Easy, healthy baby banana pancakes for baby are made with just 3 ingredients - oats, bananas and eggs. Made in 10 min, perfect for 6 month old baby-led weaning, toddlers and even adults love them. Great with peanut butter and fruit, as breakfast or on-the-go snack. Once you make them they will become a staple in your kitchen. Can be made with egg alternatives (vegan), and are both gluten-free and naturally dairy-free.
*This post has been reviewed by Dora Babic-Cikos, PhD Nutritional Science
I have to say this is my favorite baby/toddler recipe that I have ever made and that I make multiple times a week. They are a guarantee to get the kids eating in the morning in our house!
Why we love these Oat Banana Pancakes for Baby
- Easy to make in just 10 mins
- Healthy, simple ingredients in these baby pancakes
- No-flour pancakes
- Dairy and gluten-free (if you use gluten-free oats)
- Can be made with egg or vegan if you haven't given baby egg yet
- Perfect baby-led weaning pancake from 6 month old +
- Perfect toddler pancake snack
- Perfect for on-the-go, travel, airplane snack
- Nutrient-rich with lots of fats, carbs and protein for healthy growth and development
- one of the best breakfast ideas for toddlers
Ingredients
- Bananas - Use fully ripe or overripe bananas for sweetness and as those are more digestable. Bananas are rich in calories, contain good amounts of vitamins B6 and C, as well as plenty of potassium.
- Eggs - choose organic or free-range eggs if possible. Eggs bind the whole recipe together so the pancake does not fall apart. Egg whites contain protein and the yolk has healthy fats. If you have not yet introduced your baby with egg, best is to do it before giving these pancakes, serving the yolk and white at separate occasions as each is a separate allergen. You can scroll below on how to make these pancakes with no-egg.
- Oats - use instant, rolled oats or oat flour. Rolled oats should contain the most nutrients as they are the least processed. Oats are made from carbohydrates, protein and fiber so will keep your baby full for longer and help aid digestion. We prefer to use Bob's Red Mill Rolled oats as they have little ingredient, nutrition and processing concerns.
- Additional ingredients for nutritional boost can be a teaspoon of chia seeds, flaxseeds or hemp seeds. These are all loaded with nutrients and healthy fats and help with baby's digestion.
We do not use any baking powder or sweetener such as maple syrup as these pancakes are already fluffy and there is not need for additional sugar since they babies get to eat nutritious banana in these pancakes.
Step-by-step instructions
- Place the banana, oats, eggs and 2 tablespoon of water into a blender and blend until you have a smooth pancake batter. We use the Magic Bullet because it blends very smooth and is easy to use and wash up (and inexpensive) or the Vitamix which is top of the range. You could also mix the ingredients by hand by mashing the banana and adding oat flour and eggs.
- Heat a medium skillet on high heat and add a teaspoon of coconut oil. Once heated, bring the heat down to medium heat, take a tablespoon of batter and portion out 4 pancakes across the skillet and let them cook for about 3 minutes until the sides are golden and have firmed.
- Flip them (they should flip super easily) and cook for another 2 minutes.
- Serve with some nut butter, fruit, yogurt or they are delicious on their own.
How To Serve To Babies and Toddlers?
- Great recipe for both babies who are following BLW or have already moved from purees to finger food, as well as toddlers and adults, making them a perfect breakfast or snack to have as a family.
Baby-led weaning
- 6-9 month old – cut the pancakes in length and width of your index finger so they can easily grab them
- 9 month+ or pincer grasp – cut into smaller bite size pieces, the size of your pinky fingernail if you prefer
- You can serve these with a thin smear of nut butter (nut butters are choking hazards so be careful to spread it thinly) and fruit mashed or cut up age appropriately
Toddler
- Serve them whole, the same as you would for adults
- Spread peanut butter on them and then fold like a sandwich to make them mess free but delicious
How to store and reheat?
