Over the past few month’s we’ve shared with you some of our favorite healthy and delicious recipes from the Holualoa Inn kitchen. This month’s recipe, whipped up on the fly by our magnificently talented chef Julie, might not fit squarely into the former category. However, it is certainly delicious and bound to be an instant classic at the Inn. So we’ve taken a slight departure from healthy recipes this month, but for good reason. For one thing, it is white pineapple season here on the Big Island. Yes, golden pineapple is available year round in Hawaii, but those in the know look forward to summer and the sweetness that it brings. Anyone who has tried white pineapple knows it achieves a level of decadence beyond any mere ordinary pineapple. It has the flavor of cotton candy, a softer, fluffier texture than it’s golden relatives (you can eat the core) and it is absolutely bursting with juice as thick as syrup. 
Here, Julie has managed to further elevate it’s decadence by caramelizing it in brown sugar à la pineapple upside down cake fit for royalty. And if there’s one thing we could all use a little bit of right now, it is decadence. So while you may not have access to white pineapple at the moment, go ahead and pick up a can of Dole pineapple chunks (you can use fresh golden pineapple, but trust us, this is even better) and maybe some coconut flakes. Everything else should be on hand in your kitchen. Feel free to sub in your gluten-free pancake mix or some coconut milk. One day when you are home all morning, skip the run, stay in your pajamas, make an extra large pot of coffee, and whip up a batch of these indulgent and highly addictive Caramelized Pineapple Pancakes.
Ingredients
1 ½ C all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
1 Tbsp sugar
1 ¼ cups milk
1 egg
3 Tbsp coconut oil, plus more for cooking
2 C small diced pineapple (white pineapple if you’re lucky enough)
¼ C brown sugar
3 Tbsp butter
Directions
Combine the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar in a medium bowl. Beat together the milk, egg and coconut oil. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and stir until just combined.
In a skillet on medium heat, sauté the pineapples with the brown sugar until the sugar is dissolved and bubbling, about 3-5 minutes. Gently fold in half of the pineapples to the pancake batter. Reserve the remaining pineapple in the skillet.
On a preheated skillet or griddle, add enough coconut oil to lightly coat surface. Drop batter 1/3 cup at a time and flip pancakes when bubbles rise to the surface and break. Cook for an additional 2-3 minutes.
When you are almost done cooking all the pancakes, return the reserved pineapple mixture to medium heat and add butter. Cook until butter is completely melted and combined. Serve over pancakes and garnish with toasted coconut flakes.
We hope you enjoy this month’s recipe and we hope we have the opportunity to welcome you back to the Holualoa Inn again soon. A hui hou!