Organic Banana Coconut Pancakes

If you make just one recipe from my blog, let this be the one. I know, you’ve probably heard that before... but this time, I mean it! Wow! Look at these!



Aren't they just yum?

They are a combination of two recipes. This one and this one. I couldn't imagine putting 2 whole sticks of butter in the mix as the original recipe called for, and as well, I skimmed down on the sugar. I have a holy-terror of a 2-yr old to keep in mind. You can take a peak at those other recipes, but I will give you my revised “Andrea” version recipe below. I was a little bummed out that unfortunately I didn’t have enough shredded coconut that the original recipe called for. I used only half of the amount specified, and it was fine. The pancakes are deliciously flavorful with both coconut and banana characteristics. The silent ingredient, apple sauce, adds a bit of moisture and sweetness to the cake without adding extra refined sugar.

Here are the players:



All of them are organic:

And the recipe calls for buttermilk. I almost always make mine by adding 1T of vinegar to 1 cup of milk, let sit for 5 minutes or so:

And if I want to use white flour, this is what I choose:



The essential ingredient:



The smashing ingredient:







If you are looking for an amazing potato masher, look no further than here. I swear by this thing and even my own skeptical husband gave it a two thumbs up after he mashed potatoes with it.

So, I began by mixing all the dry ingredients together, and then in a separate bowl I mashed the bananas as you saw above.

Into a new mixing bowl, I combined the smashed bananas, the melted butter and the other “wet” ingredients.



I added the dry and wet ingredients together until all the flour was absorbed.



The batter was thick and somewhat lumpy. This looks a little gross, but tastes great!



I heated up a pan sprayed with an organic cooking oil.

Then I scooped a small amount of batter onto a hot, hot pan. Since this dish is really for Oliver I made silver dollar cakes, 4 to a pan. I noticed the cakes did not bubble at the top which normally indicates when a cake should be flipped. Because of this, I had to keep a close eye on them.



When I saw the bottoms getting a little dark, I knew it was time to flip them.



These are really, really thick pancakes. But look how amazingly fluffy they are! It’s absolute and utter perfection.





OMG, can’t you just taste them? Smell them? Mmmmm, so incredible. Really.



I’ve never been one to mar my hotcakes with syrup or powdered sugar, or worse, strawberries with canned whip cream, but I will say, if you wanted a tad more sweetness {trust me, they do not need it} you could perhaps dust them lightly with powdered sugar. I tried them with and without butter. Both were great, but if I can skip the butter I will. Please don’t feel compelled to douse them in syrup, and if you do, please use pure Maple, sparingly. I’m sure Aunt Jemima will understand.

I do want to mention I had fresh blueberries and cranberries on hand to add to these cakes. But once I tasted the absolute perfection of these two main ingredients, I knew I would have to start searching for another recipe to use for my cranberries. These Banana Coconut pancakes were absolutely lovely just the way they were.

So here’s the recipe.

Organic Banana Coconut Pancakes

INGREDIENTS {all organic}

• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup sweetened flaked coconut
• 2T sugar
• 1/4 cup butter, melted (1 stick)
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup apple sauce
• 3 bananas, mashed
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

METHOD

• Combine all dry ingredients into a mixing bowl
• Smash bananas
• Add bananas and all wet ingredients into a separate mixing bowl
• Mix wet and dry ingredients together until all flour is absorbed. Batter should be somewhat lumpy
• Heat up a griddle on med-high heat
• Use butter or cooking spray
• Cook pancakes on one side until you begin to see bubbles or until you notice the bottoms geting cooked. The cakes may not bubble like traditional cakes will
• Flip cakes over and cook for about 1 or 2 more minutes
• Serve hot! Enjoy!

YIELD

About 12 silver dollar sized pancakes

One last look: