Light and fluffy sourdough banana pancakes with toasted coconut give you a yummy tropical flavor any time of year! Use sourdough discard in this easy recipe or adapt it for gluten-free pancakes!
I have this thing with tropical flavors. I just can’t seem to get enough of them!
My smoothies, our tacos, and now breakfast all seem to have a slight pina colada feel to them… You know, that lying-on-a-beach-with-the-warm-sun-beaming-on-your-body type of feeling. Sounds nice, right?
These sourdough toasted coconut and banana pancakes have rapidly become a favorite for me and the kids. I thought they wouldn’t like the slight tang of the sourdough at breakfast, but boy was I wrong!
The first time I made them, the kids didn’t even blink at the taste. They didn’t just eat them, they devoured them. The pancakes were so light and fluffy and there wasn’t a single one left!
Ever since, I’ve been doubling this recipe and restricting pancakes to breakfast only, just so that they last beyond that first day… because a double batch of pancakes on one day really means less work on other days!
SOURDOUGH TOASTED COCONUT AND BANANA PANCAKES
So, why make sourdough banana pancakes?
- They’re good for you. The benefits of sourdough are outstanding. One of the main reasons I love sourdough is because your body can more easily absorb the nutrients in the grain. (Science-y people call that bioavailability.)
- Uses sourdough starter. This recipe is truly ideal if you’re just starting or feeding your existing sourdough starter. Pour off the leftover sourdough starter discard into a 16oz glass jar (I like these or you can remove labels and repurpose jars). Then keep the jar in the fridge and when it’s full, make banana pancakes recipes!
- Frugal favorite. Pancakes are one of the best meals to help feed your family on a budget.
- Can be gluten-free. Just use your gluten-free sourdough starter as the base!
- They’re light, fluffy, and delicious! We all agreed that this is the perfect warm and sunny flavor combination for even the coldest winter day.
HEALTHY BANANA PANCAKES INGREDIENTS
These aren’t the 3 ingredient banana pancakes that were all the rage a few years ago. You know the ones that are just bananas, eggs, and a bit of flour? We’re adding just a few more ingredients for pancakes that turn out fluffy and slightly sweet rather than tasting like eggy bananas.
You’ll find just simple real food ingredients on the list for these healthy banana pancakes.
- Shredded or Flaked Coconut. Look for unsweetened coconut.
- Coconut Oil. Melted butter will also work as the fat in this banana pancake recipe.
- Egg. To hold everything together. A flax egg will work here as well.
- Baking powder. For the fluffiest banana pancakes, it gives the natural yeast in sourdough an extra boost.
- Vanilla extract. Vanilla brings out the sweetness of the other flavors. Here’s how to make it homemade.
- Honey. You don’t need much here – combined with the toasted coconut and bananas, you’ll get perfectly sweet pancakes.
- Banana. The riper the banana, the sweeter your banana pancakes will turn out. Look for a yellow peel speckled with brown.
- Sourdough Starter. The base for the banana pancakes. Sourdough discard or active starter is perfectly fine here.
Not a fan of bananas? We’ve also made these easy banana pancakes with chopped apple instead of banana and it was just as delicious. In addition, mangos or peaches would also be an excellent choice!
HOW TO MAKE TOASTED COCONUT AND BANANA PANCAKES RECIPES
Toasting coconut:
Step 1. Spread shredded or flaked coconut on a single layer on a cookie sheet. Place in the oven and set the temperature to 350F. The heat will cause the natural oils of the coconut to release and in turn, toast the coconut.
Step 2. With a spatula, stir and/or shake the coconut every 1-2 minutes until the coconut is light to medium brown.
Note: Do not leave the kitchen while toasting coconut. Once the oils are released the toasting process goes very quickly. Golden brown coconut is good. Black coconut is not so good.
Making pancakes:
Step 1. While the coconut is toasting, preheat a griddle to 350 degrees or a skillet over medium heat. Melt coconut oil in a large mixing bowl in the microwave. Add the wet ingredients: egg, baking powder, vanilla, and honey, and whisk thoroughly.
Step 2. Slice the ripe banana into the bowl and combine well. If you prefer smaller pieces of banana instead of banana slices in the pancakes, mash slightly while mixing.
Step 3. Add toasted coconut to the banana mixture and mix well. Finally, measure and add the sourdough starter, mixing well into the batter.
Step 4. Pour approximately ¼ cup of pancake batter onto the griddle or skillet. Cook the pancakes until they get bubbles on top and are cooked on the edges, approximately 2-3 minutes. The edges will not necessarily turn brown.
Step 5. Flip and cook the banana pancakes for another 2-3 minutes, removing from the griddle or skillet when the bottom is golden to medium brown. If you find your pancakes are sticking, lower the heat a little bit for the next round.
Step 6. Serve with maple syrup, honey, or a sprinkle of ground cinnamon. Yields 8 pancakes.
Store leftover banana pancakes in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days or freeze for up to 3 months.
