This super scrumpdidlyicious healthy Banana Chocolate Chip Pancakes recipe is made with 7 ingredients total. That includes the coconut oil in which you sauté them! These pancakes are one of my super easy low-carb breakfast recipes that will make your mornings stress-free and extra tasty.
Low-Carb Pancakes Recipe Made with Cashews
Replacing high-carb wheat flour with lower-carb cashews is fantastic for those watching their blood sugar. Cashews work very well in baking for folks who are gluten-free, which is another reason I use them.
Cashew Recipes for Budget Cooking
I wrote the book on almond flour in 2008. Paleo Cooking from Elana’s Pantry was the first grain-free cookbook from a major publisher. Still, not everyone wants to invest in almond flour, which can be costly. If you’re cooking on a budget, you’ll want to check out my easy Cashew Recipes. No flour is needed in these easy recipes! My one-bowl Cashew Bread recipe is a fan-favorite sandwich bread with 5 ingredients total!
My Journey into Low-Carb Gluten-Free Eating
I was diagnosed with celiac disease in 1998, the dark ages of gluten-free, and went on a gluten-free diet right away. A short time later, I realized that wouldn’t be my ticket to healing and went on a grain-free paleo diet. I love creating grain-free recipes that do not contain high-carb ingredients like rice flour or potato flour. During this decades-long passion of mine, I’ve written almost 2,000 grain-free recipes.
The Grain-Free Paleo Diet
I don’t ever eat grains because they cause me severe digestive distress. Same with potatoes and corn. Nut-based foods, on the other hand, work very well, I digest them quite easily. Since we are all biochemical individuals what works best for me may not work for you.
Gluten-Free Pancakes Recipe for Dinner
While these quick and easy pancakes are a fantastic breakfast on a weekend morning, I also like to serve them along with an egg dish on Sunday nights for dinner. Breakfast for dinner is a family favorite in our house, and the boys especially appreciate the change in routine.
Free exclusive eBook, plus recipes and health tips, delivered to your inbox.
Banana Chocolate Chip Pancakes
Ingredients
- 1 cup cashews
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 2 large eggs
- ½ cup mashed banana
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- ¼ cup chocolate chips
- coconut oil for cooking
Instructions
- In a food processor, pulse cashews until finely ground
- Pulse in baking soda, then pulse in eggs, banana, and vanilla until very smooth
- Stir in chocolate chips by hand
- Heat oil in a 9 inch skillet over medium heat
- Spoon batter 1 tablespoon at a time onto skillet
- Flip pancakes when bubbles form
- Cook for 1 to 2 minutes on second side
- Serve with maple syrup or Cherry Berry Syrup
Banana Chocolate Chip Pancakes Made with Cashews
I have a couple of quick notes regarding this grain-free pancake recipe. First, do not be alarmed if the cashews start to form a paste when you grind them in the food processor. This happened to me with a couple of batches and the recipe still turned out wonderfully. For newer readers, I do use one tablespoon of vanilla in this recipe. That is not a typo. I love vanilla and find this larger amount typically adds extra sweetness and flavor to my recipes.
Substitutions for This Easy Pancake Recipe
For those of you wondering about substitutions, I tried replacing the cashews with almond flour in this Banana Chocolate Chip Pancake recipe and it did not work. If you decide to experiment with this pancake recipe, please let us know how it goes. As always, I don’t know if a substitution will turn out well unless I try it myself. The comment section below is a great place to chat and share knowledge with other readers about your substitution trials and tribulations.
Get the New York Times Best Seller, Paleo Cooking from Elana’s Pantry
If you’re looking for a pancake recipe made with almond flour, try the Paleo Pancakes in my latest book Paleo Cooking from Elana’s Pantry. And if you’re a beginner cook or a busy parent wondering how to make homemade pancakes either the Paleo Pancake recipe in my book or this Banana Chocolate Chip Pancake recipe is a great place to start!
Totally Kid Approved Pancakes
One afternoon when I was testing this easy flourless pancakes recipe my older son brought home most of the Boulder High School freshman baseball team. They devoured ’em topped with maple syrup before they headed off to practice. I guess you could say that this kid-friendly Banana Chocolate Chip Pancakes recipe is not only teen approved, it is baseball team approved. I hope you enjoy these gluten-free, paleo Banana Chocolate Chip Pancakes as much as those 9 boys did!
This post is an oldie but goodie from the archives. I first published this recipe in 2014.
Lisa says
Elana – I have used your site for years and years (thank you!). My aunt went gluten free upon the recommendation of her Naturopath in the early 80’s (due to health challenges) and then grain free some time later. Everyone thought she was crazy. I am also gluten intolerant and committed to eating whole, real foods and your site has been such a great and consistent resource. This one is a favourite of ours – we make it all the time! Please never remove this one from your site (though I of course know the recipe by heart)
Elana says
Lisa, thanks for letting me know you love this recipe!