Storage
- Fridge – place in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
- Freezer – if you think you will be defrosting them individually then place them one on top of the other and then separate them with parchment paper followed by placing them in an airtight container. Once defrosted, use within 24 hours.
Reheating from frozen
- Reheat in the oven at 180°C / 350°F for about 5-10 min.
- Reheat in toaster for 1 min on defrost setting
- Reheat in microwave for about 15 sec on defrost setting (depending on the microwave)
FAQ
Babies can eat pancakes as soon as they you have tested them for all the allergens that are included in the pancake recipe. Usually the most common allergen is egg so if you have made sure your baby is not allergic to egg white or egg yolk they can start eating baby-led weaning pancakes from 6 month old +. You can still offer pancakes without egg, for more information on how to do so see in post above.
Yes, they can eat pancakes as soon as they are ready to start solid foods. For baby-led weaning cut the pancakes into long strips. These oat banana pancakes are an excellent baby-led weaning food because they are easy, full of nutrients and almost mess-free.
Yes you can make them vegan by using either chia-egg or flax-egg. See instructions in post.
If you have not yet tested your baby for an egg allergy, it's best if you offer egg white and egg yolk on separate occasions to check if your baby has an allergy to either.
However you can still make these pancakes vegan, with no egg by using either a flax egg or chia egg.
Take 1 tablespoon of chia seeds or ground flaxseeds and mix with 3 tablespoons of water and let sit for about 5 - 10 minute to make a chia-egg/flax-egg. And then use that instead of egg in the recipe.
Tips
- Use ripe or overipe bananas to make them sweet
- Use coconut oil when heating up the pan. For some reason it just works 100x better than any other oil with this recipe. And it gives a nice flavour
- Blend the mixture in an blender or Vitamix
- Use a silicone spatula to flip the pancakes because it will change your life
- Cut the pancake the length and width of your index finger to serve for baby-led weaning
- Add chia seeds, flax seeds or hemp seeds for additional nutrient boost
Variations
- Add seeds for nutritional boost - chia seeds, flaxseeds, hemp seeds
- Add spices such as cinnamon and nutmeg
- Add milk instead of water for more calcium (including almond milk or other plant based varieties)
- Make them vegan by using flax egg or chia egg
- Use wholewheat flour instead of oats
- Add chocolate chips to the pancake batter if you want to make them more special for adults (kids don't need additional sugar)
More Baby Pancake Recipes
If you've tried this recipe or any other recipe on the blog, then please rate it and leave us a comment below!
Banana Oat Pancakes For Babies Recipe
EQUIPMENT
Ingredients
- 1 ripe banana
- ½ cup oats
- 2 eggs
- 2 tablespoon water
- coconut oil for cooking
Optional
- 1 tsp chia seeds/flax seeds/hemp seeds
- pinch cinnamon
Instructions
- Combine all ingredients (except the coconut oil) and blend until smooth.
- Heat a medium skillet on high heat and add a teaspoon of coconut oil. Once heated, bring the heat down to medium, take a tablespoon of batter and portion out 4 pancakes across the skillet and let them cook for about 3 minutes until the sides are golden and have firmed.
- Flip them (they should flip super easily) and cook for another 2 minutes.
- Serve with some nut butter, fruit, yogurt or they are delicious on their own.
Video
Notes
- Age - from 6 month old +
- To hand mix - if not using blender use oat flour instead of oats to make a smooth batter
- To flip - use a to flip the pancakes because it will change your life
- BLW - cut the pancake the length and width of your index finger to serve for baby-led weaning
- Store 3 days in fridge and up to 3 months in freezer. For reheating instructions see post
- Make it vegan by using chia egg or flax egg (1 tablespoon of chia/flax soaked 3 tablespoon of water for 15 minutes)
- No need for baking powder as they are already fluffy
- No need for sweetener such as maple syrup as it is just additional sugar that babies or kids don't need
Christal
These are fantastic and my 14 month old who shockingly isn’t a big pancake fan just loved these. And might I add SO EASY to make which is a huge plus for mom!
