Guilt-Free Friday: Tropical Coconut Pancakes

Sometimes I'm one of those can't-leave-well-enough-alone type of people.  Gotta improve on things even if they're already good.  Like the almond flour pancakes, which are delicious!  But I wondered, what would coconut flour be like?  And I had this pineapple from the co-op that I hadn't decided what to do with yet (besides chunk it up into a bowl and eat it as a snack, but that can be boring!).  The gears started turning...  So I found this coconut flour pancake recipe from Paleo Spirit and I thought I'd give it a try.  I made about 8 small pancakes using her recipe and they were... okay... but I knew I'd stick with almond flour in the future.  I just don't think coconut flour is my baking substitute of choice... but I can work with it.  Plus I have a whole bunch of coconut flakes that I need to use up, so I thought, let's get the pineapple involved and give these puppies a Hawaiian twist!  I was pleased with the outcome, they were yummy and fun!

So, for the pancakes you will need:

4 eggs, room temperature
1 cup coconut milk or almond milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 tablespoon coconut nectar (or liquid sweetener of choice)
1/2 cup coconut flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
3/4 cup unsweetened coconut flakes (omit if you just want plain pancakes, but if that's what you're going for then you might as well make the almond flour version)
coconut oil for frying if your griddle isn't non-stick

And for the pineapple topping you will need:

Half a pineapple cut into chunks
1/2 cup unsweetened coconut flakes
1 tbsp coconut butter
1 tbsp coconut nectar

Preheat pan or griddle over medium-low heat. Beat eggs until frothy - I used a hand mixer. Mix in milk, vanilla, and coconut nectar.
In a small bowl combine coconut flour, baking soda, sea salt and cinnamon.
Combine dry mixture with wet and beat on medium speed for about 30 seconds. Scrape down sides of bowl and add in the coconut flakes, then mix on medium to medium-high for another minute or two or until the coconut flour and flakes are completely mixed into the batter.
Grease pan with coconut oil if it's a non-stick surface. Pour batter to create pancakes that are about 3 inches in diameter. If the batter seems too thin you may need to add a small amount of coconut flour to thicken them up, but the coconut flakes should help keep them thick.
Cook for approximately 3 minutes or until bubbles form and leave holes when they pop, flip and cook an additional 2-3 minutes.

Serve hot with the pineapple topping:

Add all ingredients into a food processor and blend until pineapple is crushed and ingredients are thoroughly combined.  If you don't have a food processor, a blender would probably work if you cut the pineapple pieces smaller, or a food chopper and a spoon for blending if you want to take the long way around.

Serve together, drizzled with some extra coconut nectar or good ol' fashioned maple syrup if you like!  Enjoy!