Banana Coconut Pancakes

This past week, I was perusing twitter as usual and came across a link to one of my dietitian colleagues posts about Coconut Lime Pancakes. Her food photography is amazing and made these look even more appealing. I have been thinking about them ever since. So early this morning as I lay awake in bed unable to sleep, I started devising my own recipe with ingredients I had on hand. I had a cup of coconut milk leftover from last night’s Chinese feast that my mother-in-law made for us as well as plenty of frozen overripe bananas in the freezer.

So I pulled out my copy of the Mom’s Guide to Meal Makeovers for their Blueberry Banana Pancakes and started combining the recipes as well as improvising with what I had on hand. I must say, these pancakes were fluffy and yummy with the perfect balance of banana flavoring and just a hint of coconut. My son, husband and I all went back for seconds.

Banana Coconut Pancakes

Makes about 20 4 inch pancakes

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour
1/3 cup rolled oats
1/3 cup toasted wheat germ
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 overripe bananas, mashed
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup coconut milk
1/3 cup plain yogurt
1/4 cup soy milk (or any type of milk)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon canola oil
1 tablespoon honey

Directions:

1. Combine flour, oats, wheat germ, baking powder, cinnamon and salt in a large bowl. Stir well to combine.
2. In a medium sized bowl, combine the rest of the ingredients: banana through honey. Whisk well to mix thoroughly.
3. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and stir just until combined. The batter will be on thick side. If you prefer a thinner batter then stir in more milk.
4. Heat a large skillet over medium heat with a small amount of oil or non-stick cooking spray. Using a 1/4 cup measuring spoon, pour batter into the skillet to form each pancake. Cook until bubbles start to appear and pancakes are golden brown on bottom, about 2 – 3 minutes. Flip and cook for several more minutes until golden brown on bottom. Repeat with remaining batter.
5. Serve and enjoy with your favorite toppings.

   Note: I think a whole can of coconut milk could be used in place of adding the yogurt and soy milk and I might try this next time but I just used what I had left. Also I will probably try adding unsweetened grated coconut next time as well for a little more texture and coconut flavor.