Guava Pancakes...

I thought I'd try something different with pancakes. By different, I mean using some guava paste as an ingredient.

See... there's this restaurant... it's called Cinnamon's and it's located on the Windward side of the island in Kailua. They have some pretty awesome breakfast items. One of those items is a guava pancake.

Although their pancake is literally to die for, I didn't want to replicate it exactly... just draw some inspiration from it.

And this is what I came up with.... and I'm pretty happy with it.

I have never worked with guava paste before, so I was a little unsure. I really don't know what I was worried about, because there was really nothing to be afraid of. Other than it being a little sticky, it was pretty easy to work with.

I not only used the guava paste as an ingredient in the pancake batter, but also as an ingredient in a sauce that you top the pancakes with.

Guava is pretty sweet, so a huge ginormous dollop of whipped cream balanced the sweetness nicely.

It's always fun, although sometimes worrisome, working with new ingredients.... you never know what you're going to come up with!

I was pleasantly surprised!

Guava Pancakes

For the Guava Sauce:

• 1 Cup Guava Paste, Cubed
• 1/2 Cup Water
• 1/2 Teaspoon Pure Vanilla Extract 

For the Guava Pancakes:

• 2 Cups Flour
• 1 Tablespoons Baking Powder
• 1 Teaspoon Baking Soda
• 1/2 Teaspoon Salt
• 1/4 Cup Sugar
• 1/2 Cup Guava Paste, Finely Diced
• 1 Cup Guava Nectar
• 1 Cup Whole Milk
• 1/4 Cup Vegetable Oil
• 2 Whole Eggs

For the Sauce:

In a small heavy duty saucepan, heat the cubed guava paste, water, and vanilla on medium/low heat, whisking constantly until the guava paste melts and all the ingredients are combined. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool.

For the Pancakes:

In a large bowl, sift the flour, powder, soda, and salt. Whisk in the sugar and set aside. In a food processor or blender, add the finely diced guava paste, guava nectar, milk, oil, and eggs. Continuously pulse or blend until well combined, 2-5 minutes. You may still have some guava paste bits in the blended mixture and that is fine. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and whisk until most of the lumps are out. 

Heat a griddle on low heat. Spray with cooking spray and pour a 3-1/2 to 4 inch round onto the griddle. Flip the pancake when the surface of the pancake becomes somewhat dry and when most of the air bubbles have risen, about 2-1/2 to 4 minutes on each side. Makes 15 or so pancakes. 

To plate, spread butter over the hot pancakes (if desired), then add a dollop of whipped cream and drizzle the prepared Guava Sauce over the pancakes. 

Enjoy!