Brown Butter Banana Pancakes
Brown butter banana pancakes are light, fluffy, and infused with the bold flavors of caramelized butter and sweet bananas!
Using brown butter only enhances what we already love about butter and infuses that flavor into the most delicious pancakes. Give your pancakes a deeper, richer, and nuttier flavor than your everyday banana pancakes!
About these brown butter banana pancakes
Even if you’ve ever heard of brown butter, or have made brown butter yourself, you’ve probably eaten it at some point. You’ll recognize it by its deep rich flavor that seems to bring everything up a notch.
It’s made by melting unsalted butter long enough so that the milk solids start to turn brown. You have to be careful though because there is a fine line between brown butter and burnt butter!
It can take up to 10 minutes but it’s super important to keep your eye on it. In a matter of minutes, it can go from mouthwateringly fragrant to kinda gross, so removing it from the heat just in time makes all the difference.
Once you learn how to make this caramelized liquid gold, you might just find yourself replacing your regular melted butter in so many other recipes (including these brown butter bacon pancakes…yum!). It can be used for all sorts of sweet and savory recipes, both simple and complex.
These soft, sweet, and perfectly fluffy pancakes are just the tip of the iceberg!
If you love caramel flavored rich pancakes, check out our brown sugar pancakes!
What You Need
- All-purpose flour – All-purpose flour is the best kind of flour to use for everyday pancakes.
- Salt – Salt may seem like an unnecessary ingredient in pancakes, but it brings out the flavors of the ingredients.
- Brown Sugar – Brown sugar, brown butter, and brown bananas. A powerhouse trio of brown deliciousness.
- Baking Powder – Baking powder will give rise to the pancakes making them light and fluffy.
- Egg – You’ll only need 1 for this recipe.
- Milk – 2% or whole milk is best for this recipe, but a non-dairy milk will also work.
- Butter – Unsalted is best, but if all you have is salted butter, just decrease the amount of slat slightly.
- Bananas – The riper the better! You want the sweet bananas as a complementary flavor to the nuttiness.
How to Make Them
Add the butter to a small saucepan over medium heat and stir frequently until it starts turning brown.
Immediately remove from the heat and pour it into a bowl to set aside.
Tip! Make sure to allow your brown butter to cool before adding it to the recipe. This way you don’t cook the egg!
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, salt and baking powder.
In a separate bowl whisk together the eggs, brown sugar, cooled melted browned butter, and milk. You’ll notice that there are brown particles at the bottom of the bowl the butter was sitting in. Add those in too!
Add wet mixture to dry mixture and stir until just combined. The batter will be lumpy.
Heat electric griddle to 350℉ or a nonstick skillet over medium-low.
Scoop the batter onto greased griddle and cook until bubbles appear and bottoms are lightly brown. Flip and continue cooking the other side until both sides are golden brown.
Serve warm with your favorite toppings.
How to Make These Your Own
- Make these gluten-free by swapping out the all-purpose for gluten-free flour.
- You can substitute buttermilk for the milk and have brown butter buttermilk banana pancakes.
- For a high protein start to your day, top with a slathering of peanut butter, almond butter, or pumpkin seed butter.
- Serve with syrup, pecans, and banana slices.
- Top with fresh fruit, whipped cream, chocolate sauce, or a dusting of powdered sugar.
- For extra special occasions, whip up some bourbon whipped cream and enjoy feeling fancy.
- Add some vanilla or almond extract for a little added flavor.
- To add some warmth to your pancakes, add a dash of cinnamon.
Storage Suggestions
These pancakes will keep in the fridge for up to 5 days or 1 month in the freezer in an airtight container.
More banana Pancakes
We go bananas over banana pancakes! Here are some of our favorites:
- 2 Ingredient Banana Pancakes
- Banana Cream Pie Pancakes
- Banana Bread Pancakes
- Peanut Butter Banana Pancakes
- Banana Coconut Pancakes (in the blender!)
Get the Recipe: Brown Butter Banana Pancakes
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 large egg
- 1 ¾ cup milk
- 1/4 cup 1/2 stick butter
- 2 ripe bananas mashed
Instructions
- Add butter to a small saucepan over medium heat.
- Stir the melted butter frequently for 5-10 minutes or until the butter starts turning brown.
- As soon as the butter starts to turn color, remove from the heat and pour into a bowl. Set aside to cool.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, salt and baking powder.
- In a separate bowl whisk together the eggs, brown sugar, cooled melted browned butter (and all the brown particles that sunk to the bottom!), and milk.
- Add wet mixture to dry mixture; stir until just combined (batter will be lumpy).
- Heat electric griddle to 350℉ or a nonstick skillet over medium-low.
- Using a 1/4 cup measuring cup, scoop the batter onto greased griddle.
- Cook until bubbles appear and bottoms are light brown. Flip pancakes and cook until the second side is golden brown.
- Serve with syrup, pecans, and banana slices.
Notes
- Refrigerate leftovers for up to 5 days or freeze in well-sealed freezer bags for up to 1 month.
- Makes about 15 pancakes.