PANCAKE TOPPINGS
Just like plain pancakes, toppings make the meal! This banana pancakes recipe has a lot of natural sweetness from the banana, so you most likely won’t need much syrup. But if you want to add other toppings these are some favorites:
- Chopped nuts
- Chocolate chips
- Homemade Whipped Cream
- Fresh berries
- Frozen fruit (let thaw, and use the juices as syrup!)
- Greek yogurt
SOURDOUGH STARTER FOR BANANA PANCAKE RECIPE
Does my sourdough starter need to be fully active to make coconut and banana sourdough pancakes?
Nope! You can easily rack up a couple of cups of excess starter within a week and no feeding is required before using it in this banana pancake recipe.
- Just pull the jar of starter out of the fridge the night before you plan to make pancakes and let it sit on the counter at room temperature. This gives the yeast a chance to “warm up” to the environment and do its job.
- Personally, I’ve been feeding my starter with ¼ cup of flour each morning and night and I’ve found that it’s just the right amount for a double batch of pancakes on Monday and a batch of Sourdough Bread on Thursday.
- If you want to be SUPER efficient, grind your own wheat berries (without a grain mill) on Monday while the pancakes are cooking. Store it in the freezer and use that freshly ground flour to feed your starter for the rest of the week! (We use Einkorn flour, but whole wheat flour works too!)
PROTEIN PANCAKES WITH BANANAS
Looking to up the protein in these banana pancakes?
- Add a scoop of collagen or protein powder to the batter – 1 Tablespoon of collagen will net you an extra 10g of protein.
- Mix in a Tablespoon of milled flaxseed for about 2g of protein and a bit of nutty flavor.
- Top with chopped walnuts or pecans. 1 Tablespoon of walnuts gives you just shy of 2g of protein.
- Spread peanut butter or almond butter on top of the pancakes when serving. 1 Tablespoon of peanut butter contains 4g of protein.
- Replace ¼ cup of sourdough starter with an equal amount of cottage cheese. It might sound weird, but it’ll mix into the batter, and you won’t even know it’s there (but you’ll get an extra 7.5g of protein with this swap!)
- Add a side of Breakfast Sausage or Scrambled Eggs to help meet your daily protein goals.
Or try my Protein Pancakes recipe, which I specifically made to be packed with protein.
RECIPES FOR BANANA PANCAKES FAQS
Can I make recipes for banana pancakes in a sheet pan?
Yes, you sure can! Follow this Sheet Pan Pancakes method! You can even double or triple the batch and freeze extras for later. Batch cooking is my lifesaver to get breakfast (or dinner) on the table fast.
Can I make plain sourdough pancakes?
Yes! Follow my Sourdough Pancakes recipe here, which skips the toasted coconut and bananas.
How do I make this sourdough pancake recipe gluten-free?
Well, I happen to have an option for a gluten-free sourdough starter! Trust me, the pancakes will be just as amazing!
MORE SOURDOUGH RECIPES
- No-Knead Einkorn Sourdough Bread
- Buttery Sourdough Biscuits
- Simple Sourdough Bread Recipe
- Sourdough Pancakes
- Sourdough Crackers
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Light and fluffy sourdough banana pancakes with toasted coconut give you a yummy tropical flavor any time of year! Use sourdough discard in this easy recipe or adapt it for gluten-free pancakes!
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 6 minutes
- Total Time: 16 minutes
- Yield: 8 pancakes 1x
- Category: Breakfast
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- 1 cup shredded or flaked coconut, toasted (see recipe for directions) (80g)
- 2 Tbsp coconut oil, melted (28g)
- 1 egg (50g)
- 1 tsp baking powder (5g)
- 1 tsp vanilla (4g)
- 3 Tbsp honey (63g)
- 1 banana (118g)
- 2 cups sourdough starter (454g)
Instructions
TOASTING COCONUT
- Spread shredded or flaked coconut on a single layer on a cookie sheet. Place in the oven and set the temperature to 350 degrees. The heat will cause the natural oils of the coconut to release and in turn toast the coconut. With a spatula, stir and/or shake the coconut every 1-2 minutes until coconut is light to medium brown. Note: Do not leave the kitchen while toasting coconut. Once the oils are released the toasting process goes very quickly. Brown coconut is good. Black coconut is not so good.
MAKING PANCAKES
- While the coconut is toasting, preheat a griddle to 350 degrees or a skillet to medium. Melt coconut oil in a large mixing bowl. Add egg, baking powder, vanilla and honey and whisk thoroughly. Slice the banana into the bowl and combine well. If you prefer smaller pieces of banana in the pancakes, mash slightly while mixing.
- Add toasted coconut when done and mix well. Finally, measure and add sourdough starter, mixing well into the batter.
- Pour approximately ¼ cup of batter onto the griddle or skillet. Cook pancake until it is bubbly on top and cooked on the edges, approximately 2-3 minutes. The edges will not necessarily turn brown.
- Flip and cook the pancake for another 2-3 minutes, removing from the griddle or skillet when the bottom is golden to medium brown.
- Serve with maple syrup or honey. Yields 8 pancakes.
