[Guess what? Deanna over at The Mommy Bowl is giving away a package of all three of my ebooks! Hop over there to enter–after you read this post, of course! 😉 ]
[Topped with Macadamia Spice Butter from Good Morning! ebook plus fresh pineapple chunks]
Hope all of you who celebrate are having a great Passover! And Happy Easter to everyone who will be celebrating this weekend. The HH and I were invited to not one, but two seders this year (one of which was entirely vegetarian–whoo hoo!) and had a lovely time. This weekend, I’ll be cooking up a special meal in honor of Easter featuring a new nut roast recipe, to be posted next week (wish me luck!). 😀
You know that old adage, “You can never be too rich or too thin”? Well, I would modify it somewhat to say, “You can never have too many pancake recipes.” (Oh, and also, you can never be too rich).
Yes, indeed, I do love me some pancakes! Fluffy pancakes, grain-free pancakes, savory pancakes–they all appeal to me. I love pancakes so much that I even adopted the CFO’s irreverent toast that used their name in vain.
As I am fond of repeating (and anything worth repeating is worth repeating often), breakfast is my favorite meal of the day. It’s also a pretty darned good snack, if you ask me. Not only do I relish every Sunday brunch that I share with the HH, I even wrote an entire ebook filled with delectable ACD-friendly, gluten free breakfast recipes!
In fact, it’s because of the ebook that I present you with this recipe today. Around the time that the book was going to launch, I received an email from Howard, a co-worker of one of my recipe testers. Howard mentioned that Ms. Tester had talked about a specific Coconut Pancake recipe that had been tested, but which never made it to the ebook (the result was a little too dry for my tastes and I wasn’t 100% happy with it). He asked if he could have the recipe anyway, as he loves coconut.
Well, I just didn’t feel right about sharing a recipe that I myself didn’t enjoy eating. I offered to work on it until I got it right–and then post it on the blog.
[Topped with lots of melty Notella]
I’ve been playing with the recipe since then. I wanted it to contain both coconut AND coconut flour. I’ve always found that coconut flour on its own is difficult to use in baked goods, as it absorbs so much moisture that the result is often too wet and gooey. If you use less liquid to compensate, your batter is often too thick to spread. In this case, I finally decided to compromise (after about 16 trials–good thing I love pancakes), and decreased the coconut flour while adding a touch of brown rice flour. The result was a fairly light and very coconutty breakfast cake.
So Howard, this one’s for you. Though, having said that, I do hope you won’t mind sharing it with Hallie and her readers. 🙂 Hallie is hosting a cool breakfast-themed event called Build a Better Breakfast. The challenge is to create a nourishing breakfast and post about it–either a recipe, or any other tip on how you might improve on the first meal of the day. In fact, I’m getting this in just under the wire, as today is the deadline.
As for a tip, I’ll leave you with one I included in the Good Morning! breakfast ebook. For a quick and foolproof method to ensure a balanced meal (whether breakfast or any other), just think in terms of threes–the three macronutrients, that is: protein, complex carbs and healthy fats. If you team up one food from each category in a meal, you’ll be well nourished and well satisfied, for hours.
These pancakes almost fit the “three nutrient” bill on their own; they are rich in complex carbs (from the flours) and healthy fats (the coconut, flax seeds and olive oil). But protein? Not so much. So I always top my pancakes with a delicious nut butter “sauce” such as this one to add a touch of protein. (Two tablespoons/30 ml of almond butter has about 5 g of protein. Win!). Of course, you could also pair your pancakes with tempeh or tofu, for instance, or some high-protein hemp or chia seeds.
Perfect for an Easter brunch, I’d say. Because you can never have too many dishes at the brunch table, either.
“Mum, pancakes are fine and everything, but we think you can never have too many treats in one day. . . so how about giving us that sixteenth biscuit now?”
[The money shot: inside, coconutty goodness]
Coconut Pancakes (suitable for ACD stage 2 and beyond)
These are thick, coconut-rich pancakes that are moist without being gluey. Because I’m basically lazy, I used untoasted coconut, but you can certainly toast it first to enhance the flavors even more. This recipe makes only 4 pancakes, but it can easily be doubled.
