Banana and Coconut Pancakes With a Chocolate Caramel Sauce

  
































   

    

      Everyone has their own way of eating pancakes the right way. For me its always lots of butter and syrup. But this time I'm doing something different by making banana and coconut pancakes with a chocolate caramel sauce. Even though I'm more of a waffle person, I eat pancakes more often. I don't know why that is? Maybe because the waffle iron is a mess to clean up. Or because every Saturday morning I wake up to the smell of my mom making pancakes....and so then all I need to do is enjoy them. Not go threw that hassle of making waffles early Saturday morning. 
   This recipe for pancakes started out with a gluten free recipe that I learned in my culinary class which was Bananas and eggs. But later when I was trying it at home I added flour to give it more form...which made it not gluten free. Then I added some shredded coconut and coconut oil for a more complex coconut flavor. As Always I hope you enjoy this recipe and ready to cook up some amazing pancakes!

Ingredients : 

Pancakes :

• 2 Eggs 

• 2 Bananas 

• 3/4 Cup milk 

• 3/4 Cups all purpose flour 

• 1/2 Cup shredded coconut 

• 3 tbs Coconut oil 

• 2 tsp Granulated sugar 

• 1/2 tsp Baking soda 

• Dash of salt 

Chocolate Caramel Sauce : 

• 1/2 Cup granulated sugar 

• 3/4 Cup milk 

• 4 tsp Unsweetened coco powder 

• 3/4 Cup powdered sugar 

• 4 tbs Butter 

• 1 tsp Vanilla 

• dash of salt 

1  Sauce: In a medium sized pot, heat the the granulated sugar on high heat. In a other pot heat the milk until hot and steaming ( not boiling ) Don't mix the sugar until it starts bubbling and is almost melted with steam rising. 

2  When all the sugar is melted take the pot off the heat and pour the warm milk into it. It will steam and bubble, start mixing it with your wooden spoon Until  incorporated. Then add the coco powder and butter, mix with a whisk for about 30 secs. Next add the powdered sugar and let It simmer for about 2 mins. Don't over do it or your sauce will be to thick. Then add in vanilla and salt, whisk it together well. If your sauce turned out to thick just add in some more milk.  Let it cool or serve warm, Make the sauce before the pancakes.

3  Pancakes: Cut bananas into slices and in a mixer bowl whip them up using the paddle attachment. change the attachment to a whisk and beat the eggs in. 

4  Next add in the flour, baking soda,coconut, coconut oil, sugar and salt. Whisk together well.

 5   Then pour out pancake shapes on a skillet or griddle, heated on medium with a tsp of butter and another of coconut oil. Cook for about 2 mins on both sides, until dark gold/brown. Enjoy!

Prosciutto And Fresh Arugula Pizza

      When it comes to rolling pizza dough, I feel like I have bragging rights. Mostly because that's my specialty, I rolled countless numbers of pizza dough. Over  my 3 years of high school culinary class. I would look forward to every Thursday and Friday because that was the pizza making days in my class. We made about 50 pizzas both days and then they would be sold to the students at my school for lunch. So during the last couple of years I learned a lot about the basics and tricks of rolling pizza dough. 

       In honor of feedfeed's Instagram contest for making original pizza ideas. I though up this recipe for prosciutto and fresh arugula pizza. This amazing pizza is a favorite of mine because of the fresh arugula, prosciutto, creamy white sauce and thin crust. Giving it rustic taste and flavor.  

My Tips For Making Better Pizza 

1  Always use a pizza stone, Preheat the oven at 500 F and preheat with the pizza stone in the oven for about 30 mins.

2  Kneed the dough with cornmeal for extra texture and flavor, plus easier to roll out.

3  When rolling out the dough add most of the flour and corn meal to the top of of dough to insure easier rolling, flip the dough often this will make it more flexible and easier to work with. 

4  All purpose flour will give you a Chewier crust, but bread flour will make a crispier crust. 

5  You can add spices like garlic powder or dry oregano to your crust to give it a unique flavor. 

Ingredients:

Crust:

• 1 1/2 to 2 cups all purpose flour 

• 1/2 tsp sugar 

• 1 1/4 tsp yeast

• 1 tsp kosher salt 

• 3/4 cup water

• 1/2 tbs olive oil 

• corn meal 

White sauce: 

• 2 tbs unsalted butter

• 1 large shallot 

• 2 cloves Garlic 

• 1 tbs all-purpose flour 

• 1 cup heavy cream 

• 1/2 tsp fresh or dried thyme 

• 1/2 tsp fresh or dried oregano 

• salt and pepper 

Toppings: 

• 2 medium sized tomatoes 

• 4 white mushrooms 

• 1 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese  

• 1 to 2 cups Arugula 

•  half of a small purple onion 

• 6 slices prosciutto  

Other items:

• pizza stone 

• parchment paper ( For the top of the pizza stone)

Directions: 

Sauce:

1. First mince the garlic and shallot, very fine. Then in a large skillet add butter and the shallot, cook on low heat until it becomes transparent. About 5 mins  

2. Add the minced garlic and season with salt and pepper, cook for 30 secs. Next add the flour and stir until mixed. Turn up the heat on medium and cook for about a min.

