If you’ve watched Joshua Weissman’s “I Tested Viral Celebrity Recipes” video, you already know the punchline: out of every dish he tried, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s coconut banana pancakes landed in S-tier. Not the surface-level stuff — actual texture, flavor, build quality.
The recipe itself comes from The Rock’s own Instagram, where he credits his longtime chef Putty (Danielle Medina). It’s a generous-portion weekend breakfast, not a daily macro-cutting meal — calorie-dense thanks to whole milk, coconut milk, butter and coconut oil, but with a real flavor payoff.
Here’s the recipe exactly as he posted it, plus my notes after making it twice in my own kitchen.
Estimated nutrition per pancake
The recipe makes roughly 8 large pancakes (1-cup batter each). Based on standard ingredient values from the USDA FoodData Central database, each large pancake comes out to:
- Calories: ~350
- Protein: 7–9 g
- Carbohydrates: 45–50 g
- Fats: 12–14 g (mostly from coconut oil and milk)
These are estimates, not lab values — your exact numbers shift with portion size, brand of milk, and how much butter you grease the pan with.
Ingredients
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- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 3 teaspoons baking powder
- 3 tablespoons cane sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
- 10 tablespoons unsweetened shredded coconut
- 2 medium bananas, small dice
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup coconut water
- 1 cup coconut milk
- 3/4 cup whole milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons coconut oil, melted
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted (plus more for greasing the griddle)
- Extra virgin olive oil spray, for the griddle
Directions
- Mix the dry: Sift the flour and baking powder into a large bowl. Add the sugar, salt, and shredded coconut. Stir lightly with a wooden spoon.
- Mix the wet: In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs, coconut water, coconut milk, whole milk, vanilla, melted coconut oil, and melted butter.
- Combine: Make a well in the dry ingredients and pour in the wet. Stir just enough to combine — keep the batter slightly clumpy. Overmixing develops gluten and gives you tough pancakes.
- Fold in bananas: Add the diced bananas. Fold gently — once or twice, no more.
- Cook: Preheat a griddle to 275°F (135°C) or set a frying pan over medium heat. Grease lightly with spray and a pat of butter. Pour 1 cup of batter for large pancakes, 1/4 cup for small. Cook 2–3 minutes, until bubbles form on the surface and start to burst, then flip. Cook another 2–3 minutes until brown and crisp.
- Serve hot with 100% maple syrup. For The Rock’s signature finish, top with peanut butter.
My notes after testing
- Don’t overmix. The batter should look lumpy when you stop. Smooth batter = dense pancakes.
- Banana ripeness matters. Use bananas with brown spots — they’ll caramelize on the griddle and add sweetness without extra sugar.
- Coconut milk type: Use full-fat canned coconut milk, not the carton drinking version. The carton version is mostly water and the pancakes turn out flat.
- Calorie-dense: One large pancake is ~350 kcal. If you’re tracking macros, plan for two as a meal, not five.
Related reads
- Joshua Weissman’s body transformation — the chef who put these pancakes on the map.
- Arnold Schwarzenegger’s go-to porridge recipe — the high-protein counterpart to a high-carb breakfast like this one.
- Tart cherry recovery smoothie — what to drink after a heavy training session.
This article is informational. Nutritional values are estimates based on standard ingredient data and not a substitute for personalized dietary advice. If you have a metabolic condition, food allergy, or you’re following a clinical diet, talk to a registered dietitian before adding new recipes to your routine. See our About page for our editorial process and corrections policy.
