I Tried Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s Legendary Coconut Banana Pancakes and They’re As Good As Promised

If you’ve ever spent some time on Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s Instagram account, you have likely seen three different types of posts: The Rock working out, The Rock filming something for television, and The Rock eating coconut banana pancakes.

That’s right — Dwayne Johnson truly loves his famous coconut banana pancakes. The recipe is from his pal Chef Pattie and is famously known as his favorite island pancakes to eat during his recovery days. He slathers the pancakes with peanut butter and maple syrup.

So of course, with so many posts about these pancakes — and so many fans raving about how good they are — I decided to give this recipe a try.

Get the recipe: Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s Famous Coconut Banana Pancakes

Sift together 2 cups of all-purpose flour and 3 teaspoons of baking powder in a large bowl. Add in 3 tablespoons of cane sugar, 1/2 teaspoon of sea salt, and 10 tablespoons of unsweetened shredded coconut. Mix to combine.

In a small microwaveable bowl, microwave 2 tablespoons of coconut oil and 2 tablespoons of unsalted butter for about 30 seconds until melted.

In another bowl, add 2 eggs, 1 cup of coconut water, 1 cup of coconut milk, 3/4 cup of whole milk, and 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract. Add in the melted coconut oil and butter and whisk to combine.

Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients bowl and pour in the wet ingredients. Mix lightly until just combined; the mixture will be lumpy — that’s okay!

Dice two medium-sized bananas in small pieces. Add to the batter and mix in briefly until everything is combined evenly.

Heat up a griddle to 275 degrees, or a frying pan to medium heat. Melt butter on the pan or use a light cooking spray. For monster-sized pancakes (just like The Rock likes them!) ladle 1 cup of batter onto the pan. For smaller pancakes, ladle 1/4 cup of batter onto the pan. This should make either 6 large pancakes, or 24 smaller pancakes. If you want somewhere in between, ladle 1/2 cup of batter instead.

Cook on each side for 2 to 3 minutes, or until they are golden brown and crispy. Continue the process until all the pancakes are cooked. Then serve with peanut butter, maple syrup, and extra sliced bananas if desired.

For someone who really, really doesn’t like coconut, I was pleasantly surprised by how much I actually did like these pancakes. I think the pairing with the banana and peanut butter really adds to the sweet, distinct flavor of the coconut with each bite. However, I also didn’t find the coconut in these pancakes to be overpowering. Despite the fact that the recipe calls for shredded coconut, coconut milk, coconut oil, and coconut water, it didn’t have a powerful coconut flavor that turned me away. I found myself taking bite after bite.

I also really like how Dwayne Johnson insists on serving his coconut banana pancakes with peanut butter instead of regular butter. Obviously it adds an extra boost of protein (he’s got to get all of those muscles somehow!) but it also is a great pairing with each bite of these pancakes. I’m also a big fan of pancakes with peanut butter (preferably a cold pancake, they make for a great snack), so the fact that he personally recommends serving them this way gives this recipe a few extra brownie points in my book. Or, er, pancake points, perhaps?

My only qualm with this recipe is how flat the pancakes turned out. I do love a good fluffy pancake, and would have liked to let the batter sit for a bit to let the baking powder activate properly. Needless to say, to stay true to the recipe, I placed the batter on the pan right away, and the pancakes were rather thin. 

All in all, I would make these again. They may not be a go-to (I really am a sucker for a good ol’ classic buttermilk flapjack), but given that this recipe makes a lot of pancakes at once, they’re great for flipping when you have a large crowd to feed in the morning.