About a month ago, in the beginning of October, we went  apple picking. This is something Mia and I like to do every year and we had the pleasure of going with some friends this year. While at the orchard of course we indulged in some delicious apple doughnuts, as any sane person would. The day was wonderful, however, I seemed to have been a bit overzealous while deciding how many bags we should get, as we ended up with a large quantity of apples.

Feeling inspired by the apple doughnuts that we had at the orchard I was spurred into action to try and make apple pancakes that were thick and doughy, kind of like an apple fritter. While the pancakes don’t replicate the chewy, deep fried texture of an apple fritter, the taste profile is definitely there. The apples we picked at the orchard were Cortland and Macintosh, however, after testing I found that Honeycrisp apples were the best in terms of flavour profile and consistency. This recipe will make 3 large pancakes. I hope this recipe will heat up your home on a cozy weekend in the near future! 

Active time: 20 minutes

Cook time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:

Cinnamon sugar apples

• 2 Honeycrisp apples
• 1 tbsp butter
• 2 tsp sugar
• ½ tsp cinnamon
• Pinch of salt

Batter

• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp baking soda
• ¼ lightly packed brown sugar
• ½ tsp cinnamon
• ¼ tsp nutmeg
• dash ground cardamom
• ¼ tsp salt
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• ½ tsp grated fresh ginger
• 1 egg
• 1 tbsp neutral oil

To top

• 1 tbsp powdered sugar
• ½ tsp cinnamon

Directions

1. Peel the apples and remove the core. Dice the apples into cubes, about 1 cm in length. Heat a non-stick pan on medium heat and add in the butter, apples, sugar, cinnamon and a pinch of salt. Sauté for about 10 minutes until the apples are soft, tossing occasionally and setting aside to cool when done. 
2. While the apples are cooking, make the batter. In a medium mixing bowl, combine all the dry ingredients: flour, baking powder, baking soda, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamom and salt. Whisk to combine thoroughly. 
3. In a small bowl, combine all of the wet ingredients: buttermilk, vanilla extract, ginger, egg and oil and whisk together until thoroughly combined. 
4. Slowly pour the wet ingredients over the dry ingredients, whisking while doing so until the batter is totally combined. The batter should be relatively thick. Let the batter rest for 5-10 minutes, you should see some bubbles forming and popping. 
5. Heat a large, heavy bottomed skillet on medium heat. While the pan heats, combine the cooked apples into the batter and incorporate. Once the pan is hot, add a dash of neutral oil and scoop 1 cup of the batter into the pan. Cook on both sides for 3-5 minutes. It is  ready to flip when there are small air bubbles that are rising and popping all around the top of the pancake. 
6. While the pancakes cook, combine the powdered sugar with the cinnamon. Remove the pancake from the heat and sprinkle the cinnamon sugar mix over the top and enjoy while warm!