I have been on a serious pancake drive recently and have been craving them ALL THE TIME... I have pretty low willpower so needless to say I've been eating a lot of pancakes! I've been making loads of different kinds - banana spelt, apple rye and cinnamon, the classic crepes with lemon and sugar, broccoli and feta and these toasted coconut with chocolate fudge sauce and banana. I was originally just planning on making plain coconut pancakes but at the last minute decided to toast the coconut first; I am glad I did as it adds a whole extra depth of flavour. I then also decided that seeing as I was making that extra bit of effort that I needed to go the whole hog and make chocolate fudge sauce as well; again, an excellent decision.
These pancakes make for a truly delicious and decadent breakfast or brunch (for Easter perhaps?); they take a little longer to make than regular pancakes, but are definitely worth the extra effort for a special occasion. Due to the coconut they are a little more dense and heavy than a standard pancake, and take a bit longer to cook; but they are still fluffy and so, so delicious. Both the pancakes and chocolate fudge sauce are dairy-free if you use almond milk (or another non-dairy milk) in place of the skimmed milk in the batter.
I chose the coconut and chocolate flavours for these pancakes to mimic the taste of some Vita Coco chocolate coconut water that I was sent to try; when I first tasted it I thought it had a slightly strange taste (I am not a massive fan of bottled coconut water, fresh yes, from a carton not so much), but soon I found that I had managed to polish off a whole carton and the taste grew on me. It is exactly as it sounds - coconut water with cocoa and a touch of coconut milk; it is basically a healthy way of drinking chocolate milk and a glass of it goes down quite well alongside these pancakes! I did find that it has a tendency to separate quite badly, so make sure that you give the carton a really good shake before serving.
Toasted Coconut Pancakes With Chocolate Sauce
Ingredients
Chocolate fudge sauce
- 1 tablespoon cocoa powder
- 1 tablespoon golden syrup
- 120 ml (½ cup) full fat coconut milk
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 25 g (1oz) dark chocolate, chopped
Pancakes
- 120 g (4.25oz) desiccated coconut
- 2 tablespoon light brown soft sugar or coconut sugar
- 120 g (1 cup) plain flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
- pinch salt
- 1 large egg
- 200 ml (¾ cup + 1tbsp) coconut milk
- 60 ml (¼ cup) skimmed milk/almond milk
- butter/coconut oil for frying
- sliced banana to serve
Instructions
- To make the chocolate sauce, whisk together the cocoa powder, golden syrup and coconut milk in a small saucepan, bring up to a simmer and cook for a minute, whisking constantly. Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla extract, then add the chocolate and stir until smooth. Set aside.
- Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/gas mark 4. Spread the desiccated coconut out on a baking tray and toast in the oven for about 10 minutes, stirring regularly, until golden. Place 80g (2.75oz) of the toasted coconut in a food processor or blender with the sugar and set the rest aside. Blitz until the coconut has formed a rough powder.
- Tip the powdered coconut into a large bowl and add the flour, baking powder, bicarb and salt, mix until it is mostly free of lumps then add the egg and gradually whisk in both milks until the batter is smooth, it should be quite thick but add a little more skimmed milk if needed.
- Heat a little bit of butter or coconut oil in a frying pan over a medium/low heat, dollop a couple of spoonfuls of the batter in the pan (I use 2tbsp per pancake) and sprinkle a bit of the reserved toasted coconut over the top. Cook for a couple of minutes until set around the edges and bubbles have formed in the top of the pancake, flip it over and cook for a couple more minutes until cooked through. Repeat until you have used all of the batter.
- Re-warm the chocolate sauce and serve the pancakes topped with the sliced banana, a sprinkling of toasted coconut and a generous helping of chocolate sauce.
I am sharing these with Saucy Saturdays hosted by The Flavour Bender, Take Two Tapas, La Petit Chef and Mid-Life Croissant, Fiesta Friday hosted by Kitchen, Uncorked and Along The Grapevine, Foodie FriDIY, Foodie Friends Friday and Friday Features
The Purley Girly
These look incredible. I can imagine how fluffy and yummy they will be!
hannahhossack
Thank you! They are very yummy 🙂
Claudia | Breakfast Drama Queen
Mmm, these look so good!
And haha, I can totally relate to the constant pancake cravings 😀
hannahhossack
Thanks Claudia 🙂 It's a real problem! I think I'm just about getting over the daily craving phase...
Thalia @ butter and brioche
After seeing this post you have me craving pancakes! Love the photos.
hannahhossack
I know the feeling! Thanks Thalia 🙂
Jhuls
I haven't had pancakes in a long time and I don't know why. These look really tempting, Hannah! Oh I just want some! 😀
hannahhossack
I've had far too many pancakes recently! I went through a phase of craving them constantly...I think I've gotten over it now!
Hilda Cowan
I am in awe of anyone who can make pancakes look so good and photograph them so well. These are definitely a gourmet version, and the photos look like something from a fancy food magazine. Well done!
hannahhossack
Aww thanks Hilda 🙂 I like photographing pancakes because I like doing sauce pouring shots
Aruna
Coconut and chocolate; two of my favourite ingredients.The pancakes look awesome.
hannahhossack
Thanks Aruna 🙂
Michelle @ Giraffes Can Bake
I definitely don't make enough pancakes! These look delicious!
hannahhossack
I make too many pancakes! They are one of my biggest cravings...
Natalie
After seeing these, I think I need to step up my pancake game. These look incredible!
hannahhossack
Ha ha! Thanks Natalie, they are pretty darn tasty, but so are most pancakes!
Sarah
I absolutely love these pancakes of yours! They look and sound so good 😀
hannahhossack
Thanks Sarah, they are very tasty!