Diner Style Coconut Pancakes

Good morning for a diner style breakfast at home. It is snowing outside, so we are huddled up enjoying a quiet day at home. With my oldest college boy home for spring break, I wanted to make a big breakfast. I know he doesn't bother to eat breakfast at school unless his girlfriend sneaks some food out of the cafeteria.

I made sausage and old fashioned pancakes with a low carb twist. Rather than using white flour, I used coconut flour. These can be a little trickier to prepare, but the taste is equal to or better than their high carb counterparts. They don't exactly taste like the coconut, but they are sweet. These are fluffy and satisfying. The health benefits of coconut flour are well known. Once you master coconut batters, you are on your way to tons of healthy treats that make you think you are eating carbs. Coconut flours can vary widely in their moisture content, so be prepared to make little adjustments every time you bake.

I decided to try today's batter in the Ninja blender, hoping that the blending process would whip the eggs up well, and the blades would keep the coconut oil from forming chunks. It worked really well on both tasks. The batter ends up looking more like a muffin batter, so I added a bit more water so I could spread the pancakes out a bit in the pan. I have to admit though, that the thicker batter was easier to turn when on the griddle. So you have a choice. Thinner batter is easier to spread into pancakes, thicker batter is easier to turn. The end result is nearly identical in both taste and texture.

Diner Style Coconut Pancakes

3 eggs
3 Tablespoons of coconut oil
2 Tablespoons cream
2 Tablespoons water
3 Tablespoons coconut flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
1 1/2 teaspoon sugar equivalent sweetener
1 teaspoon baking powder

Place eggs and oil in a blender. Process until light and lemony colored. Add all remaining ingredients and process until smooth. If desired, stir in additional water until the batter is the consistency you desire. Leave it thicker than average pancake batter, however, as the batter will liquify more on the griddle. Spoon the batter onto a medium hot griddle, prepared with additional coconut oil. One oiling works for all the pancakes you make--no need to keep adding oil to the griddle. Use the back of a spoon to spread the batter into a roundish shape, but leave it fairly thick. Smaller pancakes are much easier to work with. Do not turn the pancake until you see that the edges are well set. Test the edge to see that the pancake is set on the bottom before turning. These pancakes to not form the bubbles on the top as much as wheat four pancakes. They will most probably be a bit darker in appearance as well. The pancakes should rise after they are turned, and will need less griddle time on the second side. Serve with sugar free syrup and butter or berries and whipped cream.

You may add berries or spices to the recipe as you like, but I would add them in by hand after the batter is on the griddle. I like to make my pancakes small; larger than silver dollars, but about the size of large biscuit. They are easier to turn. Three fit in my cast iron skillet. This recipe made 4 pancakes each for two people. It can be doubled. We chose to top them with sugarfree pancake syrup, which we use sparingly because of the sugar alcohols. Yes, it is there in the photo, you just can't see it. Back in the old days, Hubby used to put on so much syrup it would spill off the sides. Times have changed!

Since the weather again forced us to stay inside, this was a cozy, lazy Sunday brunch.