“Pancakes!” My children expectantly say when I ask them “what would you like for breakfast.” Every once in a while we will have a morning where I have a little more time, or a little more energy, and they get to choose the fun breakfast. Pancakes are one of their favorites, and I can’t blame them! I also love a nice stack of warm, bready, sweet pancakes, topped with delicious maple syrup and creamy butter. Depending on the season I may make plain pancakes, or I may reach for a seasonal recipe, like these apple cinnamon pancakes in the fall!
My father shares my love of cooking, I have so many memories of sitting on our kitchen counter helping him make breakfast on weekend mornings. The older I got, the more I got to help with, and I will always cherish those memories. My dad is a big believer in breakfast on weekends: pancakes and bacon, sausage and eggs, scones and jam. When the weather started to get crisp and cool, we would turn to warm and spiced versions of our favorites. One year we had picked a large amount of apples and the need to use them, combined with the desire for cinnamon everything led to us making these apple cinnamon pancakes.
The perfect pancake to me is thick, fluffy, and golden with just a hint of sweetness. It is important not to add too much sugar to the batter as you will be pouring maple syrup over it and that can become too sweet and unbalanced. One of the secrets to thick pancakes is thick batter. If you have a thin batter, your pancakes will spread in the pan and be thin.
What Kind of Apples Should You use?
This is totally up to you! My favorites are pink lady, gala, honey crisp, and macintosh. Granny smith apples also offer a nice tartness that counter-balances the sweetness of the pancake and the syrup.
Mom pro-tip: I highly recommend making a double batch of these pancakes! Often I have a little more help on weekends and taking a little extra time to make more pancakes and freeze them for later really helps my week! Simply pull out the amount of pancakes you need for that morning and pop them in the toaster oven.
If you are looking for a warm, filling breakfast for yourself or your family, try out these apple cinnamon pancakes!
Time to Make the Batter!
Begin by adding your flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon to a large bowl. Whisk them together to combine. It always makes me feel extra fall-ish to use my pottery bowls and wooden spoons! For me, I spend so much time in my kitchen that it is nice to use utensils that I find pretty.
In a liquid measuring cup add the milk, eggs, oil, and vanilla. Make sure you whisk thoroughly, as leaving the eggs under beaten will cause streaks of egg white in your batter, and ultimately, your pancakes.
Once you have the wet ingredients homogenous, add them to the dry ingredients. Chop your apple very small, you want the pieces small enough that they warm through as you cook your pancake. You can peel the apple, or leave the skin on, totally up to you. I like to leave it on. Add the apple to the bowl and mix! You want to make sure that you combine everything, but don’t over beat it. Over mixing can make the batter thinner, which will lead to thinner pancakes. I prefer mine nice and thick so it is okay to leave a few streaks of flour.
Let the batter rest for about 5-10 minutes to allow the flour to hydrate properly. I usually use this time to get my non-stick skillet heating and some butter melted in it. If you’re use a non-stick pan then using butter or oil is not strictly necessary, but if you have some warm butter in the pan then the pancakes almost fry on the outside, which is my husbands favorite!
Ready to Cook!
Add your pancake batter to the pan in small discs, I use a 1/4 cup scoop for my pancakes, but you could use a 1/3 if your like larger pancakes. I find if I use a 1/4 cup then it makes the perfect size pancakes for my children. Three pancakes comfortably in my 12″ skillet. I have attempted four, and while it is possible, it makes flipping them much harder! Speaking of flipping, it is important to wait until the pancakes are ready to be flipped! How do you know when they are ready? They will have bubbles on the tops and some of the bubbles will have started to pop. Your spatula should also slide under easily.
Once your pancakes are cooked on both sides, remove them to a wire cooling rack. This is something I’ve started to do recently, but I find it really helps your pancakes to not become soggy! Often I make the pancakes and then we eat them a little while after, if you simply put them on a plate the moisture makes them soggy.
Time to Eat the Best Apple Cinnamon Pancakes!
Now you are ready to add your favorite toppings and eat your apple cinnamon pancakes! I love mine with butter and maple syrup! A few other good toppings are whipped cream, apple butter, and walnuts!
I hope that you have enjoyed this recipe for apple cinnamon pancakes! It is one of my family’s favorites, and a must have during the fall months.
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