Coconut water hit the shelves of the US market a few years back, and has showed no signs of slowing down—ahem 50 foot Rihanna Vita Coco billboards in Los Angeles—but the coconut, long revered as a miracle superfood is more than a refreshing drink.  You can use just about every part of the coconut, and lately, coconut flour has been gaining ground as an amazing alternative to standard wheat flours.  It’s just one ingredient: dried, ground up coconut, made by separating the white coconut meat from the shell.  Most manufacturers defat the coconut using pressurized steam and mill the remains to a fine flour.  Coconut flour is completely gluten free, high in fiber, and contains over 20% protein. 

Talk about a flour that’s guilt-free!  In fact, you might even call it a healthy indulgence.  Many health nuts are replacing wheat flour with coconut flour, even adding its delicious flavor and texture into their favorite smoothies.

But, if you’ve had to give up baked goods, say morning pancakes, to prevent the saddlebags from taking over, coconut flour pancakes are an amazing and tasty alternative.  Plus with only 9g of carbohydrates per serving, you can even go for seconds. 

Coconut Flour Pancakes.

Ingredients

2 eggs


2 tablespoons butter, melted


2 tablespoons coconut milk or whole milk


1 teaspoon sugar


¼ teaspoon salt


2 tablespoons Organic Coconut Flour


¼ teaspoon baking powder

Directions

Blend eggs, oil, milk, sugar and salt. Combine coconut flour and baking powder. Thoroughly mix into batter. Heat 1 tablespoon of butter in a skillet. Spoon batter onto hot skillet making pancakes about 2 ½ inches in diameter.

The batter is a little thicker than standard pancake batter, but thins out when cooking. If you prefer, you can add an extra tablespoon of milk to achieve desired consistency.

-Arianna Schioldager