A few months ago I picked up a muscle magazine at the gym and almost gagged out loud when I read a recipe for “Protein Cupcakes” that involved mixing protein powder and plain yogurt together and piping it on top of some concoction involving pureed beans, flax seed, wheat germ, and egg whites. “It tastes JUST like a cupcake!” One thing was clear- it had obviously been a long time since that person had consumed an actual cupcake. It’s like when people tell you that you’ll never know there’s kale in that sludge-colored smoothie you’re drinking (I can tell) or that you won’t miss pasta if you substitute a spaghetti squash (no really, you’ll miss it. A lot.) So listen up. I’m not going to tell you this little miracle recipe tastes just like a pancake. Use your brain and look at the ingredient list. The only two necessary ingredients here are these:
Seriously. No flour, nothing else.
I’ve seen this recipe floating around for years, in those same magazines that tried to tell me that my brain will not know the difference between protein powder with yogurt and glorious butter and sugar, so naturally I discounted it immediately. But over the past year or so I’ve seen this popping up in more and more reputable sources, so eventually I gave it a try- fully expecting to laugh in the epic failure it surely would be. But something happened. Don’t ask me how. Somehow when you mix bananas and eggs together and say some magic words, an unseen universe wizard comes and sprinkles pancake dust on it and it magically turns into this:
It’s sort of amazing actually. The result is obviously different than a standard carb-filled pancake. The best way to describe the flavor and texture is it’s like the center of a piece of french toast. Kind of eggy and crepe-ish. Keep that in mind when you make these. If you’re expecting a real pancake you’ll be sorely disappointed. While these certainly aren’t meant to replace a good ol’ classic pancake, surprisingly they’ve found a solid place in my kitchen. They take literally 30 seconds to make, and less than a minute to cook. They’re low calorie, high protein, and my kids love them. That means pancakes on a week day morning or a quick daytime snack is totally doable. If you’re into fit food and healthy eating, you’ll probably love these. Banana and eggs? Pretty much the perfect pre or post workout combo. So watch this:
One large banana. Open ‘er up and mash it with a fork. You’ll want to mash it pretty well, a little more than you’d mash for banana bread. If you don’t mash well, you’ll end up with kind of a lumpy gooey mess that basically tastes like scrambled eggs and banana chunks and then you’ll come back and leave mean comments on this post. And no one wants that.
Crack open 2 eggs and mix it in there.
Now that’s seriously ALL you need. I promise. You could mix that up really well and then pour the batter on a hot pan just like you’d cook a normal pancake. I add couple more things, namely a tiny pinch of baking powder, and a few dashes of cinnamon.
Remember back in my Healthy Thai Chicken Salad recipe when I introduced you to PB2 (powdered peanut butter)? I love that stuff. When I’m making these for my kids, I add a couple of spoonfuls of that in as well because it adds a little protein and makes the pancakes a little more substantial. It doesn’t really make them taste like peanut butter, but I do like the addition.
Now, you can make these in the blender as well. I actually usually throw everything in my blender, but if you process them until it’s totally smooth, your pancakes will be quite a bit flatter. So I just pulse a few times until it’s all mixed, but you can still see some small chunks of banana. If you have a high-powered blender like the Blendtec, it really takes like, one pulse.
Then you’ll just cook them on a hot skillet just like you would a normal pancake.
I mentioned the taste and texture is similar to the middle of a piece of french toast, or a crepe. Neither of those things are very sweet and if you eat them on their own they’re mediocre at best. When you eat that first pancake off the griddle you might be thinking the same thing. Sweet eggs. Yum, Sara. Just what I was craving.
Stick with me. You just need a little somethin’ somethin’. But look at those cuties. I like to call these ‘toddler pancakes’ because these are perrrrfect for little kids. All three of mine love these. Look at them- they look just like normal pancakes, crazy, right?
While they’re hot off the pan, spread them with a little butter.
My favorite lower calorie option these days is this Land O Lakes light butter.
Then drizzle with a little syrup. Or you could use agave, honey, or any other sweetener you like. (I love this Blueberry agave).
And while that’s delish, if you really want to make them yummy, give them a smear of nut butter, too. (I literally only buy Justin’s Maple Almond Butter in the sample pack size because I can’t have open jars of the stuff around. It’s amazing and swoon-worthy. (Also, this is not in any way a sponsored post even though I’m doing a ton of brand-naming today. Just sharing some favorites.)
