By Jennifer Provenza at Good Food From The Heart

Whole food plant based, Oil free, Sugar free, Soy Free

These mouthwatering banana coconut macademia nut pancakes are guaranteed to transport you to Hawaii in your mind. With sweet and lightly tart sugar free passionfruit syrup, each bite will make you feel like you are dining under the palm trees on the beach.

Take Me To The Beach

Oh, this time of year, when school is just almost out…. Well, you know where I want to be, right? The beach! In fact, even though the kids are still in school for two more weeks, Ian and I are done teaching for the year. So, as is our annual tradition, we took off for a vacation weekend. This time, we went to Bodega Bay, a beautiful Northern California beach town. It was pretty cool outside, but we still had a wonderful time and the kids got to play on the beach with their cousin. They found tons of sea anenomies and star fish and had their chips and salsa stolen by a seagull! Great fun. My favorite part was sitting on the balcony of our VRBO, drinking coffee, reading, and looking at the ocean view. Of course, now that we are home I am still longing to go back. We are planning a trip to Kauai last year, where we went on our Honeymoon, and I am pining to be there now. One of my favorite meals we ate on our honeymoon (15 years ago!) was some banana macademia nut pancakes. While I don’t know the recipe we had then (and it was definitely not plant based), I think I did an amazing job of re-creating the flavor profile! Not only that, but I added coconut and sugar free passionfruit syrup to up the island vibe. And guess what? It’s even better than the original!

These banana coconut macademia nut pancakes are light, fluffy, and taste so incredibly decadent. But, they are actually super nourishing and contain protein and healthy fat from the nuts, whole grain, and even two servings of fruit! After the photo shoot, Ian and I absolutely devoured these things. We might have eaten several servings each. Shhh…. The kids were at school.

Ingredients

For the Pancakes:

Ground Flax Seeds: The ground flax seeds replace the egg in this recipe. I like to buy them pre-ground. Always store them in the refrigerator because they can go bad quickly. If you don’t have or can’t find them, simply replace them with an extra mashed banana. I like Bob’s Red Mill brand.

Plant Milk: Use any variety you prefer. I use unsweetened vanilla almond milk.

Lemon Juice: Don’t skip this. If you have to, you can substitute apple cider vinegar, however. Adding it to the plant milk gives you a sort of homemade buttermilk.

Almond Butter: This is a key ingredient and replaces the oil that is usually added to pancakes. The pancakes will not taste good without it. I heat the almond butter to make it more easy to mix into the batter. You could subsitute another nut butter if you prefer (or sunflower seed butter for nut free). Just keep in mind that peanut butter will give it a distict peanut flavor.

Liquid Stevia: For a truly sugar free and no calorie option, use liquid stevia. Otherwise, maple syrup is a great option that is still unrefined.

Banana: Make sure to use a very ripe banana and mash it well. You can even puree in the food processor to make sure there are not any pieces of banana in the batter, if you care about such things.

Whole Wheat Pastry Flour: Whole wheat pastry flour will give you a light and fluffy result. You can substitute white whole wheat flour as well. It will be too heavy and grainy if you use regular whole wheat flour, however.

Macademia Nuts: The macademia nuts really make this recipe delicious, but you can leave them out if you need a nut free version.

Shredded Coconut: Make sure to get an unsweetened version. Again, the coconut really adds to the flavor, so don’t skip it unless you hate coconut.

For the syrup:

Passionfruit juice pieces: My Raley’s sells these great frozen pieces of passionfruit juice from Pitaya Foods. Mango also works great for this syrup, however, so if you can’t find passionfruit or just prefer to use mango, feel free to do that. You can use fresh or frozen. The one added step is that you will need to puree the mango and will likely need less sweetener. You also could try buying passionfruit juice without added sugar and using that.

Arrowroot Powder: This is a less processed option than cornstarch, but you can substitute cornstarch if necessary.

Liquid Stevia: Again, use liquid stevia for a fully sugar free option or use maple syrup for a sweeter and unrefined sugar option.

How To Make These Banana Coconut Macademia Nut Pancakes

This recipe is pretty simple to make. Start by making your flax egg. To do that, simply mix the ground flax seed and water and set aside for a few minutes. You will also want to make your “buttermilk” by mixing the plant milk and the lemon juice and setting that aside for a few minutes as well. While those things are combining, heat up your almond butter so that it is pourable and easy to mix. I usually heat it up for about 30 seconds in the microwave, but you could also heat it on the stove top. Next, mash your banana by hand or with a food processor and mix in the liquid stevia or maple syrup. Finally, in a large bowl, mix all the dry ingredients.

Now you are ready to combine everything! To the dry ingredients, add the flax egg, the “buttermilk,” the almond butter, and the mashed banana mixture. Stir to combine. It’s okay if there are lumps, but make sure there are no large pockets of unmixed flour. Lastly, stir in your macademia nuts and coconut.

To cook, heat a nonstick pan or pancake griddle. You may need to spritz it with nonstick spray. Then, over medium or medium low heat, cook the pancakes for 2-3 minutes per side. When you see a lot of bubbles on the top of the pancake and it seems solid enough to turn over, flip the pancake. Cook the other side until it is golden. (Just check by lifting it slightly with the spatula). I like to put the cooked pancakes on a plate in a 150 degree oven until I am ready to serve them.

