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.)
Two Ingredient Pancakes
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
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
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.