Apple pie pancakes

Every now and then I get a hankering for apple pie at breakfast. The worst part is you can't just throw together a pie in the 20 minutes that you want it. There's the pastry to make, the filling, and then the cooking. Unless you are just simple amazing or have your pie apples and pastry ready to go. I am not that amazing nor think that far ahead.

The only other option are those apple pies you get at Macdonalds. Very yummy but not really that good for you!

I was determined one morning to make something quick that tasted like the gorgeous apple pie I so craved for. Firstly there's the most important part of the pie: the apples. I didn't just want the tasteless, plain apples from a can. I wanted something that had the flavour of Mum's apples made with all that love, to make that warm fuzzy feeling when you eat them. So an apple mix with all the yummy apple pie spices was a must.

So what about something for the pastry? My mind went straight to pancakes. It would give a good base for the apples.

It turned out amazing!

Apple pie pancakes

6 - 8 medium pancakes

For the pancakes

1 cup milk or rice milk
2 Tbsp margarine or dairy-free spread
1/4 cup sugar
1 cup SR flour
1/2 cup plain flour
1 egg

For the apples

2 apples, cored and diced
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 Tbsp sugar

Firstly, the apples. Place all the apple ingredients in a small pot over a low heat with the lid on. Resist the urge to add in water! The apples will create enough liquid as they cook down. You can cook the apples for 15 - 20 mins, so simply leave it, stirring occasionally mainly just to check on it. We want the apples to be nice and soft, and there to be a little bit of juice from the cooking to be a little bit of a syrup.

Now, the pancake batter. Add in all your dry ingredients into a medium sized bowl. Lightly whisk your egg and put aside. In a small jug add your milk and margarine (or rice milk and dairy free spread for a dairy free option). Pop it the microwave for around a minute (doing 25 second intervals if required) with your margarine or spread until melted. I usually only wait for the margarine to be half melted and then mix it through the warm milk to melt the rest. Create a well in the centre of your dry ingredients and add the egg first, followed by half the milk. Mix until well combined and then slowly add the rest of the milk until it creates a think batter. If you feel you don't need the last little bit of milk simply don't add it.

Depending on how long it's been now, your apples might be ready. If you are at the 15 min mark, check your apples and turn it off if your apples are nice and soft. They shouldn't take any longer than 20. So if you feel like you'll forget them if you go onto your pancakes either wait that little bit longer until they are done or just turn it off and leave the lid on. They'll cook that little bit longer while you do your pancakes and will still keep warm. You can also cook them a couple more minutes just before serving if you need to.

Heat a large pan or electric fry pan on medium (I use my gorgeous Breville Crepe Creations pan which I recommend to anyone), spraying the pan with a little bit of oil once it's hot enough if it's not non-stick. If you'd like all your pancakes to be the same size it's best to use a measuring cup to spoon the mixture onto the pan with. Depending on what size you want you can use a 1/4 or 1/3 measuring cup. Otherwise you can always use a jug to pour the mixture for each pancake. Do whatever makes you comfortable, because that is what cooking is all about!

When cooking your pancakes a lot of people worry about when you should flip them. The best thing to look for is for little bubbles to appear all over the top. If you flip it when there are only a couple of bubbles or only in one area you run the rest of it not being cooked on the side with no bubbles or that your pancake sort of turns on itself when you flip it. Once the bubbles appear flip your pancakes and cook for a little bit longer on the other side and your done. Continue until you have used all your batter.

I know a big stack of pancakes looks amazing, but trust me - they are deceiving size wise! I usually only have two, and Mr Steph has three. Add your pie apples on top of each stack with a drizzle of thickened cream or a scoop of vanilla icecream.

Enjoy!

Steph xo