Hi, looks yummy!
Do you have any suggestion to use something other than coconut? Not a fan…
Never really had pancakes to BE honest but always curious and seems a great way to use discard if I like it!🙄
Hi Sergio! Here’s a great “blank slate” recipe for sourdough pancakes: https://dontwastethecrumbs.com/sourdough-pancakes/
How could you make this without sourdough starter and with oat flour? I have some of the latter leftover as well as toasted coconut from your coconut milk recipe. Am trying to find ways to use them this week before going on vacation!
Kendall – you can sub oat flour for all-purpose flour in any pancake recipe! These are one of our favorites: https://dontwastethecrumbs.com/2016/08/protein-pancakes/
Since I am already using a starter, can I make gf pancakes without neither baking powder or baking soda? Would it work? Thank you.
You can Agi, but you won’t get the fluffiness you’re used to in pancakes. The rise that comes from natural yeast in sourdough takes a long time to develop, and won’t happen instantly in pancakes.
Thank you, Tiffany!
Fantastic news, thank you Tiffany. I’ll keep feeding the “beast” as its affectionately known!
Hi there.
I’m making my sourdough starter with buckwheat flour. The first two feedings were great and I already had a dome with bubbles. However, its not happened again with subsequent feedings – the surface is flat, goes dark brown and very few bubbles. I’m persevering and might add some kefir. Can I still use this for the pancakes or does it mean its not matured properly?? Be grateful for any advice.
Thanks.
Hi Jo! You can definitely still use it for pancakes! If you don’t think the starter is fully mature yet, the concern would be using it in bread… and the reason you might not see significant growth after the first few days is because buckwheat doesn’t contain gluten. You can certainly use it in GF sourdough recipes though!
I just made these for breakfast amd they are AMAZING! My GF bread has been a bit hit ans miss, but I would keep my culture alive just to make these pancakes! Thanks for the recipe
Hi Tiffany!
I’m new to all things sourdough! I currently have a very active starter using rye flour. I’ve been saving the discard for these pancakes. Mine turned out sticky and flat. My batter was super funny, too. After a few pancakes flopped, I added coconut flour. They cooked up better, but were chewy. Any ideas?
Thanks,
Mandy
Wow! My 4 year old said they smelled great while I was toasting the coconut. Boy was he right. Thanks for sharing!
A compliment from a 4 year old is hard to come by – so glad ya’ll like it!
I made a double batch of these for dinner tonight. I omitted the coconut and it was the first time making something with my new sourdough starter, which is gluten free. The batter was runny so I added a total of 2 cups flour (I doubled the original recipe) and they turned out AWESOME! I sooo can’t wait to try bread soon! 🙂 thanks so much for sharing!
So glad you enjoyed them Joy!!
Hi Tiffany,
I tried this recipe this morning & the batter was extremely thick & wouldn’t fully cook through. It also created a crispy surface rather than soft & fluffy. What could have been done wrong? I also tried thinning by adding liquid but still wasn’t right.
Hi Angela,
Honestly, I don’t know what could have gone wrong. I’ve never had a pancake turn out crispy, but I can do my best to offer solutions! Thinning with water (2 tbsp – 1/4 cup) should have done the trick, but maybe the skillet was too hot? It should be on medium, medium-low. The baking soda reacts w/the acid in the sourdough starter to create the rise, so maybe another 1/2 tsp? You also might try subbing butter for the coconut oil to see if that helps too. I’m sorry your batch didn’t turn out well Angela 🙁
Thank you Tiffany. Did you mean to say baking powder? The recipe says powder not soda…
Thank you
LOL, probably. I didn’t have the recipe pulled up the entire time, so that’s probably what I meant. Similarly, we made pancakes yesterday for breakfast (a different recipe) and it called for 1/2 tsp of baking SODA if I swapped cultured milk for regular milk. Which I did. So I added the soda and they were really good. You might want to try adding this too to see if it helps with the rise. Don’t swap soda for powder, just add. 🙂
I had the same issue. The ingredients call for baking powder and your comment above says Baking soda. Not sure I would make them again. Too crispy, too hard to flip (stuck to a well oiled cast iron pan), had a elastic kind of texture on the inside, sort of undone tasting).
Making this today for breakfast. Can’t wait.
Pretty much! I have it timed where I have enough starter at the beginning of the week for pancakes, then enough for bread later in the week. You can add up to 3 times the existing amount of starter if needed though. So if you had 1 cup today and you needed 3 cups for a recipe, you could add 3 cups and be just fine. I usually don’t though, only because I’d end up with TONS of starter and one way I limit our carbs is by baking only once/week. When I haven’t been paying attention I’ve added 2 cups with success. 🙂
So good!
Mmm, these look great, and very healthy! I love the idea of adding shredded coconut to any pancake, but I bet it pairs nicely with the tang of sourdough.
Do you buy your coconut shredded, or do you shred it yourself? I love the taste of fresh coconut, but it can be sooo much work!
What a timely post! I was literally just trying to figure out how I was going to deal with all this starter I have!