6 Tbsp (90 ml) unsweetened plain or vanilla almond or soy milk
2 Tbsp (30 ml) finely ground flax seeds
1 Tbsp (15 ml) extra virgin olive oil, preferably organic
1 tsp (5 ml) apple cider vinegar
6-8 drops plain or vanilla stevia liquid, to your taste
1 tsp (5 ml) pure vanilla extract (or use 1/2 tsp coconut extract)
1/3 cup (80 ml) unsweetened shredded coconut, toasted if desired
2 Tbsp (30 ml) brown rice flour
2 Tbsp (30 ml) potato starch
1 Tbsp (15 ml) coconut flour
1 tsp (5 ml) baking powder
1/2 tsp (2.5 ml) baking soda
1/2 tsp (2.5 ml) xanthan gum
1/8 tsp (.5 ml) fine sea salt
In the bottom of a medium bowl, whisk together the milk, flax seeds, oil, vinegar, stevia and vanilla. Stir in the coconut to coat.
Into the same bowl, sift the brown rice flour, potato starch, coconut flour, baking powder, baking soda, xanthan gum and salt. Stir quickly to blend; do not overmix. It will be thick.
Heat a large nonstick frypan over medium-low heat (cooking over slightly lower heat, but for a longer time, ensures that the pancakes are fully cooked). Using a large ice cream scoop or spatula, scoop about 1/4 of the batter into the pan and spread it fairly thin with the back of a spoon or spatula (it should be too thick to spread on its own). Allow to cook for 4-6 minutes, until the edges of the pancakes begin to dry and the bottoms are a very deep golden brown. Flip and cook another 4-5 minutes, until fully cooked. You want the pancakes to be very well browned.
Serve with nut butter, fruit topping, or any other topping of your choice. Makes 4 medium pancakes. May be frozen.
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This recipe is also my submission to this month’s Go Ahead, Honey, It’s Gluten Free, hosted by Maggie at She Let Them Eat Cake. The theme this time round is breakfast and brunch.
Last Year at this Time: Stevia-sweetened Chocolate Brownies (for ACD early phases) and NuNaturals Stevia Review
Two Years Ago: Raw “Pad Thai”
Three Years Ago: Five Things meme
[Disclaimer: this post may contain affiliate links. If you buy using these links, at no cost to you, I will earn a small commission from the sale.]
You’re a genius – these look amazing!
Does this mean I’ll finally be able to do calculus now? 😉 Thanks, Megan! 😀
No – but baking is MUCH more important than calculus. 🙂 AND I tend to like those who have more of a talent with baking than math. LOL
I like the way you think. 😉
How funny, I just posted a pancake recipe with chocolate on top too. Great minds think alike. I will put your breakfast ebook on my b-day wish list!
I saw your post title come up in my Google Reader but haven’t had time to check it out yet–this weekend! (When’s your birthday?) 🙂
wow what is it with breakfast blog events – there is also this one on at the moment which is pancake themed!http://krithiskitchen.blogspot.com/2011/03/guest-hosting-breakfast-club-10-theme.html
Love your breakfast enthusiasm – I have always loved breakfast but just never a lot of time in the mornings to make something special – would do it during easter break but am too busy eating hot cross buns – and I am in such admiration of the lengths you will go to to get a recipe right – coconut pancakes sounds a wonderful idea esp with chocolate sauce (I once had some in a cafe with toffee sauce and pears which was great though not as protein packed) so it is well worth perfecting
Johanna, yes, “breakfast enthusiasm” about sums it up! And don’t forget that I am often working at home with more time in the AM. Those pancakes wtih toffee and pears sound divine. . .you are giving me ideas! 😉
Looks good! I’m obsessed with coconut flour. Can you sub cornstarch or arrowroot for potato starch?
Heather, I’m pretty sure any starch would work just as well. I have a lot of potato starch on hand all the time and I also originally hoped these would be grain-free, so I used the potato. But I have no doubt cornstarch would work just as well.
Hi Ricki,
Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! I am so excited that you posted the coconut pancake recipe — I will be trying them this weekend. Do you have any data on the nutritional breakdown of the recipe — calories, carbs, protein, fat, etc. I will do he calc, but I am wondering if you have the info handy.
Curious, what role does the vinegar play in the recipe?
Again, many thanks for posting this!
Regards, Howard
Hi Howard–thanks so much for commenting! Glad you like the look of the recipe. 🙂 I didn’t do a nutritional breakdown (I rarely do), but I will guess that they are slightly high in the “fat” category, as they contain coconut, which is high in fat (that’s also why I added only one tablespoon more fat, to keep it as low as possible). The apple cider vinegar reacts with the baking soda to create leavening action. Because these are mostly grain-free, they tend to be flatter than regular pancakes, so the soda-vinegar combo created air space that will help the pancakes to rise more. Hope you enjy them!
