Hit the Spot

Just taking a very quick moment to post a recipe I tried tonight - apple pancakes. I am a terrible cook, I will admit it. I can follow a recipe & most of the time be somewhat successful but I have absolutely no creativity in coming up with my own ideas & I can stare into a full pantry without a single notion of what to do with any of it. Therefore I admire friends & family who are awesome cooks & always have something up there sleeve.

One friend of ours over here is starting a tradition with her kids of pancakes on a Saturday night, which I love. Our family used to have a fruit salad & popcorn Saturday night when we'd have other families over to celebrate the end of Sabbath & watch a movie or something. I'd like to rekindle this tradition but tonight I decided to steal her pancake idea instead! Also, I bought too many apples this week that weren't being gobbled up so I googled apple pancakes & when I saw a smitten kitchen recipe pop up, I knew we were in business. I didn't want pancakes with baked or stewed or whatever apples on top because those are always way too sickly sweet for me so I was happy to see that the apples were grated & incorporated into the recipe instead.

Mine didn't turn out overly apple-tasting, just a hint of it but with a gorgeous texture from the grated apples. She mentioned in her recipe that next time she'd make them with additional flavours & maybe use more tart (tarter?) apples & I would agree if I had any clue what other flavours would go in there but again, I missed my mother's wonderful cooking gene! I knew our apples weren't the most exciting, which is why we hadn't eaten them all in the first place but the recipe absolutely hit the spot for me & my gentlemen. Even the unborn one is doing a happy dance in my gut.

I'll just paste the recipe straight up below but I'm also including a link so you can see all her extra notes & the comments other users have left - I find on cooking blogs that the little tweaks that everyone else tries along the way are incredibly helpful & half the time they have the same questions I have. If you enjoy cooking & good recipes, I wholeheartedly urge you to take a few minutes to cruise around her other recipes because they will knock your socks off & she has a really great way of writing a recipe with every bit of information you could need as well as a warm humor ... & a few adorable pictures of her son hidden in there from time to time!

http://smittenkitchen.com/2008/11/apple-pancakes/

apple pancakes

Adapted from Joan Nathan, and a bunch of other sources laying claim to the same recipe

As I mentioned above, these are going to need a little more oomph than the original recipe entails. I’d vote for some orange or lemon zest, perhaps some cinnamon or vanilla extract or … well, what do you think? I am eager to see what you all do to step it up a bit.

(New to pancakes? Check out these tips.)

2 eggs, well beaten
1 1/2 cups of milk or yogurt (I used milk and am only assuming that the yogurt will work as well)
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup sugar
3 medium apples, peeled and coarsely grated (I used yellow delicious, but will use a more tart variety next time)
Extra flavorings (see recipe notes)
Vegetable oil, for frying
Confectioner’s sugar, for dusting

1. Mix the eggs with the milk or yogurt in a large bowl.

2. In a smaller bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar together.

3. Combine the wet and the dry ingredients and stir in the apples and whatever other flavorings you see fit.

4. Heat a thin layer of oil in a skillet over low to medium heat. Drop large spoonful of batter into the pan and flatten it out a little (otherwise, you might have trouble getting them to cook in the center) and cook until golden brown underneath. Flip the pancakes and cook them for an additional two or three minutes.

5. Either dust with powdered sugar and serve immediately, or keep on a tray in a warmed oven until you are ready to serve them.