Apple Pie Pancakes

Because who doesn't love apple pie?

When I was growing up, my mom was not much on breakfast. I love her to pieces, but I definitely didn't learn my breakfast skills from her. She was not a morning person by any stretch of the word, so getting three kids off to school on time and herself to work on time was an accomplishment. I know this because I did happen to inherit her morning skills. During the week, I was proud of myself if I managed to eat a bowl of cereal before school. Usually though, it was my mom "encouraging" me to get my dragging behind out of the door while shoving a pop tart in my hand. A cold one at that. It should come as no surprise to you that I've had to make myself enjoy breakfast as an adult.

On occasion, mostly on the weekends, she would cook breakfast for us. One of our favorites was what she called German pancakes. Whether these were authentically German, I will probably never know. But what I did know was that on that occasion, she would let us break out the powdered sugar (Oh yes!) and would often fry some apples for us to put on top. There was never enough. Ever. To this day, I can remember sitting around our kitchen table, with both of my brothers, waiting for the pancakes to come out of the oven. 

I said earlier, I inherited my mom's morning skills. My kids and hubs, much to my chagrin, are morning people. They wake up with feet to the floor, ready to eat and ready to roll. I had forgotten about these pancakes for a while. But one day I stumbled across our old family cookbook and the fond memories came back. I figured my kids might enjoy them as much as I did. Or maybe I just hoped. Who knows. Either way, they did! 

Recently, with apple season starting, I decided to give the pancakes a twist. Instead of simply placing the fried apples on top, my daughter gave me the idea of making the pancakes with apples in them. *poof* Mind blown. We now refer to them as apple pie pancakes. 

Ingredients:
6 eggs

1/8 tsp. salt
1 cup AP flour (we're gluten free, so we use an AP blend that's always around)

1/4 tsp xanthan gum (if you're GF like us!)

1 1/2 cup milk (coconut, almond or even buttermilk work just as well)

a few dabs of butter for the pans

For the apples:

3 or 4 nice sized apples, cut into slices

1 tsp cinnamon, depending on your taste
if you need sugar, we usually use about 1 or 2 tbsp of coconut crystals

few tsps oil, I prefer coconut oil

You'll want to cook the apples first, since this can take up to 15 or 20 minutes. Saute all the ingredients in a saute pan over medium heat until the apples have softened a bit, and the sugars start to form what looks like caramel. Set to the side.

For the pancakes: Preheat the oven to 450 degrees, put the butter into two 8-inch cake (baking pans) and put the pans in the oven for about 3 or 4 minutes to let the butter melt. (Alternatively, you could melt the butter and coat the pans.) Beat the eggs with salt. Add flour to milk and blend until smooth. Add the flour mixture to the eggs and blend well. You'll want to pour a layer of the batter into both of the pans, then add a nice even layer of the apples. Whether you use them all or save some for later is completely up to you. Add the rest of the batter evenly into both pans. Bake for 15-18 minutes. They should look brown on top and be puffed up quite a bit. It's usual for the pancakes to deflate slightly.

We cut them up in quarters, but the important part is that you enjoy!