Every time I find myself with ripe bananas, I feel like my mind goes blank and the only thing I can think to do is make banana bread. But as someone who would much rather have pancakes on hand for breakfast than banana bread, I created this recipe for banana cottage cheese sheet pan pancakes. They freeze and reheat beautifully, which has been clutch for these early postpartum months. (I freeze in a single layer on a cooling rack, compile into a freezer bag once frozen solid, then reheat in the microwave).
To add a little sweetness, I like to mix in chopped prunes and then top the batter with dark chocolate chips and more banana slices. I also tried out a one-ingredient prune syrup for this recipe, which I use in place of maple syrup. It’s an easy and super tasty swap that really makes a difference in my digestive health, especially post pregnancy.
You’ll see that I give a few different flour options in this recipe, but if you have white whole-wheat flour on hand, I encourage you to use it! The nuttiness of the whole wheat flour works really nicely here.
More cottage cheese pancake recipes to try:
- pumpkin cottage cheese sheet pan pancakes
- strawberry shortcake sheet pan pancakes
- giant cottage cheese blueberry pancake
If you make these banana cottage cheese sheet pan pancakes, let me know in the comments below. I’d love to hear what you think!
Ingredients
For the pancakes:
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, plus more for serving
- 4 very ripe bananas (plus an extra one for topping the pancake, if desired)
- 3/4 cup 2% or full-fat small-curd cottage cheese
- 3/4 cup dairy or non-dairy milk
- 2 large eggs
- 2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, white whole-wheat flour, or a 1:1 GF flour blend, spooned and leveled
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/3 cup chopped prunes
- 1/3 cup semisweet or bittersweet chocolate chips
- prune syrup, for serving (recipe below)
For the prune syrup:
- 1 (7.5-ounce) can Sunsweet prune juice
Instructions
- Heat the oven to 425°F. Line a 13×18-inch rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper; generously coat the parchment and sides of the pan with nonstick cooking spray.
- Melt the butter in a small bowl; set aside to cool slightly. Mash the bananas in a medium bowl (you should have about 2 cups mashed). Add the cottage cheese, milk, eggs, maple syrup, melted butter, and vanilla and whisk to combine.
- In a large bowl, whisk the flour, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Fold in the banana mixture and stir until just combined. Fold in the chopped prunes.
- Scrape the batter into the prepared baking sheet and smooth with a spatula. Slice the extra banana, if using, and sprinkle over the batter along with the chocolate chips.
- Bake until puffed and a toothpick comes out clean, 10 to 12 minutes.
- Meanwhile, make the syrup: add the prune juice to a small pot set over medium heat. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer until reduced to the consistency of maple syrup.
- Slice into 12 pieces and serve with more butter and prune syrup.
