Love and Olive Oil

German Apple Pancakes

German pancakes just might be one of my favorite things for breakfast. Especially in the winter. They are rich and satisfying, and fun to watch. If you’ve never made them before, don’t turn away from the oven. Right before your eyes, you’ll see the batter begin to rise and form beautiful golden peaks and valleys of puffed goodness. Almost like magic. Don’t forget to lower your oven rack, though, as the peaks can often rise to extraordinary heights, and you don’t want them to run into the top of your oven!

These pancakes are great as is, but this past weekend, we decided to make use of the beautiful bounty of fall apples available now. Think of it like a light and fluffy apple pie, that you eat for breakfast. I’m sure you could eat this for dessert as well, it actually might be more appropriate, but it is always a breakfast in my mind. It is, after all, a pancake. :)

German Pancakes with Apples

Makes 4-6 servings.

Ingredients
1 cup milk
1 cup flour
6 eggs
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons butter

Optional Apple Topping
1-2 apples, of your favorite variety, peeled, cored, and thinly sliced
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons brown sugar

Directions
Combine milk, flour, eggs, and salt in medium bowl and mix until just combined.

Move oven rack down to bottom 1/3 of oven, lower if you have a small oven. Place butter in a 13×9 inch pan sprayed with cooking spray, put in oven, and preheat to 450˚F. When butter is hot and sizzling, remove from oven and carefully pour batter into pan.

Return pan to oven and bake for 25 minutes, or until golden brown and fluffy.

Slice and serve hot with maple syrup and powdered sugar.

To make Apple variation:
Combine thinly sliced apples in bowl and toss with sugar, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, and lemon juice. In a separate bowl, combine brown sugar and remaining cinnamon and set aside. Before pouring batter into hot butter, spread a thin layer of apple slices in bottom of pan (should use about 3/4 of the apples). Pour in batter, and arrange remaining apples sparingly on top. Sprinkle with brown sugar mixture. Put back in oven and bake as usual.

Filed Under: Breakfast, Favorites, From our Kitchen
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