourmet in your life, follow along on Instagram, Facebook, or Pinterest, purchase my gluten-free cookbook Alternative Baker, or subscribe to receive new posts via email. And if you make these gluten-free banana buckwheat pancakes, I’d love to see. Tag your Instagram snaps @The_Bojon_Gourmet and #bojongourmet.*
Fluffy Banana Buckwheat Pancakes (GF)
Print Recipe Pin RecipeIngredients
Dry Ingredients:
- ¼ cup (35 g) sweet white rice flour
- ¼ cup (25 g) oat flour
- ¼ cup (30 g) buckwheat flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
- ⅛ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
Wet Ingredients:
- 1 large egg
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup, plus more for serving
- 2 tablespoons melted butter
- ¾ cup (175 ml) well-shaken buttermilk (or yogurt thinned with milk)
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 large, ripe banana, quartered lengthwise and cut into ½-inch pieces (plus more for serving)
- ¼ cup toasted pecans, coarsely chopped (plus more for serving)
- butter or ghee, for cooking the pancakes
Instructions
- In a large bowl, sift together the sweet rice, oat, and buckwheat flours with the baking powder and baking soda, salt, and nutmeg.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the egg and maple syrup to combine. Whisk in the melted butter until smooth, then whisk in the buttermilk and vanilla.
- Stir the buttermilk mixture into the flour mixture until just combined, then gently fold in the banana chunks and chopped pecans. The batter will be thick.
- Heat a wide skillet (or two; or a griddle, if you've got one) over medium-low heat and add about a teaspoon of butter to coat the pan. The pan is ready when a drop of batter sizzles on contact.
- Drop ¼-cup scoops of batter into the hot skillet (a spring-loaded ice cream scoop works well), spaced about 2-inches apart as the batter will spread, and cook for about 2 minutes on each side, until well browned and cooked throughout (the bananas will be soft and gooey, and make it a bit tricky to tell.)
- Serve the pancakes with maple syrup, yogurt, sliced banana and pecans. Extras can be kept in the fridge for up to 3 days and reheated in a skillet.
Sabine says
Absolutely gorgeous photos; that stack of pancakes looks delicious!
Maria Kyr says
It's just after midnight here and I'm, already, dreaming about breakfast....
Alanna says
Thanks for the kind words. : )
megan wood says
This morning no less than 3 people told me these were the best pancakes they ever had! And one of them was my picky toddler! I've been making my way through your recipes these past few months, I haven't found one I didn't love! Thank you so much!
MeganW
Alanna says
Oh, that makes me so happy! Thank you, Megan! :)
Cheryl in NC says
These sound delicious & very similar to our own favorite recipe, which uses 1/2 cup buckwheat flour, 1/2 cup home-ground GF oat flour, 2T ground chia seed, 3T maple syrup, 2T coconut oil, 1 cup (approx) homemade soy buttermilk (soy milk & lemon juice), cinnamon, ginger powder & an egg (plus the usual bp, bs & salt). The resulting pancakes don't ever stick to the pan or need any kind of syrup, & my finicky 8-yr-old granddaughter happily eats them in the car on the way to school every morning (with 7 chocolate chips per ea 1/4 cup pancake, lol). These sound very similar, & I can't wait to try them! Thanks again for such a great blog!!
Cheryl in NC says
Oops. Forgot to mention vanilla extract & occasionally some vanilla soy protein powder as well (the texture suffers a little with this & the chia, but not so that my granddaughter notices, :-D).
Alanna says
Ooh, your recipe sounds fabulous - thank you so much for sharing it! I wouldn't mind mine with 7 chocolate chips, either. ;)
Kenzan says
Cranberry and banana is a nice sweet and sour combination to try in dishes such as pancakes
Shirley says
I love this recipe, made it three times in the past two weeks! I adapted it to make it dairy free for my allergic sister, using oil instead of butter and plant-based yogurt diluted with plant milk instead of buttermilk, which worked great!
Alanna says
I'm so glad those substitutions worked - brilliant!
Meghan says
I made these today with a couple of changes. I don't like buckwheat. I have tried it every which way in all kinds of recipes, and I simply can't get on board with it. So, I pulled out my bag of teff flour and used that in place of the buckwheat. Oh my Lord. The richness in these almost makes them suitable for a dessert, but there is no guilt in these pancakes what so ever. I also used walnuts because I didn't have any pecans, but I am sure they are simply divine with the pecans as well. Thank you so much for providing me with gluten free options the don't require funky gums or extra starches to be perfectly workable and delicious. I got your cookbook for Christmas and it is already covered in flour, eggs, and oil. You are amazing.
Alanna says
I'm SO glad you liked this recipe and that you're enjoying Alternative Baker too! Thanks so much for the sweet note!
Meghan says
You are so welcome. I made the pancakes again last night for dinner but I went savory and left out the sugar, but added in some ground thyme and thinned out the batter just a little. I served them alongside some roasted chicken and veggies. They were delicious!
I have never met a cookbook like Alternative Baker, where I have loved every single recipe I've made. My taste testers are always bugging me to try something new from it, but this week it's a blog treat (the vegan chocolate tart). I make your oat flour chocolate chunk cookies (the ones found on Food52) with teff all the time. They're my autistic daughter's favorite cookies. I really can't thank you enough for giving me my love of food back after being diagnosed with a wheat allergy.
Alanna says
That sounds so good! Awwwww I'm so glad you and your daughter are enjoying the teff cookies - I'm really into teff flour right now too! I want to try these pancakes with teff like you did too. Please let me know how you like the tart!
Meghan says
I just turned this recipe into waffles by adding two tablespoons of butter (I doubled the recipe to feed my family) and they turned out perfectly. So light with crispy edges. Simply wonderful!
Alanna says
Genius - I'm definitely trying that!
Alene says
Hi. I went through every comment and didn't see anything about eliminating the rice flour. A little tapioca and increase the oat flour to make 1/4 cup sweet rice flour? I don't have a clue though. Thank you!
Alanna Taylor-Tobin says
Hi Alene,
Yes that should work! This recipe is very forgiving. Just be sure to make up the weight of the sweet rice flour since oat flour weighs lighter. You could add some extra buckwheat flour if you want more of that flavor too. Let me know if you try it!
-A
Cole Edwards says
I hope it’s not a silly question, but do you think the dry mix for these pancakes would be versatile enough to be applied to different variations? Like if I just wanted to throw in blueberries instead of bananas or no extras at all and have them plain? That’s not to exclude the necessary wet ingredients though. I’m trying to put together a GF pancake mix that can be used at our very large family reunion (Raccooking here! Hi!) when I’m not around to supervise.
Alanna says
Aw hi!! Yes I think that would work! Another commenter said that they've made different variations with good success. I would try a test batch with blueberries to see how it goes. Please come back and let me know! That family reunion sounds EPIC!
Maya says
This recipe is great! I feel like it is a bit lost in the depths of this blog now, but I'm here to tell you that you should make it! I like all the pancakes from Bojon, but these are my favorite ones as they feel the most wholesome and fueling. I just use whatever I have for the buttermilk (yogurt mixed with oat milk today), it's pretty adaptable. And don't forget to add chocolate chips for a treat!
Alanna says
Awwww thank you so much for the sweet words Maya! This continues to be a favorite recipe of mine as well. I'm so glad you found it and that you love it! Yogurt mixed with oat milk sounds like it would be absolutely delicious. I need to try it with chocolate next time too - yum!!
Vanessa says
These are SO good!! Now a favorite staple for weekend mornings in our house. The combination of flavors and textures are just perfection.
Alanna says
I'm so glad you're loving them! They're an all-time favorite around here too.
Sophie says
Hi Alanna
Quick question
What measurements to follow in regards to country ?
When you say 1/4 cup, is that an American standard measurement or any other.
I live in Australia and I think we are different only from your previous recipes and precious weight measurements I assume Australia is different.
Thankyou
Hope that made sense
Sophie
Alanna Taylor-Tobin says
Hi Sophie,
Great question! Those are US cup measurements. But I went ahead and added in weights for ease. Please let me know how they turn out if you make them!
-Alanna