My usual breakfast meal consists of plain yogurt or cottage cheese and fresh fruit. But when it’s a special day, I like celebrating with comfort food for breakfast to start the day off on a happy note. For me, that means pancakes for breakfast. The older I get, the less I feel I can indulge in this tasty breakfast food. Ugh. But at least I can experience the delight of pancakes by serving some up for my kids who are still young and active enough to not have to worry too much about the carb-punch that pancakes give. They’ll have pancakes, and I’ll have eggs. [Well, OK, I might have a pancake . . . or two.]
Our family pancake recipe includes a secret ingredient: apples! The recipe has stood the test of time and has crossed generations. It sends the signal of “comfort” and “home” louder than words could ever do. Here it is, from my home to yours . . . .
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- 1 large egg
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil (e.g., canola oil)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 cup milk (adjust for desired consistency) (may be substituted with 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 cups buttermilk; or half yogurt and half milk)
- 1 1/4 cups flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 apple peeled, cored and grated (use large holes) (may be substituted with 1/2 cup applesauce)
- vegetable oil for frying
- 1/2 cup chocolate chips, blueberries, or chopped peaches (if using fresh fruit, more than 1/2 cup will likely be needed)
- 3 tablespoons butter, or as desired (to dab on pancakes before serving)
- maple syrup, as desired
- chopped fresh fruit, as desired (e.g., bananas, strawberries, pineapple)
Ingredients
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- Fork mix egg, oil, vanilla, and milk (or buttermilk), and applesauce (if using instead of grated apple) until well-combined.
- In a separate large bowl, whisk together dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, brown sugar, and cinnamon). Whisk egg mixture into dry mixture until there are nearly no lumps. Add more milk if batter is too thick or more flour if too runny. Mix in grated apple (if using instead of applesauce).
- Heat a large non-stick frying pan on medium. Add 1 tablespoon (scant) of oil and tilt pan to coat with oil. Working in batches, spoon batter onto preheated pan, usually four pancakes at a time. Sprinkle a few chocolate chips, blueberries, or chopped peaches (or a little of all three). Fry pancakes for about 2 minutes on one side or until bubbles appear and bottom is golden brown. Flip and fry about one minute on second side or until golden brown. Lower temperature of burner if necessary to prevent burning. Remove pancakes to plate and pat with some of the butter; cover to keep warm. Repeat with remaining batter.
- Serve immediately. Top with maple syrup and chopped fruits, such as bananas, strawberries, pineapple, and blueberries, as desired.
NOTE: Makes about 16 pancakes. Recipe may be doubled.
STEP-BY-STEP INSTRUCTIONS
Fork-blend wet ingredients: 1 egg, 1 Tbsp oil, 1 tsp vanilla, 1 cup milk (or 1 1/4 cup buttermilk or milk/yogurt combination), and 1/2 cup applesauce (if using instead of grated apple). I used milk with yogurt in the batch I made below, and applesauce instead of grated apple.
In a large bowl, whisk together dry ingredients: 1 1/4 cups flour, 1 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp baking soda, 1/2 tsp salt, 1 Tbsp brown sugar, and 1 teaspoon cinnamon.
Whisk egg mixture into dry mixture until there are nearly no lumps. Mix in grated apple (if using instead of applesauce). By the way, use large holes for grating the apple.
The batter is more thick than runny. Add more milk if the batter is too thick, or more flour if the batter is too runny. [The best way to know whether it’s the right consistency is to fry the first batch and do a taste test! Adjust the batter by adding some more milk or more flour based on your taste test. For me, the pancakes from my first batch are usually too heavy. I find that, more often than not, I need to add a bit more milk to the batter before frying up my second batch.]
Get bowls of the pancake fillings (inclusions) ready. My favorites in pancakes are chocolate chips, blueberries, and/or peaches. For this batch, I used frozen blueberries, which worked perfectly well. [I half-defrosted them before dropping on the pancakes.]
Heat up a large, non-stick frying pan on medium heat and pour some oil in it, about 1 tablespoon (scant). Spoon four globs of batter on the preheated pan.
Sprinkle your favorite inclusions (e.g., chocolate chips, blueberries, and/or peaches).
Let the pancakes fry for about 2 minutes or until bubbles appear on top, and the bottom is golden brown.
Flip and fry the other side. Fry for about a minute or until golden brown.
Transfer the pancakes to a plate and dab with butter. Cover and keep the pancakes warm while you make additional batches of pancakes.
Before you are ready to serve the pancakes, you might want to prepare some other fresh fruits to serve as a refreshing topping, like strawberries, bananas, and pineapple chunks.
We can’t forget about maple syrup. It always makes for a good topping!
Enjoy!
