After reading the near entirety of the blog Chocolate Covered Katie last weekend, and after making some key purchases at the food co-op, I’ve started to come around to coconut.
I never really used to think about coconut as something you would put into recipes, or really eat. Occasionally as a child I would convince my Mother to buy me a coconut from the grocery store. The simple act of opening the coconut, and drinking the super-gross-tasting milk inside was enough to amuse me (and probably my Mother) for hours on end.
Katie uses Artisana Coconut Butter in so many of her recipes, that I was easily persuaded to pick up a jar. Even despite the hefty price tag that comes with this, I’ve already discovered just how useful it can be. Already in a week I’ve made Homemade Artisana Cacao Bliss, (which is so much easier than homemade nutella!) and today I made coconut banana pancakes.
The Recipe:
1 1/4 cup flour
1 cup coconut milk
1 banana, mashed
1 tsp baking powder
1 tbsp Artisana coconut butter
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp all spice
1 tsp vanilla (or for a really coconutty taste, coconut extract)
1/4 tsp salt
Add the flour, milk, baking powder, and vanilla, and mix together. Add mashed banana, coconut butter, and spices, mixing between each new addition. Mix until the batter looks relatively smooth. Cook and enjoy!
My Review:
At first I was disappointed that these didn’t have a stronger flavor of coconut. They taste more like banana pancakes with a hint of coconut. But they are very delicious! I just love the smell and (oddly) the texture of a banana pancake.
Coconut Health Concerns:
Oddly, I do have some concerns about eating too much coconut. It’s a fruit (?), however it does has an extremely high level of saturated fat. It seems so weird to me that something so natural could potentially be bad for you. But, until I learn more about this, I’ll probably just stick to no more than a little coconut each week.
Is Coconut Healthy?
– Coconut Research Center
– Healthy Fats in Coconut
– Too Much Saturated Fat?!