How To Make The Sugar Free Passionfruit Syrup

To make the sugar free passionfruit syrup, heat the passionfruit juice over medium heat in a small saucepan. Add the liquid stevia or maple syrup and bring to a boil. While it is heating up, mix the arrowroot powder with the water in a small bowl. Once the passionfruit juice comes to a boil, add the arrowroot mixture and stir continually until the mixture thickens. Remove from the heat. Taste and adjust sweetness as necessary. This recipe, as written, will give you a very tart syrup that offsets the sweetness of the pancakes nicely. But, feel free to make it sweeter if you prefer. You can also easily subsitute mango in this recipe. Just puree the mango before you begin. (You may need to add a little water).

To Serve

These banana coconut macademia nut pancakes really pair perfectly with the sugar free passionfruit syrup. I like to top them with additional sliced banana and sprinkle more macademia nuts or coconut on top as well. These also taste delicious served with my Matcha Green Tea Coconut Latte! Do yourself a favor and make these right away. You won’t regret it.

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By Jennifer Provenza at Good Food From The Heart

Whole food plant based, oil free, sugar free, soy free

This healthy whole wheat cornbread is tender, soft, and sweet and pairs perfectly with your favorite chili or stew. Totally plant based and free of oil and sugar, it’s completely healthy, yet tastes as good as the original.

We Love To Bake!

I love baking and so do my kids, but luckily my baking habit actually is good for our health! We make delicious baked goods that are packed with protein and whole grains and use only healthy fats and no added sugars. Corn bread is one of our favorites, especially since it goes so well with chili, stew, and soup. It’s also one of our favorite breakfast dishes. Years ago, I started making our cornbread with whole wheat pastry flour since I knew it was much more healthful. Then, as I began eating plant based, I swapped out the eggs for ground flaxseed and the milk for plant based milk. Those swaps were easy and left mw with cornbread that tasted as good as the original. Getting rid of the oil proved much harder. At first I tried simply leaving it out or replacing it with apple sauce, but unfortunately, the results were not good. I ended up with very chewy bread that was short on flavor. Luckily, I had the idea to try using nut butter in place of the oil. To be honest, I was not at all confident that the results would be good. But they were! In fact, even my supertaster kids could not detect a difference.

This weekend we are celebrating the beginning of (the parents’) summer break with a quick beach getaway. (The kids have another month of school). We are renting a house near the beach and, even though it will be pretty cool (think leggings and sweaters rather than swim suits), we can’t wait! I definitely plan to bring along a batch of this cornbread to eat for breakfast at our VRBO.

Ingredients

Cornmeal: I like to use a finer grain cornmeal for this recipe, as I find the larger grinds to give a grainy texture to the final bread.

Whole Wheat Pastry Flour: I love to use whole wheat pastry flour for this recipe, but white whole wheat flour will work as well. Regular whole wheat flour will not give you very tasty results, so if that’s all you can find, I would use equal parts whole wheat and oat flour. (You can just put some oats in the food processor to make your own.)

Ground Flaxseeds: Ground flaxseeds stand in for eggs in this recipe, so don’t skip them. I prefer to buy them pre ground. Make sure to store them in the refrigerator as they can spoil quickly.

Plant Milk: I like to use unsweetened vanilla almond milk, but oat or soy milk would work well too.

Lemon Juice: The lemon juice added to the plant milk gives you a plant based “buttermilk,” so don’t skip this. If necessary, you can substitute vinegar, however.

Almond Butter: The almond butter gives this recipe the tender, melt in your mouth texture, so don’t skip it. You could definitely use peanut butter instead, but that will give you a peanut flavor in the finished product. If you are nut free, you could likely substitute sunflower seed butter. If you try that, let me know how it goes!

Liquid Stevia: To make this truly free of sugar, I use liquid stevia. Maple syrup works great too, but it will add calories and sugar to the recipe.

How To Make This Healthy Whole Wheat Corn Bread

To make this plant based corn bread, you will start by mixing together the dry ingredients. Don’t forget to pre-heat the oven too! Next, mix your ground flax seed with the water and set aside. This will gel into a sort of “egg” that will help bind the corn bread together. You will also create a vegan “buttermilk” by mixing the plant milk with the lemon juice and setting aside for a few minutes.

The next step is to gently heat the nut butter, especially if it has been stored in the refrigerator. It’s very hard to mix in the nut butter if it is too solid, so I simply microwave or heat on the stove until it is a more pourable consistancy.

Now you are ready to combine your dry ingredients, your flax egg, your “buttermilk,” and your nut butter. Stir and mix in the liquid stevia or maple syrup. Finally, prepare a loaf pan or an 8×8 inch square pan or 9 inch round pan by spraying with a few sprays of nonstick spray. You could also line with parchment paper if you prefer. This will work well as a muffin recipe as well. Just reduce the baking time to about 12 minutes. Pour the healthy whole wheat cornbread mixture into the pan and bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. And…voila! Vegan cornbread. This vegan corn bread pairs perfectly with my Whole Food Plant Based Chili. It tastes great with some homemade fruit spread on top. My kids love eating plant based cornbread with maple syrup too. This will keep, covered, on the counter for a few days. It also freezes beautifully. In fact, my chili and cornbread makes a great cook ahead and freeze meal to give to a new mom or someone recovering from surgery or just to eat at a later date.

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