Coconut Pancakes

I couldn't make it up to Scranton for Easter this year. My family doesn't do much for the holiday, but I was still pretty bummed I wouldn't get to see everyone. And on top of it, Ken was working a bunch of doubles in a row, and wouldn't be home at all. Though I love my kitty, the thought of spending any holiday alone with my cat had my grumpy-pants all in a bunch. To cheer myself up, I made some cupcakes. Just look at these things. They're too adorable to not make you smile.

Vegan coconut cupcakes with strawberry 'butter'cream and toasted coconut nests. Jelly bean 'eggs' complete the cuteness.

 Then, late Saturday night, Ken called to say he didn't have to work Sunday morning. He was coming home! Joy of Joys! An Easter miracle. My sour-puss was replaced with a big ol' smile.

Since I anticipated spending the day alone, I hadn't planned much of a menu. Sunday morning I decided to make a nice holiday breakfast for us with whatever we had around the house. I think I did a pretty good job pulling it together.

As a baker, at any given time I probably have the ingredients to make you whatever kind of sweet breakfast you want. Except waffles, because I don't have a waffle iron (hint, hint...). Ken and I are also the kind of people to have things like mangoes, toasted coconut, mango butter, and coconut extract lying around. It makes throwing together a holiday breakfast a little easier.

Sunday's menu: Coconut pancakes with mango butter, fresh mango, and strawberries. Vegan sausage links. Mango Lemonade. Coffee. Boo-Love.

This is a nice basic vegan pancake recipe that works best as thin, almost crepe-like pancakes. Ken loved them. You've probably got all the necessary ingredients right now, and can make them yours with whatever happens to be in your fridge/pantry. Next time you want to make an impromptu breakfast for someone special, this recipe will be your best friend.

Vegan Coconut Pancakes
adapted from Vegan Yum Yum

1 1/2 cup almond milk
1/4 cup sugar
2 tbsp canola oil
1 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp coconut extract
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup toasted coconut

Preheat oven to warm, 200 degrees, or the lowest temp your oven will allow. To keep pancakes warm while you make them, you'll stack them on an oven-safe plate inside the oven.

Pour milk into blender. Add all other ingredients except toasted coconut. Pulse a few times. Scrape down sides, and pulse a few more times, but don't over blend. You can place this in the fridge overnight, or use immediately. If using the next day, you may need to thin the batter with a tablespoon or so of water. (*note: I use a blender because I like being able to pour the batter, and also it keeps the dishes at a minimum. A bowl and a whisk would work just as well)

Heat a non-stick skillet or griddle over medium heat for a few minutes. Pour batter into center of pan. I like to make my pancakes about 4-5 inches across, and swirl the pan slightly to spread the batter and make a thin pancake. Sprinkle coconut on top. After a few minutes, the top will bubble, and the batter will change color from white to a dull yellow. This is when you should flip. If the other side of your pancake is not brown yet, you may need to turn your heat up slightly. If it's over-browned, turn down the heat. Allow to cook for another few minutes, until brown. Place on plate in oven, and continue to stack as you make them.

We served these with mango butter from Trader Joe's and fresh fruit. I'm sure they would have been lovely with a coconut syrup too. Also, making them coconut pancakes was a last minute decision, when I remembered I had the leftover toasted coconut from the cupcakes. Had I planned in advance, I would have probably substituted some or all of the almond milk for coconut milk.

If coconut's not your thing, you can use another extract and add any other filling: bananas, blueberries, chocolate chips, etc. And then come back here and tell me all about it!

Coconut Sorbet

Well hello there! Happy January! It's been awhile. I hope your holiday shuffle wasn't too stressful. And I hope Santa brought you what you really wanted. I found some shiny new things under the tree I'm pretty excited about. And now I'm ready to take charge of this whole new year.

I'm not a fan of New Year's resolutions. I think most people set themselves up for failure by making lofty resolutions year after year, then beat themselves up when they inevitably fail a month or less in. January is the worst time to go on a diet, when it's cold and your body wants to store up fat for warmth.

I do think the new year is a fine time to assess yourself and your current situation, and create goals for the coming year. Especially using positive language, like "I will (action to take)" instead of "I will not (smoke, eat junk food, etc etc)." I set lots of goals at the beginning of each year, and do my best to develop long-term plans for success for each one. Some succeed, some fail. But I never beat myself up if they don't work out. I find someone else to blame, then beat them up. (I kid, I kid...)

For 2011, I've decided one of those goals is to maintain a healthy vegan diet. I decided on my birthday last year that I wanted to slowly transition back to a plant-based diet. I've been reading lots of websites, magazines, and books on the vegan lifestyle, and I really feel like I'm educating myself on the subject in a way my 20-year-old junk-food vegan-self never did. My diet is almost completely vegan, with only a few slip-ups during the holidays with my Grandma's stuffing and cookies. And I feel much better than I did when I was still sneaking cheese and eating the occasional egg. But there's definitely room for improvement.

A secondary, but complementary, goal is to eat less pre-packaged foods and eat more whole foods: grains, beans and vegetables. That means more cooking. And we all know how I feel about cooking. So my plan is simple: try 2 new vegan recipes every week. One savory, and one sweet. I'll pull recipes from cookbooks on my shelf, from other blogs in my reader, and of course, I'll gladly take suggestions from you, my lovely readers. I'll keep them mostly simple, quick dishes that I can add to my weekly repertoire, and once a month I'll tackle a more difficult or time-consuming recipe.

But you came here for the sorbet, right? Let's get on with it. I love coconut sorbet. I had a slight obsession with it last year. It's carried over into 2011, and I don't see it ending anytime soon. But it's a slightly expensive habit. Thankfully Santa brought me just what I needed to start making my own.

Despite the snow and ice on the ground in Philly, I decided to break in my new ice cream maker with some coconut sorbet. This recipe is ridiculously simple, and ridiculously delicious. My kind of treat! The hard part will be keeping myself from eating a whole batch every day...

Coconut Sorbet

2 14oz cans of Coconut Milk
1 cup sugar
1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut

Combine all ingredients in a medium sauce pan over medium heat, and bring to a boil. Stir occasionally. Once boils, remove from heat and allow to chill completely. This will take a few hours, possibly overnight. To speed up the process, you can transfer the mixture to another container and place in the fridge. Once the mixture is chilled completely, freeze according to your ice cream maker's instructions.

If you have a 1.5 quart or smaller ice cream maker, you'll want to make half this recipe. In my 1.5 quart ice cream maker, the mix almost overflowed. If you have a 2 quart model, you'll be fine.