I know I’ve been flirting with scones a lot lately, particularly these beauties. But it’s no secret that pancakes are my first love when it comes to breakfast food. I don’t make them as much as I would if left to my own devices, because Hubster prefers the crunch of waffles. Of course, when I make waffles I usually use a butter knife to crush all of the pockets, forming some sort of waffle/flat cake hybrid…
Occasionally a pancake recipe catches my eye and Hubster’s preferences go straight out the window. Deb’s Apple Pancakes had me dreaming about a pancake/fritter hybrid filled with warm, tart apple. It fell a bit short and the pictures from that attempt languished in my file. I just knew with a little tweak, these babies would sing.
Cutting the batter in half brought on the pancake nirvana. There’s no mistaking that the star of these cakes is the apple. The vanilla, cinnamon and sugar add just the right amount of depth and sweetness, so much so that we opted for a simple smear of butter rather than an additional sugary topping. They’re very dense and this recipe is about perfect for two people – yielding 6 medium cakes, of which we finished 4.
So what’s on your radar for breakfast this weekend? Does anyone else mutilate waffles before consumption?
Apple Pancakes
Adapted from Smitten Kitchen
1 cup flour
½ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
1/8 cup sugar
¼ tsp cinnamon
1 egg
¾ cup low fat milk
½ tsp vanilla extract
3 medium Granny Smith apples
Vegetable oil
In a small bowl combine the flour, baking powder, salt, sugar and cinnamon, stirring with a whisk to combine. In a large measuring cup, beat the egg. Add the milk and vanilla, beating with a whisk to combine. Combine the wet and dry ingredients. Peel the apples and coarsely grate them into a medium bowl. Add the batter to the apples a scoop at a time until you have a loose batter. You’re aiming for a lot of apples and enough batter to hold everything together.
Heat a thin layer of oil in skillet over medium heat. Drop large spoonfuls of batter into the pan, flattening each into a pancake. Cook until brown and then flip and cook the other side until done. Serve with butter or a dusting of powdered sugar.
Note: I used about ¾ of the batter when I mixed it into the apples. How much you use will depend on how big your apples are. The pancakes didn’t get the crispy exterior I wanted to next time I’ll opt for a cast iron skillet.
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