Pina Colada Pancakes {Dairy Free}

Pina colada pancakes are a tropical and fun way to start the day. Dairy free pancakes never tasted so amazing. And don’t sleep on that pineapple brown sugar syrup!

Just FYI – the next four paragraphs or so are NOT about pancakes – so if you’re just here for the food feel free to scroll down or hit that handy button at the top to jump straight to the recipe. I won’t be butt-hurt about it, promise.

The internet is such a great thing. Breaking news, inspiring journalism, cat videos, streaming entertainment, and even this little blog all take up a little (or a lot) of space here, just waiting to be consumed. It’s a time waster, a virtual shopping mall, a vast library of information, or a forum for your thoughts (whatever they may be). But something that reaches so many people, where so many ideas can be freely exchanged has to have a down side, right?

Well of course it does. I don’t even for a second begin to think that you don’t see the negativity and vitriol that is ever present online these days. It can be shocking, horrifying, and just plain depressing. I see it most personally on social media. As a person who spends a lot of time on platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter, I can say that there is a lot of haterade out there. Some of it is spoken with best intentions, a lot of it is not. But you probably already knew that.

Something you might not know is that even though I throw my hat into the content creation ring pretty regularly, I don’t seem to have a ton of (vocal) haters myself. I don’t say this to brag. It’s probably because my reach isn’t large enough to incur any significant amount of internet wrath. Or perhaps I’m just playing it really safe – not speaking in absolutes or taking very public stances on divisive issues. I know that I’m not going to be everyone’s cup of virtual tea, and I’m totally OK with that. But for now I’m thankful for this period of time, however brief it may be, where the negativity hasn’t reached me yet. Because I see it out there, and honestly it bums me out.

So if you’re a blogger, influencer, writer, photographer, or creator of any medium that gets promoted or proliferated via the great machine that is the internet, take the criticism in stride – even if it is rude, offensive, untrue, or just plain mean. Because at the end of the day, I’d rather a get a big old pitcher of hater-ade in my comments for putting something out into the world that I’m proud of, than keep my mouth shut to stay in everyone’s good graces. But that’s just me. And with that you can consider this edition of Jo takes advantage of a captive audience to stand on her soapbox and shout things over and done.

On to happier topics. And what’s happier than a light and fluffy stack of crisp at the edges, soft and plush in the middle, pancakes? Well what about if those pancakes were also jam packed with pineapple, coconut, and lime. Pancakes on a tropical vacation? Yes that makes me very happy.

Pina Colada Pancakes with Pineapple Brown Sugar Pancakes

These pancakes are something special. They take an easy homemade pancake recipe and send it to the islands. And with the temperatures finally getting warmer and the sunshine making regular (ok semi-regular) appearances on the weekends, this is the recipe I want to wake up to on a sunshiney, Sunday morning. Oh, they’re also dairy free if that’s your jam!

How to make dairy free pancakes from scratch

So regardless of what kind of pancakes you’re making there is some general pancake-ing wisdom I’d like to impart. If you’re like “nah Jo, I’ve got this” that’s awesome! Scroll on down and start whipping a batch of these up, because time is not to be wasted when pancakes are on the agenda. But if you want a few insider tips on how to make light and fluffy pancakes from scratch then please, read on.

• All of your ingredients should be room temperature if you can hack it. That means taking stuff out of the fridge before hand so it’s not icy cold when you go to mix up your batter. The reason? The closer to room temp your ingredients are the easier they will come together, which means less stirring, which leads me to my next tip.
• Don’t overmix it. Broken record over here would like to keep hammering home (for like the 19,837th time) that mixing too much leads to dense, chewy, leaden pancakes. But my batter is still lumpy. Shouldn’t I beat it into smooth and pourable submission? Nope. Resist the urge. Lumps are FINE in pancake batter – they will all smooth out, scout’s honor.
• In fact, your batter shouldn’t really be pourable at all! If you’ve got too much liquid in your batter you’ll need a LOT of something else (lots of beaten egg whites or lots of baking powder) to make that puppy puff up. And you know what doesn’t taste great for breakfast? A sore whisking arm and a mouthful of chemical leavener, that’s what.  The consistency of the batter should be thin enough that gravity will mostly pull it out of the measuring cup and onto the pan, but thick enough that you’ll have to manually spread it out a bit to get a nice, even, pancake type shape.

Wait, where’s the maple syrup?

Ok, ok. Maybe this is where my haters come out of hiding. There is no maple here – it just didn’t seem to jive with the rest of the recipe. But as an alternative to maple syrup, what you are getting is a glossy, sticky, fruity brown sugar and pineapple situation that I promise you will knocks your freaking socks off. And if you aren’t wearing socks, well you’ll still love it. But if you must, you can still sub in maple instead. But please heat it up with the pineapple and the lime juice so you get the whole pina colada experience, would ya?

So now that you’ve got all the deets on making fluffy pancakes from scratch (totally useful) AND an earful on how wonderful but dumb the internet can be (less useful TBH) I’ll leave you to your day. I hope it’s a great one with lots of happiness, hugs, good food, and great vibes.

And if you’re in need of more breakfast without the side of soapbox ranting, these recipes have got you covered:

• Healthy Whole Grain Pancakes
• Lemon Yogurt Cheesecake Parfaits
• Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Energy Bites
• Sausage and Peppers Breakfast Hash

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