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.
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Questions & Reviews
I am so glad to have found this recipe! Tried it immediately – the only thing I changed was I didn’t use baking powder and I blended it, but I did use cinnamon and ginger. It is not eggy, it comes out like a banana flavored pancake ! You have to cook these on low to not burn them on the first side. Although I must say the “burnt” ones do not taste bad at all I really liked it ! None of them came out weird or undercooked. You can eat them by themselves or I also mixed honey with cinnamon and ginger to make my homemade spin on maple syrup. It is extremely sweet and definitely the perfect replacement for pancakes for me – Will be making these a lot, and adding all kinds of things to it ! My 4yo was very interested but took one bite and didn’t like it. He is very picky though and I am sure he will try it again in the future and like it haha
Very good pancakes! I loved them! Thank you for the recipe.
I’m just made them for a quick healthy supper for one.. And I just loved them… most definitely will be making them for breakfast.. thanks so much for sharing
I know this post is awhile ago but this comment is for the pancake failures that I read so many times in the comments while trying to figure out how I messed mine up too. The first time my pancakes were mushy, hard to turn, half of them didn’t even turn and took forever to cook, BUT since the taste was good I tried again and the next time I was done in 5 mins with a beautiful stack like in Sara’s picture. The difference- 1st try using regular non stick frying pan, too ripe banana and didn’t use blender, just hand mixed. 2nd try used skillet where I could fit 6 at a time, a yellow banana and used a simple blender- big difference! Still soft, but easier to turn and color was much better! If you fail the first time, try again!
Great tips!
Just tried this recipe. Absolutely loved this, hubby and kids loved it too. It was super easy to make. It will sure be our go to pancake recipe!!
So I tried making these and I couldn’t eat them but my question is does it need to be a barely ripe banana? Mine was pretty ripe and my kids wouldn’t eat it either ? Trying to find foods for my picky toddler!
No you could definitely try it with one that’s a little sweeter. You can also add a couple tablespoons of flour- that might improve the texture for your kiddos! Another thing I make a lot for picky toddlers is Kodiak Cakes pancake mix. Are you familiar with it? It’s whole-grain, very clean, and delicious! I love it because they’re great just mixed with water so it literally takes like, 60 seconds to whip up a few pancakes for some little kiddos. You might try that one, too!
These pancakes are AMAZING!!! I am a diabetic so I will take whatever low carb, yummy recipes I can get. They were so great, I ate three of them and only ate six grams of carb and 66 calories (excluding the syrup). Totally guilt free and super tasty! Thank you for posting!
Just made this & omg I’m in love. Super easy and your writing for this was clear and simple so its greatly appreciated!!
How many pancakes does the recipe make?
My first attempt at these failed miserably but I am willing to try again. I used my immersion blender and think I blended a little too much. I also think my heat (although at medium) was too high. The bottoms cooked and then when I flipped they completely fell apart! I ended up with a scramble that I ate with maple syrup that was actually pretty decent. It reminded me of the matzoh brei my grandfather made when I was a kid! Still not pancakes but I think I’ll just need to adjust to my kitchen!
I just saw this. I have been doing the same thing with left over sweet potatoes. Sweet potatoes and eggs. Very good.
I make the original “virgin version” (just a mashed banana and two eggs) and love it as is. Now I need to try the baking powder and cinnamon. I don’t like very sweet food, so I don’t even add syrup or sweetener of any kind. Thinking of adding some frozen wild blueberries next time.
I really enjoyed this post. Not only the recipe itself, but even more so your writing and the pictures. Great job!
I made these pancakes this morning.
I used my Nutri Bullet to finely pulse 1/4 cup of rolled oats. I then added 1/8 tsp of baking powder, a dash of salt, some cinnamon, about a 1/2 tsp of vanilla, one ripe medium banana, and two eggs. I pulsed until smooth and ladled the pancakes onto a hot griddle.
They turned out perfectly–nice little hotcakes to which I added Earth Balance Cinnamon spread.
Delicious! Next time I’ll probably pulse a little dried coconut with the oatmeal, and add a bit of nutmeg.
I just made these and added some almond meal and flaxseed meal! I served them with Greek yougurt (sweetened with stevia) and blueberries! Yummy!
My friend and I first started to make these thinking that they would be amazing and healthy considering the ingredients and the photos.
I am sorry to say that this was completely awful.
They tasted good, but they crumbled in the end.
We mashed the banana’s well considering that the recipe was nearly liquid whilst cooking it.
I love these and if u put peanut butter in them it’s rly good
These are so good with a side of bacon!
seriously, best pancakes!! I put some nutella on it and WOW, I went to heaven !!! I am in love with this!
Just tried these and I was seriously surprised that they were delish, a tiny bit flat but I added some raisins to the mix and I was in pancake heaven!
Just made these. They look like thin pancakes, and don’t taste awful I just didn’t love them. Seemed to be missing something, and too sweet for my taste with syrup. My dogs loved them though!
I am going to add oats to mine as well. I tried small pancakes, a large pancake and none wanted to flip. I adjusted to the temp to a lower, slower heat and same thing happened. Next time I will try to mix in oatmeal to see if that helps. Tastes good, but looks awful.