Apple Ring Pancakes

It’s fall and with that: Apple season!
And with an abundance of fresh apples the kitchen is beckoning  to turn them into… I don’t know… stuff. Yummy stuff  😉

The idea for this was partially inspired by my memories of Basel (my hometown) and the 2 week long autumn fair ‘Herbschtmäss’ that happens every year in, I wanna say late October. I am not certain on the exact timing all I know it is usually when you get cold toes for the first time that fall and you might want to dig out your gloves. The fair which is all over town has rides (like any good fair, I guess) but the best part are the places that have artist displaying their crafts and the food. It is traditionally the start of the colder weather, people start thinking about presents and the winter holidays coming up. But my fondest memory is of the hot apple fritters with cinnamon that one place (and one place only) was offering during those two weeks. You would get them and huff and puff for a while so you don’t completely burn yourself, but I wanna say, a little pain was often involved, it is just so hard to resist that tempting smell…   However, to bring this story full circle, the fried apple rings are maybe not the most health conscious treat out there, plus making anything deep fried is a lot of work, so abundance of apple was not going to equal fried food for this girl. And while this train of though could lead to many an end, the one my brain spat out was ‘breakfast!’ Right, what better way to use an apple than making them into breakfast?

This is also a good way to add some fruit into your child’s breakfast, all while making it fun! If you’re really good, you might be able to preserve the hole in the middle that filled in with batter in my case. But I did also not try very hard to keep it, if that makes sense, since to me the shape was not as important as it might be to a 5 year old 🙂

Ingredients

• 1-2 larger apples (I used a gala apple) cut cross wise into 1/4″ slices
• 1 cup flour
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1 egg
• 2 tbsp oil or melted butter
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 2 tsp turbinado sugar
• 1 pinch of salt
• cinnamon-sugar and maple syrup as toppings
• some oil for the pan

Directions

1. Cut apple into 1/4″ sliced crosswise, then using a small round cookie cutter or glass, cut out the core of the apple from each slice. (You can also use an apple corer, then slice the apple)
2. Make the batter: Mix the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar until combined, then add the milk, oil and egg.
3. Mix with a fork until just combined, some lumps are fine
4. Preheat a skillet over medium heat, rub the interior with an oiled paper towel.
5. Using a toothpick, dip the apple rings into the batter, turn to coat both sides and place in skillet to cook, about three at a time.
6. Turn when they are golden brown and finish cooking on the second side, being careful to turn the heat down if necessary. (You want to make sure the apple gets mostly cooked before the pancake burns) Set aside, cover and keep warm on a pre-warmed plate or in the oven. Cook the remainder of the apple slices.
7. Serve sprinkled with cinnamon-sugar or syrup and be happy you did not just have plain carbs for breakfast.

© 2012 SimpleHealthyHomemade