I’m always so delighted to learn new uses for coconut flour! I bought some with many good intentions, but I’ve almost finished the entire bag just by making coconut cream with soymilk and carob molasses 😛
Oh, I think I like your use much better! Is the recipe for your coconut cream on your blog–?? 🙂
Ricki, one thing I so miss being vegan and gluten-free is pancakes, waffles and bread. I’ve not had much luck with other vegan pancakes, and your recipes are the best, so I can’t wait to try these! I actually all the ingredients on hand, yeah!
I’m hoping I win your cookbooks, though I’d still love your breakfast book in hard/paperback copy. Just someting about a book in one’s hands!
Happy Easter!
Thanks so much, Marty! There’s a great pancake recipe in the ebook that uses grains and is very light and fluffy (and less moist than these–I actually prefer a totally dry pancake, but my hubby doesn’t quite appreciate that the way I do!). Hope you enjoy them–let me know what you think. 🙂
Ooh! In that last pic, the bite looks almost cookie-like. Yum!
It’s funny, because these are quite light and fluffy, yet very moist at the same time! I wouldn’t say exactly “cookie-like,” though. . . more like a very thick crepe. 🙂
Ricki, these look great! I keep picking up the canister of coconut flour at the natural foods store only to set it back down because I don’t know how to use it! I’ve never used xantham gum either, to be honest. But I know I would LOVE these pancakes. Especially topped with “Notella”.. mmm…
Have a great Easter weekend!
Yes, the notella does improve the overall effect considerably–ha ha!! I like that it’s not a grain and also adds some great fiber to a recipe. If you do a “coconut flour” search on this blog, you’ll find lots of options from scones to cake to cookies using it! 🙂
Ooh, those look so tasty and hearty Ricki. I’m a big fan of drizzly nut butter on anything bready, including pancakes.
Yes, nut butter on anything bread-like is always a good thing. 😉 For me, since I’m not allowed syrup, it’s also a lifesaver (my other favorite pancake topper is fresh fruit topping).
i’ve got your Good Morning! ebook and am working my way through it for a review on xgfx, Ricki. so far everything has been beyond awesome! i haven’t gotten to your coconut pancakes just yet, but you can bet your boots i will. they look especially tasty and i loooove that you’ve smothered yours in Notella for extra deliciousness. mmmmmmmmmmmm!
Yay! Thanks so much, Jessie–I’m so glad that you are reviewing the ebook and that you’ve enjoyed the recipes so far! 😀 The notella does really kick it up a notch, doesn’t it? 😉
What a cool and creative pancake Ricki! You never cease to amaze me. I am dying to try the fluffy pancakes in your e-book and then I’ll put these babies on my list. Thank you so much for linking up to Go Ahead Honey. It means a lot to me 🙂
I’ve been wanting to participate in Go Ahead, Honey for ages and of course never get it together on time. . .but breakfats, well, that’s a whole other story! So glad to be part of it. 😀 (Oh, and I meant “money shot” in it originally intended meaning, of course. . . I had no idea about the other! I really am getting old. . . ) 😉
PS I love “the money shot”. You are too funny Ricki.
I love adding a small amount of coconut flour to baked goods — it seems to make them softer and more moist. The pancakes look yummy, especially with the chocolate spread on top. Thanks for working out the recipe!
Yes, I find the same thing–sometimes, even TOO moist! The chocolate spread does make anything that much better, indeed!
these sound amazing!! ~sigh~ and you remind me that i have not yet played with so many of the flours hanging out in my freezer… too many recipes, not enough time. enjoy your long weekend ricki 🙂
I know what you mean. So many flours, so little time! Hope yours is a great one, too, Shannon. 🙂
Hi Ricki – just wanted to let you know that I highlighted this recipe in my Favorite Recipes post for last week. Thanks! ~Aubree
Oh my word! I am having these for dinner tonight spread with macadamia butter (no time for the spread though that is next up). The consistency is fabulous, and the flavor is to die for. I <3 these!!!
Yay! And how nice to know that I’m not the only one who loves pancakes for dinner. 😉
I made these last week, and we loved them! We actually loved them so much that my boyfriend made a second batch after we devoured the first. I made your almond sauce to go along with them. So yummy!
Yay! I’m so glad you liked them. 😀 The almond sauce is one of my all-time faves, too!
Coconut pancakes!! Why have I never made them before. So glad you shared this recipe. 🙂
Those look absolutely incredible and fluffy!
Thanks so much! They do come out very fluffy. 🙂