When my 15-year old son, Jonah, was a toddler, I desperately wanted him to like pancakes. I made them every Sunday morning and every Sunday morning he chucked his portion from the tray of his high chair onto the ground. I have video to prove this. Looking back, I sort of don’t blame him, I have a feeling they were kind of crappy pancakes from a mix.

So imagine my delight when I made this recipe for my family this past Sunday and Jonah said they were the best pancakes he’d ever had in his whole life. The greatest early Mother’s Day present I could get. My kid likes pancakes. Yay! He likes my pancakes. Yay!! He likes my VEGAN pancakes. Yay!!!

Well, I’ve been making vegan pancakes ever since I got the Skinny Bitch Ultimate Everyday Cookbook a few years ago. If you don’t own this, do yourself a favor and order it now. It’s a great book. Mine is so worn that the pages are literally falling out. The Skinny Bitch recipe is for Maple and Apple Cinnamon Pancakes which are a family favorite.

Because strawberries are in season and so gorgeous right now, I thought it would be fun to try adapting this recipe for the Spring season. This would be the perfect thing to make for a Mother’s Day brunch. I made a simple strawberry/lemon sauce to go on top, but you could certainly use maple syrup, just make sure it is the real thing, not flavored high fructose corn syrup…bleh.

Strawberry Macadamia Pancakes

Serves 4-6

2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

6 Tbsp evaporated cane sugar

4 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp kosher salt

2 cups almond or coconut milk

2 tsp vanilla extract

4+ tsp coconut oil, melted

Zest from 1 lemon

1 cup strawberries, diced

1/2 cup macadamia nuts, finely chopped

Sliced fresh strawberries (optional)

In a medium bowl, stir together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. In a separate bowl, whisk together milk, vanilla extract and 4 tsp melted coconut oil. Combine milk mixture with flour mixture and whisk until smooth. Let batter sit about 20-30 minutes while you prepare strawberry lemon sauce.

Heat griddle or large skillet and add 1 tsp coconut oil over medium heat. Pour 1/4 cup batter per pancake onto hot pan and cook until small bubbles form on top of pancakes. Add a few diced strawberries and sprinkle macadamia nuts on top of each pancakes. Flip with spatula and cook until golden brown on the other side.  Add more coconut oil as needed before making the next batch.

Serve topped with Strawberry Lemon Sauce and sliced fresh strawberries.

Strawberry Lemon Sauce

2 cups strawberries, chopped

Juice of 1 lemon

3 Tbsp evaporated cane sugar

Combine all ingredients in a sauce pan over medium heat. Cook about 20 minutes until strawberries begin to fall apart. Mash with potato masher to get desired consistency.