Coconut pancakes with caramelised bananas

I woke up one morning having an incredible craving for pancakes.  Alas, there was no milk (or soymilk in the Vitasoy cartons) in the fridge.  I, however, found half a can of coconut milk still sitting from making a curry a couple of nights ago.  I wondered whether I could use coconut milk for pancakes, and was surprised to see the number of pancake recipes using coconut milk.  This was one of the first ones that I came across and got some good reviews.

I've posted the original recipe for the pancakes (as I halved mine).  I didn't have any desiccated coconut on hand so just added a bit more flour.  The pancakes are fluffy and not too dry with that hint of coconut.  It was divine served with some caramelised bananas and even better when I squeezed a bit of lemon over the top!

Coconut pancakes with caramelised bananas

Adapted from Taste.com
Serves 3-4

Ingredients

Coconut milk pancakes 

• 150g (1 cup) self-raising flour
• 45g (1/2 cup) desiccated coconut
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 250ml (1 cup) coconut milk
• 2 eggs, lightly whisked
• Melted butter, to grease 

Caramelised bananas

• 20g butter
• 3 tablespoons brown sugar 
  
• 2 large ripe bananas, peeled, thickly sliced diagonally 

Method

1. (Preheat oven to 100°C.) Combine the flour, coconut and sugar in a bowl and make a well in the centre. Whisk together the coconut milk and egg in a jug. Gradually add the egg mixture to the flour mixture, whisking constantly until smooth. Cover and set aside for 20 minutes to rest.
2. Brush a large non-stick frying pan with a little of the melted butter to grease and heat over medium heat. Pour about 1/4 cup of batter into the pan (or cook 2 if your pan is big enough) allowing room for spreading. Cook for 1 1/2 minutes or until bubbles appear on the surface and pancakes are golden underneath. Turn and cook for a further 1 minute or until golden. Transfer to a plate and cover with foil. 
3. Place in oven to keep warm (if you're making for more than 1). Repeat, in batches, with remaining melted butter and batter, reheating the pan between batches.
4. Wipe the frying pan with paper towel. Melt half the butter over medium-high heat until foaming. Add half the banana and cook for 1-2 minutes each side or until golden. Transfer to a plate. Repeat with remaining butter and banana.
5. Divide the pancakes among serving plates. Top with banana and some of the caramelised sauce. Serve with lime or lemon wedges.

Banana pecan muffins

Sometime back in 2nd year uni, I developed a love for banana bread.  I used to consider things like carrot cake, banana bread, pumpkin bread, zucchini muffins a bit strange -- I was so used to the usual chocolate chip / vanilla cupcakes.  But through a chance stumble at one of the campus centre shops, I was hooked onto it.  The ones that they sold were moist, full of banana flavour and light - essentially the perfect after uni snack.  Without an oven, the only way I could get my hands onto them was the store bought kind.  It was $2.20 that I was willing to part with.  Then when I got an oven, Cyclone Larry hit Queensland's north coast and banana prices went shooting up the roof - paying $12 / kg for bananas didn't seem to sink in that well.  When it finally came back down to $3 / kg, I went about searching for the banana bread recipe.

And I have found it.  The recipe from Simply Recipes I've made it again and again, without fail.  It creates a banana bread that's just the right texture, and is full of banana flavour without using too many bananas.  There's hardly any sugar, and it's so versatile that you can add other things -- nuts, coconut, chocolate chips, more fruit to it.  It's really just perfect.  This time I made them into cupcakes, added some pecans to it and popped a pecan on top for decoration.

Banana Pecan Muffins

Makes 12



Ingredients

• 3 or 4 ripe bananas (skins brown and banana feels mushy), smashed
• 1/3 cup melted butter
• 1/3 to 1/2 cup caster sugar (use more sugar if your bananas are less ripe)
  
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• Pinch of salt
• 1 1/2 cup plain flour
• 1/2 cup of toasted pecans

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 175°C.
   
2. Mix butter with mushed bananas in large bowl.  Mix in sugar, egg and vanilla.
3. Sprinkle the baking soda and salt over the mixture and mix in.
4. Add the flour and pecans (if using).  Mix.
5. Pour mixture into greased muffin pan and bake for 20-25 minutes (until cooked with skewer test).
6. Cool on rack, remove from pan and serve with honey and ricotta or butter.

If you want to make it into a loaf, just put it in a greased loaf pan and bake for 40-50 minutes (in my pan, it takes about 40) - cool on a rack and serve.  Try it with some ricotto and honey -- it is seriously the bomb!