It was glorious. They were glorious. But we were young and stupid, and one of us grew up to be a delicate food flower. In that case, perhaps they were more akin to that bad boy who you thought was SUPER cute, but in fact turned out to be a huge letdown, and you’ve now thus shifted up to a wildly intelligent and artistic entrepreneur who treats you like a champ and metaphorically tastes so much better. That, I think, is the narrative behind these pancakes.
Disclaimer: these are not going to taste like "gluten-y", fluffy pancakes from the diner next door. Have they ever tasted a banana or ice cream? Freezing the former does not make it taste like the latter. Blend the former up with cacao, almond milk & almond butter and you have yourself and delicious, frozen chocolate bowl of goodness. But eat that sucker straight up and frozen – I’m not convinced…
So, these do not taste EXACTLY like pancakes. They are charmingly in pancake form. They are slightly fluffy. They do act as killer vehicles for a hint of maple syrup or egg yolk. They do have this magically caramelized sugar thing going on thanks to the plantains (suck it real pancakes). And they do fill me up with that unique joy of sitting down to a stack of something a little sweet at breakfast. But, here’s that other super awesome piece for the win: yes, they are high in carbohydrate, they aren’t going to drop me and my blood sugar like it’s hot. Pair these suckers with some fried eggs and a sprinkle of nuts (which I would highly recommend for both meal happiness and overall satiety factor) and you are golden.
Wildly attractive entrepreneurial Plantain Pancakes for the win!
Paleo Plantain Pancakes
Ingredients
1 large, super ripe plantain (~1 cup) 1 egg 1T coconut flour 1/8 t baking soda dash of salt & cinnamon
Instructions
Chop and peel your plantain. (You can choose any order on those verbs, but I find plantains are easiest to maneuver when you’ve cut off both ends; cut at least in half; sliced through 1-2 sides of the skin with a small paring knife; then peel them.)
Place peeled plantain and the remaining ingredients in your food processor and pulse till totally smooth. If your batter looks super thin, add a little more coconut flour. You may need to try some of the batter at this point too - just throwing that idea out there.
Heat a medium - large frying over medium heat (you may need to turn in back down to medium low if it’s browning the bottom of your pancakes, especially if you have an electric stove.)
Place a generous dollop of coconut oil, butter or ghee not the hot pan. Scoop batter into the pan (I made pancakes about 3 inch across) and let cook till the batter on the sides starts to become firm.
With great authority, slide your spatula under each pancake and flip. No matter what happens, don’t apologize.
I tend to eat my pancakes more medium rare, so I almost immediately pull those suckers off after flipping. If you like them more around the well-done realm, keep them on till when you press gently on the top it feels firm-ish.
Top with fruit, nuts, a fried egg, some good ole' maple syrup, and or whatever’s in your heart.
Great little snacks for later. Especially with some nut butter spread on top. Just sayin’…
By: Maddie Berky
Maddie is a writer, blogger, storyteller & holistic nutritionist. She is not a purveyor of answers, but an asker of questions. And she seeks not to construct the perfect plate, but rather uncover the human sitting down to that plate who is worthy and nourished and alive. Our relationship with food creates this beautiful opportunity to explore who we are and train who we want to become. It asks us to engage with these multifaceted drives of hunger and nourishment and pleasure. Can we receive? Can we trust ourselves? Can we connect - to our plate, to our body, to our partner? It is the answer to those questions that not only affects what is on our plate but more importantly, the space we take up in this world.