Sunday mornings are the perfect excuse to make something special for breakfast. Now there are plenty of other reasons to make something special for breakfast, but I have always felt like a Sunday should be kicked off with something a little fancy… not your every day kind of breakfast, something a little over the top. How do apple pie pancakes sound? Perfect? I thought so too.
So in combining apple pie and pancakes, all we have to do is to swap out the crust of the pie for a crispy pancake batter, make our baked cinnamon apple “filling”, top them with whipped cream and make sure that everyone has their own plates, because you will not feel like sharing any of these.
Apples are so versatile and come a wide variety of flavors. If you like apples, but don’t want the flavor to be too strong, I would suggest using golden delicious or gala apples. If you really love apples and want the flavor to be strong and sweet, I would suggest using ambrosia or fuji apples. If you love apples, but prefer them more tart than sweet, then I would suggest using pink lady or granny smith apples. They ALL work great, but it is interesting how different their flavors can be. I am using fuji apples today. They are really sweet and quite firm, which helps them hold their shape during the cooking process.
We are going to start with the apples. They are the star of the show, right? I have two medium fuji apples and I am going to core and dice one of them for the filling and shred the other one to add right into the batter. Thats right! Apples in and on these pancakes!
Set the shredded apples aside and add butter and brown sugar into a medium skillet over medium heat. Once the butter is melted, add the diced apples and a teaspoon of cinnamon. Cover the skillet, reduce the heat to medium low and cook for about 15 minutes. Every once in a while, give them a little stir and make sure that all of the apples are coated in butter and brown sugar. Once they are softened, set them aside.
Now we can assemble the pancake batter by mixing the dry ingredients in a large bowl, then adding your wet ingredients and finally adding the shredded apples. This batter will have some lumps, so don’t try to mix it until it is smooth. It really only needs to be mixed until everything is combined and then a little bit more to introduce the shredded apples and you are ready to go!
Place a big skillet or flat griddle over medium heat and add a little butter or some non stick cooking spray. I like the flavor that butter adds, but if you prefer the spray, it won’t effect the cook at all. I am aiming for medium size pancakes today, so I am dropping batter down with a 1/4 cup measuring cup. Give them a little room to spread out and watch for the bubbles to appear. Once the edges start to brown a bit and the top of your pancakes are covered with tiny little bubbles, they are ready to be flipped. The second side usually doesn’t take quite as long as the first side took, but an easy way to tell if your pancakes are cooked through is to press down lightly in the middle of one of them and if it feels fairly firm, you are good to go. If they still feel a little soft, leave them for another 30 seconds or so.
Dressing these pancakes up is unnecessary, but really fun! They are truly delicious as soon as you pull them off of your griddle, but since we went to all of that trouble making the cinnamon apple “filling” and the fact that they are called “apple pie” pancakes, I think they deserve a little extra attention. So scoop some of that filling onto the top of your stack, add some whipped cream and dust a little cinnamon over the whole beautiful package. Congratulations! You just created perfection… now go enjoy your creation.
Apple Pie Pancakes
Ingredients
Apple Pancake Batter
- 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup whole milk
- 1 large egg
- 1 cup apple, grated
Apple Pie Topping
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 cup apple, peeled, diced
Instructions
Apple Pie Topping
- Add 2 tablespoons of butter and 2 tablespoons of brown sugar into a skillet over medium heat
- Once the butter has melted, add the diced apples and 1 teaspoon of cinnamon and toss to combine
- Reduce the heat to medium low, cover the skillet and cook for 15 minutes or until the apples are softened and then set aside
Apple Pancakes
- In a large bowl, combine 1 1/2 cups of flour, 2 tablespoons of light brown sugar, 1 teaspoon of baking powder, 2 teaspoons of cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon of nutmeg and salt
- In a separate bowl, combine 1 cup of whole milk, 1 egg, 1 tablespoon of melted butter and the vanilla extract
- Add the milk mixture into the flour mixture and whisk until just combined (a slightly lumpy batter is what you are looking for)
- Gently fold in 1 cup of grated apple into the batter
- Place a large skillet over medium heat and add a bit of butter or spray with a non stick spray to prepare for the pancakes
- Drop your batter onto the skillet with either a large spoon for small pancakes, a 1/4 cup for medium pancakes or a 1/3 cup for larger pancakes
- Cook until the edges start to brown and the entire top is full of little bubbles then flip the pancakes and cook until both sides are golden
- Top with diced apples and whipped cream