3.  Warm up the cream and stir it in slowly, keep siring. Bring the cream to a slight simmer and until it thickens. When it is about the consistency of gravy, add in the thyme and oregano. Stir it in and then set it aside to cool. 

Crust: 

4. Combine the 1 1/2 cups flour, sugar, salt and yeast in a stand mixer. Then warm up the water to 110 F. While the mixer is on, pour out the water and oil. Mix until dough forms in a ball, add additional flour 1 tbs at a time until it does. Then cover the mixer bowl with a towel and place it in a warm dry place until it doubles in size. 

 Toppings

5. Cut up all topping, tomatoes (Very Thin), mushrooms, purple onion and prosciutto. Then roll out the dough with a flour and corn meal. Until its the size of the parchment paper, place it on top of the paper and spread a thin layer of white sauce on top.

6  Then cover the white sauce with a layer of shredded mozzarella cheese. Evenly add the tomatoes, onions, mushrooms and prosciutto. Place in the oven on top of the pizza stone and bake for about 10 - 15 mins until it has a crispy baked crust. 

7  let it cool for about 5 mins, then add fresh arugula on top, cut and serve. 

Apple And Pear Crisp Pie

     For some reason I have lately been disliking the smell and taste of nutmeg. Every time I had apple pie, the last couple of months. I could not enjoy it because of the always present nutmeg taste....am I the only one who dislikes it???  So in this recipe I added vanilla, which makes every dessert taste better in my opinion. 

    If you look at some of my previous posts you may find that there's many baked fruit desserts. I don't know why but it looks like my blog has become mainly baking. But now that Summer is over and most fruits are out of season. I think I'll go back to recipes for lunch and dinner meals. But before we turn the page fully to fall, I want to share this fall themed recipe with you. Like most of my blog post's this one is also a fruit dessert. The idea for this recipe came to me, when I was thinking about fall. And what people bake this time of the year....Apple pie was the first thing I though. Then I though about adding pear and a crisp topping, which completed this new pie. There's just something great about merging two classic American desserts and making something new. I hope this fall themed recipe inspires you to bake up some pie this time of year and enjoy the seasonal change.

Ingredients: 

Crust: 

• 1 cup flour 

• 7 tbs butter 

• pinch of salt 

• 1 to 4 tbs ice water 

Filling: 

• 3 medium sized apples 

• 3 medium sized pears 
• 1/2 cup sugar 
• 1/4 cup flour

• 2 tbs butter
• 1 tsp cinnamon 
• 1/2 tsp vanilla

• nutmeg 1/8 tsp

Topping: 

• 3/4 cup Quick Cooking Oats

• 1/2 cup flour 
• 1/2 cup almonds
• 1/2 cup brown sugar 

• 1/4 cup butter  



Preheat Oven to 425 f

1    Crust: in a medium mixing bowl add the 1 cup flour and salt, then add in softened butter in cubes. Using your hands or two forks start pressing the dough, until crumbly. Then add in 1 tbs water and mix some more, if dough is not pliable enough add some more water.

2  Roll out the pie crust on plastic warp, then cover other side also with plastic wrap and Freeze for about 6 mins until cool but still easy to work with. put on a pie pan and set aside.

3   Filling: Peel and cut up the apples and pears, into small thin slices. And drop then into a large mixing bowl. Add in the sugar, flour, butter, cinnamon, vanilla and nutmeg. Mix it together and spoon it onto the crust in the pan.

4  Topping: Now for the crisp, measure out the Oats, flour, almonds, brown sugar. Then soften the butter until almost melted and mix with the other ingredients until crumbly. Top the pie with all the crisp and cover crust with 2 inch wide aluminum wrap to prevent over baking it, remove during last 10 mins of baking. Bake for 40 to 50 mins.  Cool completely about 2 hours before serving. 




My Other Pie Recipes 

Rhubarb Meringue Pie 

Blueberry pie