Coconut Banana Pancakes (Gluten and Dairy Free)

I have to admit that when faced with a choice of waffles or pancakes, I'll choose waffles, nearly every time.  So trying new pancake recipes isn't something I'm inclined to do.  However, this recipe caught my eye a while back and since I have some over ripe bananas sitting on the counter, I decided to indulge myself this morning and give this recipe a try.  This is also a great option to regular pancakes if you have dietary considerations that prevent you from eating gluten or dairy products. 

Raw Oats

I have to admit, that when I assembled the ingredients the batter looked too thin.  Then I discovered I had used the 3/4 cup measure instead of the 1 cup measure for the oat flour.  Once that correction was made, the batter was more typical of a pancake batter.

You can purchase oat flour from Bob's Red Mill in most grocery stores.  If your store doesn't carry oat flour, no worries, you can make your own by putting old fashioned oats into your blender and grinding them into flour.  This is quick and easy and is something we can do to help add more whole grain to our diets.

Flour - After Grinding

Coconut Banana Pancakes

Ingredients:

1 cup oat flour
2 Tablespoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 very ripe banana, mashed
1 Tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon brown sugar
1 large egg
3/4 cup coconut milk
1 Tablespoon canola oil
Toasted Chopped Pecans
Banana Slices

Directions:

1. Mix the oat flour with the baking powder, cinnamon and salt in a small bowl and set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, mix the banana and brown sugar.  Add the oil and egg and coconut milk and mix well.
3. Fold the flour mixture into the wet ingredients and stir to combine.  Do not overmix.
4. Heat a cast iron or other heavy skillet over medium heat.  You may want to make a test pancake to test the heat of your skillet.  I found these to burn easily, so be sure to not get your skillet too hot.
5. Cook pancakes 3- 4 minutes per side, until browned and cooked through. 
6. Stack them up, top with butter, sliced bananas, chopped pecans and maple syrup.

Pour yourself a hot cup of coffee, grab your fork, dig in and enjoy.

I think this would also be good sprinkled with some toasted coconut, but didn't have any on hand.  I'll try that variation next time I make the recipe.