When I research recipes I will do a combination of things. First I’ll do a search for “BEST XYZ” and read everything on the first page of the Google and then I’ll do an image search and compare the look and texture of the dish. Once I narrow it down to a few recipes I’ll either try them all or instinctively know what to change to suit my tastes, what I have on hand, the weather, any impending acts of God etc.

But paleo baking is a whole different beast.

Paleo is a diet that includes fish, meat, poultry, vegetables, nuts, eggs and fruits. Paleo-followers do not eat dairy products, grains, legumes, potatoes, refined sugar, refined salt or processed oils.

I have no idea how coconut flour reacts in baking or the resulting texture of varying nut butters or fruits. Paleo desserts are heavy on the bananas, eggs, coconut flour and nut butters to replace the texture produced by the gluten in flour. I think.

So after collecting three pancake recipes and vowing to do a comparison for you at some point, I settled on a recipe from PaleOMG and followed it to a T. Because I’m a chicken. It included coconut flour, which I brought back (smuggled) from the US the last time I was there. I realize for any followers I have in Egypt this will be difficult to come by but I pinkyswearcrossmyheart promise the other two recipes will be Egypt friendly.

The only things I have to add to Juli’s recipe are technique tips. Because it is an amazing recipe. Light, spongy, sweet, crisp on the outside and without that holy-crap-I-want-to-die feeling afterward.

On to some fun visual representations (pictures).

You’re going to start with a base of bananas. Puree them. Puree them real good. Do it. You don’t want banana chunks in your pancakes. Or maybe you do, but I didn’t.

 

After tossing in your eggs and the rest of the ingredients you’ll want to pull out your tablespoon because that’s how you’re going to “ladle” these onto the pan. Teeny tiny ladles. Freakishly small ladling. It is said that paleo pancakes are notoriously difficult to flip and should be made small. Her recipe yield is 16 pancakes. I only got eight and didn’t have very many flipping fails (some).

Heat your pan on medium low. Not medium high. This will give the pancakes enough time to cook through and not burn. These will burn because bananas contain a lot of sugar. Anyway, ladle out two tablespoons of the mixture in your non-stick pan. No need to grease if you’re using non-stick.

Spread your mixure out into three-inch rounds and wait until bubbles form on top and the edges dry like the picture below.

Now, there’s a technique to flipping these. I call it the triple-side-attack method. Using a thin rubber spatula, slide it under one side of the pancake. At some point it will stop sliding. Slide it out and attack it from another side. Stop when it stops sliding easily. Go at it from one more side and voila, your pancake should slide onto your spatula with ease. Now flip.

(Please ignore the innuendos)

Seriously, don’t those look like real pancakes? Cook for another minute or two until spongy then transfer to a plate. Drizzle with honey, slather with butter and top with fruit and have at it. I did 100% organic pure maple syrup and non-grassfed butter. I won’t tell if you won’t.