CreativeNourish
Thanks Christal! So happy to hear that:)
Christina
Do you think my 14 month old would notice if I snuck a little spinach in, especially if I blend it all together?
CreativeNourish
Hi Christina,
No, they probably wouldn't. We have a similar recipe for spinach pancakes and you really can't taste the spinach and our toddlers love them. Here is the link: https://www.creativenourish.com/spinach-pancakes/
Christy Warner
my 8 month old loved these and did great with them! this was our first attempt with something with a bready texture so I was a little nervous but these were perfect. thank you so much for the recipe!
Ana
Thanks for letting me know! So glad!
Lexi
Hi! I didn’t use a blender to blend the ingredients, so that might be my issue here, and I used baby oatmeal (bc I’m trying to get rid of it), and it seems no matter how long I cook them, I can’t get them to firm up like regular pancakes. They still seem “gooey” in the middle, and I’m worried the egg isn’t cooking all the way through. Is this normal? Or should they be firm like regular pancakes??
Ana
Hi Lexi. Oh, that is a shame.
Maybe it is down to the baby oatmeal and its consistency. Don't add water then, and if the batter still seems too loose then add a tsp of regular or wholewheat flour, or more oatmeal. The egg should cook through in those 2-3 minutes so I think it is down to the batter being too runny. Hope it works.
Lexi
I ended up omitting the water and using about another tbsp or two of the oatmeal and it made a perfect consistency!! Thank you for this recipe, my son loves them!!
Ana
Great!:) Glad your son loves them!
KAYLA
does it matter what kind of oats? I only have quick oats, will that work?
Ana
Hi,
Any oats can work as long as they are not steel cut oats. They get blended so really it becomes oat flour.
Stephanie
My family loved these! I tripled the batch and made some for the whole family. My 10 month old loved them too 🙂 Great use of ripe bananas. Very easy to make and simple ingredients! Thank you for sharing!!
Ana
Hi Stephanie! Thank you for your comment! So glad they loved it - even if I plan on making them just for the kids we still all end up eating them:)
Philrene
Hi!
Trying it this morning. just want to check - if I want to freeze some, do I freeze the batter or the cooked pancakes??
Ana
Hi,
I have never frozen the batter but I am assuming you can. You may need to make it less thick once defrosted by adding a tbsp of water.
You can freeze the pancakes. Best is to put baking paper between each pancake in case you think you will need to defrost them separately.
Brittany
I put these in a mini cupcake tin and baked 350*F for 10-13 min and they turned out so good!
Ana
Oh, great idea! Thanks for sharing
Stacy
Followed this recipe and it worked! I’ve tried others and I’ve had issues. Thank you for the recipe. My 8 month old loves them!
Kasandra
I've never been a fan of pancakes but decided to find an easy and healthy recipe for my son when he started solids. Not only does he adore them, so do I! I make them every week for family brunch and freeze the leftovers for the week. It's so easy to double or triple the recipe. They are now a staple at our house and I'll eat these over any other pancakes. Thanks for the amazing recipe!
Ana
I am so glad! Thanks for the comment:)
Nga
Can you use the baby oatmeal cereal in place of oats?
Ana
Hi Kasandra, yes you can, depending on what kind of baby oatmeal. If the ingredient is just "oatmeal" then it will blend the same as oats do and create oat flour - so basically the same thing happens. Let us know how it turned out.
Esther
My 6.5 month old loved it. Made it into really small sized pancakes for BLW. Thanks!
Ana
Great! Thanks for sharing!
Dana
wow I’m so impressed with these heathy little pancakes! They will be a new staple, my picky toddler loves them and kept asking for more!! Such a win 🙂 I also added a dash of cinnamon and a little bit of vanilla extract. Great recipe! Thank you!
Ana
Thanks Dana! Really happy to hear that!