Cinnamon Spiced Apple Pancakes

As I’ve said before, pancakes are all the rage in our house. I get tired of plain old pancakes. Well, not old, but plain. Or buttermilk. Or blueberry. Or banana. Or banana-nut. Or chocolate chip. My mom used to make fritters of various sorts when I was a kid: banana fritters, corn fritters, Okinowan sweet potato fritters, apple fritters. This is sort of like an apple fritter, crossed with a pancake, tasting like a muffin or semi-sweet doughnut. Plus there’s the visual aspect of the apple ring, surrounded by its toasty pancake. It’s borderline dessert, but for breakfast (or brunch, if that’s what you’re after… or dinner, if you’re like me and prefer breakfast food in the P.M.).

For a while, Silas was gung-ho on avoiding cooked fruits. Especially in oatmeal or pancakes, so I didn’t know how well these would actually go over with him. But he said, “THANK YOU!! These are the best pancakes EVER!!” and then proceeded to eat a good 8 or 10 of them before his Little League game. If that’s an indication of whether you should try these or not, cool. If it’s an indication of how much he’s going to eat when he’s not just nearly seven, but – gasp – perhaps a teenager, we’re in trouble. 

Cinnamon Spiced Apple Pancakes

Ingredients:
1½ cups unbleached flour
3 tbsp. sugar
¼ tsp. salt
1 tbsp. baking powder
¼ tsp. ground ginger
1¼ tsp. ground cinnamon
1/3 cup melted butter
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 ¼ cup milk
2 eggs
2 small(ish) apples, cored, peeled and sliced THIN (1/8 to 1/16 inches thick)
oil

Directions:

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, ground ginger and ground cinnamon until well combined.

Whisk together the melted butter, vanilla, , milk and eggs until completely combined. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ones, mixing until just combined.

If you’re serving these once ALL the pancakes have been cooked, preheat the oven to 200ºF. Place a pan or baking dish with a lid into the oven to preheat as well.

Lightly grease a skillet or griddle over medium-high heat. Once thoroughly heated (drop a drip or two of batter on the hot surface – it should immediately puff up and begin to bubble, but not blacken and burn), spoon about 2-3 tablespoons of batter per pancake onto the hot grill. As you’d adding the batter, gently press one apple ring into the center of each pancake. When the batter begins to bubble all over, it’s time to flip the pancake. Flip, cooking until the second side is lightly browned and the pancake is cooked all the way through.

Keep the pancakes in your warm oven until ready to serve, then serve with maple syrup and enjoy!

Yields approximately one and a half dozen medium-sized pancakes.