Spread on a little love…
and give that a drizzle.
It’s honestly really, really good.
And not horrible for you.
You know you have to go try this now.
Because you’re dying to know if I’m crazy like the protein cupcake lady.
There’s one positive review. I didn’t say a word about what was in these pancakes. I just stood off to the side like a silent camera-wielding ninja. I’m positive some of you will hate these, and some of you will love them. Try for yourself and see which camp you fit in. Let the games begin!
Give it a shot and have an open mind. Let me know what you think! (Don’t forget the butter and syrup. And maybe peanut butter.)
Print
Two Ingredient Pancakes
- Yield: 12
Ingredients
- 1 large banana (it should yield abt 1/3–1/2 cup, mashed)
- 2 eggs
- 1/8 teaspoon baking powder (optional but recommended)
- 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon (optional but recommended)
Instructions
Heat a skillet on the stove top to medium heat. While pan is heating, mash banana well and then mix in eggs, baking powder, and cinnamon. When pan is hot (water droplets should sizzle) Spray pan lightly with non-stick spray. Pour 2 tablespoons of batter at a time and cook until bottom appears set (30-60 seconds) flip with spatula and cook additional minute or less. Serve warm with butter and syrup.
Notes
*When I add PB2, I do 2 tablespoons, and I find the powdered peanutbutter blends best if I pulse the mixture in the blender just a few times.
Nutritional Info (per 1 pancake alone)
Cal: 22 Protein: 1.2 g Fat: <1 g Carbs: 2.6 g
Last week we had some technical issues that made it difficult for many of you to access our site. We apologize for that inconvenience. We’re all fixed up now, and in case you missed the great recipes from last week, make sure to check out these links!
1. Kate’s Chicken Enchilada Soup– this is on my menu this week. Hot, cheesy, creamy, basically everything awesome about Enchiladas. In a soup.
2. Come peek into my kitchen and see the appliance I get asked about the most! This thing is sort of amazing, and you just might want one, too.
3. SEAHAWK FANS! This awesome party food recipe is perfect for football, but also for anything you need to color coordinate. School colors, holidays, sports teams, you name it. Also, a hilarious video in that post which is worth clicking just for that.
4. Last but not least, Reuben Pigs in a Blanket. If you didn’t know this fun fact, one of my favorite foods in the whole world is pigs in a blanket. And not even the fancy kind. I’m talking good ol’ hotdogs in crescent rolls with sliced cheese. So these fancy ones will probably knock socks off.
PLEASE NOTE: If you leave a comment and don’t see it appear, no worries- it’s coming! For some reason they’re delayed today, but it will pop up eventually. We sure appreciate those of you who take time to comment on our posts- thank you!
Questions & Reviews
Awesome
except the canola oil butter!
This article is amazing. lol. I wanted to try them since a friend recommended them, but you made me want to leave my desk at work and make them NOW. The pics and pairing suggestions were great! Thanks for your enthusiasm for a healthy lifestyle!
Just tried these out in my teeny tiny apartment with nothing but the MOST basic of cooking materials–they were delicious! I was lacking in cinnamon but just sprinkled in a few pinches of sugar and lathered in butter (oops, sorry health-food dreams). They don’t taste exactly like pancakes, but really not very far off and tasty in their own right. Will be repeating!
Would making pancakes work just using oatmeal & bananas??
no
I frequently make a very similar recipe. Instead of adding the PB2 – which is an issue for many if you want to pack them in school lunches – I add 1 1/2 Tbsp of coconut flour. It is very dry an absorbs a lot of moisture (sort of like the PB2) so don’t add more than that! It works great, an gives them a bit more of a ‘real’ pancake texture. My husband, 4yo and 10mo can’t get enough of them!!
I probably should have mentioned that I put the oats in my food processor first and then add all the other ingredients and pulse until combined.
I add 1/2 cup of old fashioned oats and 1/8 tsp of baking powder and then spice it up with cinnamon, nutmeg and a few drops of vanilla. I usually make at least a double batch for my family and any leftovers are used with peanut butter for snacks or breakfast.
