Pina Colada Pancakes

This will be my last post for a while because tomorrow we are going to Vegas to win millions. Actually we will probably do minimal gambling, but maximum eating. I should be back to blogging next week!

Our friends recently got back from their honeymoon in Hawaii. Andrea was telling me how she had at least one Mai Tai each day, which reminded me of all the pina coladas I drank when we were on our honeymoon in Anguilla. I adore pina coladas, and it’s incredibly rare that I drink them. I am normally not a fruity drink kind of person (I much prefer vodka tonics, wine, and beer), but there is something about pina coladas that is oh so good. I think it’s probably the millions of calories in them. Actually the third day we were there,  I was reading the paper and there was an article about how pina coladas have like 800 calories in them. Did that stop me from having one every day during the duration of our honeymoon? Hell no.

At any rate, I started thinking of pina coladas and remembered that I had some leftover coconut from the almond joy cupcakes, so I knew I wanted to make something pina colada inspired. I decided on pancakes because we pretty much never eat pancakes. So, why not combine two things I rarely eat and indulge in breakfast for once?

I am still a bit of a novice when it comes to making up my own recipes for baked goods or breakfast treats, so I actually ended up making this recipe twice before posting it. The first time, I overshot the amount of liquid, so the second time I reduced it a bit and also added a little bit more flour. I also upped the coconut extract the second time around, and used brown sugar instead of white. And, I reduced the temperature on my electric griddle because I think the instruction manual is wrong. 🙂

I would not call these healthy by any stretch of the imagination, but they are slightly better than other coconut pancakes because they don’t use coconut milk, which is very caloric and fatty. You can use a lowfat buttermilk or even skim milk (which is what I used when I realized I didn’t have buttermilk). I’ve also used less sugar and butter than most pancake recipes. Oh, and I accidentally left the butter in the microwave one of the times and it didn’t get added. Oops! But, it was fine without it. Better with, of course, but completely fine without.

Pina Colada Pancakes
Makes about 6 pancakes
 Printer Friendly Recipe

3/4 cup + 1 Tbsp. flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
small pinch of salt
1 egg
1 Tbsp. brown sugar
1 Tbsp. butter, melted
1.5 tsp. coconut extract
1/2 cup pineapple tidbits, drained but reserving some juice
About 2 Tbsp. reserved pineapple juice
Enough milk or buttermilk to add to the reserved juice that it equals 3/4 cup
1/4 cup flaked coconut

Maple syrup
Rum or rum extract

Preheat your griddle or nonstick pan, and grease with cooking spray or butter.

Stir together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt and set aside.

In another bowl, beat the egg until just frothy and then beat in the sugar to combine well. Beat in the coconut extract, butter, and milk/pineapple juice mixture.

Add the flour mixture to the wet mixture in 2 additions, mixing until well incorporated but not overmixing. Fold in the pineapple tidbits and flaked coconut.

Using a measuring cup or batter dispenser, place equal amounts of batter on your griddle. Cook until you see bubbles on the top, and then flip until golden on the other side.

To make syrup: Put as much maple syrup and rum or rum extract in a small sauce pan and heat to combine the flavors.

Garnish with additional flaked coconut and pineapple if desired.