“Ban Chang Kueh” was purportedly invented by Zuo Zongtang (1812-1885), the same Manchu Dynasty viceroy who’s commemorated in another dish, “General Tso’s chicken” in American-Chinese cuisine (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zuo_Zongtang).
Zuo Zongtang started his military career during the Taiping Rebellion in the 1850s. In Fujian, where sugarcane & peanuts are found in abundance, he asked that pancakes (which used to be savoury) be flavoured with sugar & peanuts to feed the Manchu/Qing troops. Hence, there were suggestions that instead of “Ban” (which is the Hokkien word for “slow”), it was “Man” (from “Manchu”) which should be the character used to describe “Ban Chang Kueh”. Irregardless, it does seem that “ban chang kueh” is about 160 years old, originating from Fujian, China, where most Penangites (who’re Hokkiens) descended from.