This was fantastic, thank you for sharing! I added a tablespoon of self-rising flour and a handful of ground almonds leftover from making almond milk, and they turned out amazing. I don’t like a lot of toppings so I just used cinnamon sugar. I’m definitely adding these to my list of regular foods, they’re too good and easy to pass up when you’re surviving in a college dorm.
Just tried this wow and all I can say is YUM. I didn’t do it exactly the same way, so it didn’t look pretty, but it tasted awesome! For taste I used cinnamon and, because waayyy too much poured out, a little bit of natural peanut butter to mellow it (just mixed it in the same bowl as the egg/banana). I only had one egg left so I just decided to make one big pancake in my frying pan, but tried to flip it too soon -and that’s where all hope of a pretty pancake died- and had to kind of squish it back together. In the end I flipped it several times and had 1/2 of a pankcake and the other 1/2 essentially scrambled. Added a little maple syrup in fear of what I may have done to the texture, but it was hardly needed -although certainly a nice addition! These pancakes are definitely gonna be a regular thing. 🙂 Thank you!
These were actually really good. I was looking for breakfasts that are healthy and had heard about these but had never tried them until now. Definitely going to do these again. But don’t go into it thinking they will taste exactly like pancakes. They won’t. But they are still good and look enough like pancakes to trick your kids 😉 Am going to add a little flour next time and try to trick my family.
HELP! By the time they set up enough to flip the bottom side is black. I blended everything in my Vitamix! What am I doing wrong? I really want to make these work. Thank you!
Angela, turn down your heat a bit, and try blending them by hand instead of in the blender.
I had the same problem, cooking over medium heat with a hand-blended batch. thin layer of burned black char on the bottom, and the rest uncooked slimy banana egg. Ended up tossing the whole mess. Twice, actually, because I thought I must have done something wrong in measuring the amounts for it to have turned out so badly & gave it a second try, with the same result.
I made these for my boys. My 4-year-old can’t have dairy, soy, wheat, or nuts and my 2-year-old can’t have corn or gluten. So this was right up our alley! We put sun butter and peanut butter on them, and squished them together to sort of make a peanut butter sandwich and then dipped them in syrup. They were SO GOOD! Very crepe-ish, and I even liked them plain. I’ll definitely be making them again!
I was a little nervous with the mixed reviews but LOVED them! I used my food processor and added about 1/4 tsp vanilla. I thought they were great plain but loved them with the almond butter too! Thanks!
I’ve made these several times now – they are a quick, easy, gluten and dairy free breakfast! I find them a bit hard to flip as well, since they’re so thin, so they don’t always look pretty but still taste good. While I was eating them this morning I started thinking about how good they would be with the syrup from these pancakes https://ourbestbites.com/2010/09/banana-chocolate-chip-pancakes-with-peanut-butter-syrup-chunky-monkey-pancakes/
This recipe is awesome. As a Diabetic it’s so nice to have this. THANK YOU 🙂
Super quick and easy to make, and most importantly-delicious! Thanks for the recipe. I have been doing paleo, and this fits right in and is tasty too.
Just made em for my wife & 3 grlz. Dash o’ cinnamon, nuttn’ else. They loved em with only syrup – didn’t seem to need butter. Mrs K put apple butter on hers and scoffed it all done. I’m gonna experiment with eggs & plaintain next…
WOW! That’s it… WOW! I tried this today and did most everything incorrectly. Oh, I followed the basic instructions. 1 bananaa, 2 eggs, a bit of baking powder. Put it into a blender cup and gave it a spin. Then, I poured it (in its entirity) into a buttered fry pan. I’m in South America and don’t have a griddle, but the result was fantastic. Yes, some of the mixture didn’t get completely cooked, but the bottom of the “mega-cake” was nicely browned (perhaps a bit burned due to the quantity I was trying to cook), but the end result after I folded into an bamlette (that’s a banana pancake omlette) and plated, with a bit of sugar on top (not a lot of Maple Trees in SA) sat at my terrace and ate. Did I say WOW? It was fantastic! Now, not mentioned in your write-up, The apartment had the smell of banana wafting throughout. This is a keeper receipe and I’ll be making it often. May even have to go out and find a griddle to buy. If I didn’t before, I just wanted to say WOW!
