Indulgent Coconut Pancakes with Bananas Foster

How does coconut pancakes topped with Bananas Foster and whipped cream sound for dinner? It sounds pretty decadent, doesn’t it? I thought so, too. While searching the internet for a new pancake recipe, I ran across this one for Homemade Coconut Pancakes from The Spruce Eats. I adjusted the recipe a bit based on our own family needs which I’ll explain below.

Then I thought, “What would be really good with these pancakes?”, and the answer I came up with was Bananas Foster. Personally, I don’t like regular syrup on my pancakes and waffles. Yeah, that’s odd, I know. I usually drown mine in strawberry jam or apple butter. The sweet buttery combination of Bananas Foster and toasted pecans made a nutty caramel topping for  these pancakes.

Pancake Recipe Adjustments

In all honesty, I didn’t change the recipe too much. I used one can of unsweetened coconut milk, added a little extra sugar, omitted the additional coconut flavoring, and used 1¼ cups of flour. The amount of flour might need to be adjusted based on the appearance of your batter. Mine was too thin, so I added the extra flour.

When I fry pancakes, I melt butter in my frying pan before I start making pancakes. Because there’s so much butter in the Bananas Foster, I used cooking spray this time. Cooking spray will result in a slightly lighter colored pancake. 

This recipe makes six large fluffy pancakes which easily fed my family of three. I make pancakes that are about 6 inches in diameter, albeit they are never perfectly round. But, who cares? Imperfect pancakes are just as delicious.

Bananas Foster

Let’s talk about Bananas Foster. This dish is traditionally prepared by cooking bananas in butter, brown sugar, and rum. Once the rum is added, the ingredients are ignited. This preparation is called flambé and ultimately burns the alcohol off of the dish. It is not necessary to do this step, however. Just bear in mind that the alcohol content will be much higher in the dish if you don’t.

Some people add ground cinnamon or vanilla extract for additional flavor. I add pecans to the brown sugar and butter while it cooks and they get all gooey. You’ll see Bananas Foster served over ice cream and sometimes used as a filling or topping for crepes, but it is delicious on top of these pancakes!

We can thank a New Orleans chef for Bananas Foster. An American desert, it got its start in a restaurant owned by Owen Brennan in 1951. The dish was named after Richard Foster, who served with Brennan on the New Orleans Crime Commission. Foster was also a frequent customer of Brennan’s restaurant and a very good personal friend. 

Can you imagine creating something like Bananas Foster 70 years ago not knowing that it would become one of America’s favorite desserts? 

Coconut Pancakes with Bananas Foster

Recipe by Niki Davis

Servings

2

-4 servings

Prep time

0

minutes

Cooking time

0

minutes

Calories

kcal

Total time

30

minutes

The caramel flavor of Bananas Foster on top of these creamy coconut pancakes is a decadent treat.  

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The pancake recipe was adapted from Homemade Coconut Pancakes from The Spruce Eats. 

Ingredients

• For the Pancakes

• 2 eggs

• 2 tablespoons sugar

• 2 tablespoons butter melted

• 1 can 14 ounces unsweetened coconut milk

• ½ cup shredded sweetened baking coconut

• 1¼ cup all-purpose flour

• 1 tablespoon baking powder

• ½ teaspoon salt

• For the Bananas Foster

• 1 stick butter or margarine

• 1 cup brown sugar

• ⅔ cup dark or spiced rum

• ½ cup pecan halves

• 3 bananas

Directions

• Carefully crack the eggs into a mixing bowl then add the sugar. Whisk these two ingredients together until they are creamy and pale yellow. Slowly drizzle in the melted butter, whisking to incorporate it into the eggs and sugar. Stir in the coconut milk and baking coconut and set the bowl aside. 
• Combine the flour, baking powder and salt in another mixing bowl. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir them together until they create a batter. The batter should be thick but should still pour easily. 
• To fry the pancakes, heat a large skillet over medium heat. Once the skillet is hot, spray it with cooking spray. Use a ½ cup scoop to ladle the batter into the skillet, moving the batter to create a round pancake. The batter will begin to bubble after 2-4 minutes. Once this happens, flip the pancake over and cook on the opposite side for another minute or until the underside is lightly browned. 
• To prepare the Bananas Foster, melt the butter in a skillet. Once the butter is melted, stir in the brown sugar and cook until it is melted. Stir in the rum and the pecans and let the sauce cook until it bubbles. While the sauce is cooking, peel the bananas and slice them into rounds ½ to 1-inch thick. Add the bananas to the sauce and stir until they are coated. Let the bananas cook for about 2 minutes. 
• Plate the pancakes two in a stack and cover them with about ⅓ of the Bananas Foster. Serve topped with whipped cream. 

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