Bittman’s Spiced Coconut Pancakes

What came to mind when I woke up this morning and there was snow on the ground (and still falling from the sky)?! Get me somewhere warm. Now. 

Well, it’s no surprise that that wasn’t going to happen. Not anytime soon anyway. Next best thing? Bringing a little taste of the tropics to me. Specifically in my kitchen.

Mark Bittman’s Spiced Coconut Pancakes with Tropical Fruit Bananas

adapted from Bon Appetit, January 2011

Ingredients:

• 2.5 C WW Flour
• 1 C unsweetened shredded coconut
• 2 t. baking powder
• 3/4 t. ground nutmeg
• 3/4 t. ground allspice
• 1/4 t. baking soda
• 1 can light unsweetened coconut milk
• 2 T pure Maple Syrup
• 1 T vanilla extract
• oil for cooking
• additional maple syrup for topping
• banana for topping, quartered and sliced
• additional unsweetened shredded coconut for topping

Whisk dry ingredients together in one bowl. In another, whisk together the wet ingredients. Add wet mixture to dry mixture and whisk together until a pourable batter forms.

Heat griddle or skilled over medium heat, brush with oil (I used Canola). Add butter by 1/4 cupful. Cook until small bubbles appear on pancake surface then flip. Heat an addition 2-3 minutes until golden brown.

Top with bananas, coconut and maple syrup.

*Recipe yields about 20 pancakes, I halved it and it worked just fine. Also, Bittman suggests heating oven to 250 degrees and putting cooked pancakes in on a baking sheet to keep them warm, I did this but you can keep them warm anyway you wish.

These were absolutely divine. They were incredibly soft and fluffy and the shredded coconut inside gave them great texture. The original recipe calls for a medley topping of banana, pineapple and mango but I forgot to buy the latter ingredients and honestly, I can’t say I missed them.

I can already tell that there will be many more days I’ll be starting with these babies!

I'm submitting this recipe to Tackling Bittman Recipe Hop Volume 3! hosted by girlichef.