Tried these yesterday and they did NOT work for us. I’m not sure if I did something wrong but they would not “set up” in the pan. They never had enough body to flip, and by the time they got close they were pretty dark (close to burned) on the one side. 🙁
I had the same experience. I did not use a blender – just mashed the banana really well with a fork. I think that may have been the issue because the consistency if the batter was basically eggs with some banana chunks thrown in. So fliiping the “pancake” was like trying to flip an omelette over. They ended up being just piles of mush in the pan.
To be fair, the pieces I cooked tasted okay, but they did not resemble pancakes due to the issues with setting up.
The same happened to me. My kids still likes them but they were too hard to make again.
Use a large ripe (not too ripe) banana, mash it to mush, completely blend in the egg, then add 1/2 C oats. I always add the oats. They are much easier to flip.
I must admit I was very skeptical right up until I poured the batter in the pan, but I trust you………… The result was delicious! I watched the kids faces closely as they took the first bite and they didn’t even blink an eye as they quickly took the next bite. I still can’t believe it – bananas and eggs! Thanks for the recipe!
I only get 500mg sodium/day and have been craving pancakes. I made these this morning and I thank you from the bottom of my heart. I used cinnamon and vanilla and ground up some flax seed. They were great with maple syrup. Next time I may add a tablespoon or two of almond meal.
That is what I did with mine. I think they are good but 6yr old son said not pancake enough. The rest of the family hasn’t tried them yet.
Sara, do you think any unused batter can be saved for the next day?
During school days we never have time for pancakes, but these were easy and fast to prepare this morning. But I had half the batter left. Just wondering if it will be ok to keep in the fridge until tomorrow. Thanks for another great recipe!
I’m not sure- try it out and let me know 😉
Just made these with chocolate PB2. Really yummy. More like a crepe. Didn;t even need syrup with the chocolate PB2.
These were a hit with both my 10 mth and 3 year old this morning! Thanks!
I must be doing something wrong. I had to turn the heat way down because they burned on the outside before they were done on the inside. Perhaps I was making them too big. They were delicious though! Thank you OBB!
I had same issue and when I tried to flip them just made a huge mess if they weren’t burnt.
You have to be super careful, it wasn’t easy but with a silicone spatula it worked out well for me 🙂
So good!!! I’m on weight watchers and made them with egg beaters instead of regular eggs. That makes the entire thing only 1 point! I made one huge pancake out of the mix and topped it with blueberries, pecans, whip cream, and coconut syrup. Filling an entire dinner plate that I could barely finish for 5 points total. My kind of breakfast, thank you!!!
I’ve always wondered how they’d turn out with Egg Beaters, good to know it worked!
I read this post this afternoon and went and made the recipe right away. The verdict? I love you! There are not many foods I can eat because I am very diabetic. It is always so hard to make pancakes (which I love) for my family and not eat them myself. I feel like I can have these with just a little drizzle of syrup. I love how honest you were about them. No, they aren’t the same as regular pancakes, BUT I really, really liked them. I didn’t have a large banana so I just used a smallish regular sized one and I did add the cinnamon and some baking powder. I topped them with butter, a little peanut butter, and syrup. My five year old made a face when she saw them and said they “looked gross” but after she had taken a bite or two, she said, “Mom, you’re gonna need to make more of these. They are so good!” She proceeded to eat three more, which is amazing because she is a tiny eater and fairly picky. In all honesty, my nine year old took one bite, wrinkled her face, and pushed the plate away, but she is extremely picky. My husband ate most of one but said he doesn’t like peanut butter on things and he left a bite or two uneaten. So, two out of four of us loved them. I’m looking forward to making them soon for my three other kids who weren’t home. Thanks for the post!
I don’t want to be overly dramatic but… These are kind of changing my life! I have a seven month old and a two year old and they both loved these (I did too!). I also loved that they’re healthy, quick and I had everything on hand. This is going to make my life a WHOLE lot easier! thanks!
Those look like a great idea! Super healthy and still pancake-like. I used to make three ingredient oatmeal + cottage cheese + egg pancakes. You’re right, its not going to taste like a pancake, but its still easy and yummy!
We practically live on these in my house. If you’re making the batter in the blender and want them a little sweeter you can add a couple dates. I always add a tablespoon of almond flour/meal too to make them a bit more substantial. My kid love them slathered with jam.