Chelsea says
How many carbs are in this recipe?
Elana says
Chelsea, for more on that go here:
https://elanaspantry.com/nutrition-information/
Have a wonderful day!
Elana
Elizabeth says
Hi, Elana! I hope all is well in your end. I just want to say thank you for your wonderful and simple recipes. I had some riped bananas and decided to see if you had a pancake recipe using them. I found this one and I could not wait to try it. I just did it this morning and I loved them. I did start with my food processor but finished blending the mix in my Vitamix because I wanted a smoother consistency. It can be a bit time consuming doing one pancake at a time and I could not resist eating them while making them. In the end, I had 8 small pancakes and I had eaten perhaps five as I was making them, lol! Thank you once again! God bless you for your creativity and for sharing your amazing recipes with us! You rock!
Elana says
Elizabeth, thanks so much for letting me know you love these pancakes!
Mike Johnston says
My kids said they were the best pancakes weve ever had so they are now our Saturday morning staple! Only problem for me was we had to make two batches because they were gone in about 2 minutes, so the recipe will always be doubled in our house!
Mike
Elana says
Mike, it’s soooo nice to see you here! I’m really glad that your family is enjoying these pancakes :-)
Shaina says
My review:
Just made these, and I found them to be a very good flour-free and paleo pancake recipe. They actually came out like the photo, which is refreshing. And the batter was very manageable.
I wasn’t a big fan of the 1 Tb vanilla. It worked really well when I added choco chips to the pancakes. In that case, it enhanced the sweetness and paired well with the chocolate flavors. But without chocolate chips, the extract was overpowering and tasted alcohol-y, like extract. And I have a very good extract.
Seeing that I actually prefer unsweetened pancakes, I’d leave out the extract and replace it with 2 tsp water. And I’d add cinnamon next time, since I love cinnamon and banana flavor.
Can’t wait to try these as waffles!
Elana says
Shaina, I’m so happy to hear you enjoyed these pancakes!
Elizabeth says
Hi, Elana! I am so glad to find this recipe. I had ripe bananas and I wanted to do pancakes with them. I decided to cut the recipe in half. Unfortunately, I did not have raw cashews so I used the coconut manna from Nutiva. I just want you to know that it worked. It was delicious even though my first pancake was overcooked. I am a glutton so instead of a tablespoon, I made two tablespoon for each pancake. Once again, thank you for sharing your wonderful recipes.
Elana says
Thanks Elizabeth!
Debbie says
Thanks for these wonderful pancakes!! My 3 kiddos ate two batches in a heartbeat. I used avocado oil to cook them in rather than coconut oil and they turned out great. Do you happen to know the nutritional information off hand? Also, do you have a favorite cupcake/icing recipe? I am specifically looking for one without corn or soy. Thanks again!
Elana says
Debbie, thanks for letting me know these pancakes are wonderful and that your kiddos gobble them up! For more on nutrition go here:
https://elanaspantry.com/nutrition-information/
Here’s my favorite icing recipe:
https://elanaspantry.com/chocolate-buttercream-frosting/
Enjoy!
Elana
Christine says
Hi Elana-
I think that these pancakes look great- but the recipe i REALLY want is on your instagram page. I am not on instagram so I cant ask there. The recipe looks like bok choy/ lemon/ maybe chicken? on skewers. Pretty please with coconut sugar on top can you let us know the recipe for that?
Thank in advance- I am prepared to beg. Christine
Elana says
Christine, thanks for your comment! That recipe is going to be in my next book so stay tuned :-)
Patty B says
Thank you so much for your Recipes. We have all your books and everything we make is so delicious! We always look forward to your New Recipes! Thank You and Be Well!
Patty
Elana says
Patty, I’m so happy to hear that you are enjoying my recipes and books!
Holly says
Elana, I tried to read through several of the comments to see if this question has been addressed and I did not see it. I don’t have whole cashews but I do have cashew flour which is just ground cashews. Do you have any idea how much of that I would use in this recipe in place of the one cup of cashews? If you don’t know the answer to that can you tell me what the consistency of the batter should be (how thick or thin) and maybe I can guesstimate. Thanks so much!
Elana says
Holly, I haven’t tried that so not sure :-)
Holly says
With all due respect you didn’t answer either of my questions. I didn’t ask you if you tried it or if it would work I wanted to know if you had an idea of how much cashew flour vs whole cashews and/or a consistency of the batter when you make these.
Elana says
Holly, I wish I could answer every single question here in much greater detail. Unfortunately, there is only one of me, and this site has close to 80,000 comments on it. So, back to your questions, I’m not sure how much cashew flour a cup of cashews equals. The consistency of the batter is like pancake batter, I’m not sure how else to describe it. I hope you and yours have an amazing Passover/Easter weekend :-)
Audrey says
Hey Holly, play nicely! I’m already so impressed that Elana makes time to answer every message. Be creative, I’d Say! Live vicariously!