As much as I advocate for eating with the seasons I do like the fact that we can get flash-frozen organic fruit in the fall and winter. Yea, ok, it doesn’t compare to using fresh fruit but let’s be honest, there are just some days that require strawberry waffles to start the morning off right, right? Well today was one of those days.
Over the summer we drove our girls down to Southern California for a Disneyland adventure. We had a blast! The magic kingdom really is magic to an 8 and 10-year-old and I got to witness it first hand. We rode all the rides, saw all the shows, swam in all the pools, and didn’t get too food drunk in the process. That was until the morning we left for home.
I promised the girls we would find a place that served gluten-free pancakes and boy we did. It was a classic So Cal dinner called Flappy Jacks Pancake House. We arrived to a full parking lot (always a good sign) bailed out of the car quickly and hit the front door to get a table. They had huge menus with glossy pictures of their vast array of flapjacks. When my daughter saw the picture of a stack of pancakes piled sky-high with glazed strawberries her face lit up the 4th of July.
We ordered up and intensely waited for our fare to arrive. Soon we were knee-deep in waffles, hotcakes, whipped butter and a turn style of different syrup selections. The grub was good no doubt but soon we were stuffed with only half of our plates empty. To-go boxes were in quick order and we hit the road with a full tank of gas, plenty of water, and plenty of pancake mania to sustain us for the 8-hour trip back home.
4 hours into highway I5 North and I look back at my daughter. Her to-go box was nearly empty and she looked like she just finished off eating an entire elephant. Those glazed strawberries were just too sweet and I’m sure had their fair share of colors and flavors of less than natural origins. But hey, when in Rome I always say. The trip was a success and we now have fond memories forever. I kept thinking about those glazed strawberries though. I wanted to come up with my own version that had all the fun and flavor but didn’t leave you with a knot in your tummy. Here is what I came up with. Let’s cook
Glazed Strawberries
- 12 medium to large frozen strawberries
- 1/2 cup water + 2 tbsp
- 1 tbsp tapioca starch
- 1 tbsp Xylitol
- Pinch of salt
- Saucepot with lid
Method
- Place strawberrys in a pot
- Add 2 tbsp of water turn heat to medium low, cover and cook for 3-5 minutes until the strawberries defrost
- Add the tapioca starch, salt, and xylitol to the water and stir until fully blended
- While still in the pot cut the strawberrys into quarters then add the starch mixture and stir
- Cover and cook for 3-5 minutes until the mixture comes to a full boil, then stir and cook with the top off for one more minute
- Let the sauce cool down a bit before blessing your favorite waffles or pancakes with it
- Note: If I were using fresh strawberries I would slice them first then add everything to the pot at once and cook until thickened
