Let me introduce you to your new favourite winter breakfast: a stack of fluffy cinnamon pancakes topped with stewed spiced apples. Heaven on a plate.
Like many of you, as we get into the colder months, I seem to crave more and more comfort food. This does not only translate to warming soups with grilled cheese sandwiches, stews and curries, but also to certain flavours. It is highly unlikely you'll see me eat a mango and raspberry parfait, or a feta and tomato pasta salad between October and February. Instead, all I seem to be cooking at the moment involves potatoes, pumpkin, root vegetables.... and apples. Apple and cinnamon is one of my favourite flavour combinations, and when I start pairing this in everything from desserts to my morning porridge, I know the colder months are here. And lately, these fluffy pancakes topped with stewed apples have been a firm favourite. I am sure that even those who are not big brekafast people will actively look forward to eating these.
These fluffy pancakes are very similar to traditional American buttermilk pancakes, but they have yogurt and milk instead of buttermilk, and of course a generous amount of cinnamon. For the topping, I have chopped some apples into small chunks and cooked them with honey, cinnamon, cloves and water until they soften. This is genuinely a very simple recipe, but it looks impressive and it would be a great crowd pleaser if you make them for family or friends on a cold Sunday morning.
Top Tips for the Perfect Pancake Stack:
Fat Is a Friend: These pancakes have to be fluffy, so I would really recommend you stay away from zero/low-fat yogurts. You can definitely use plant-based yogurt as well, provided it has a decent fat content (I often use coconut yogurt here). I also enjoy using butter for greasing the pan and be generous with it - these are, after all, a nice treat!
Low and Slow Wins the Race: I know you are hungry and you want to dig into that gorgeous pancake stack, but cooking your pancakes on a high heat will create a crispy outside and raw batter inside. I suggest cooking you pancakes on a low/medium heat, turning the heat down as you make your pancakes, as the pan will heat considerably by the time you get to your final pancakes. The same goes for the apples - a high heat will dry them out, while I love adding spoonfuls of them on top of the pancakes with still a good amount of juice in the pan. It makes your pancake stack very decadent.
Honey, Maple, Agave & Sugar: For the apples, I like to use honey, and I add a drizzle of maple syrup on the stack once it is all plated. However, that is just me. Any sweetner of choice, be it maple, sugar or agave, will work just as well.
Ingredients:
This recipe makes 8-10 pancakes
180 gr flour
2 tbsp sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda
125 gr natural full-fat yogurt
120 ml milk
2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg (optional)
butter to grease the pan
For the apples:
2 medium apples
2 tsp honey or maple syrup
1 tsp cinnamon
3 whole cloves
3 tbsp water
Method:
In a large bowl, whisk an egg. Then gradually add the milk and the yogurt to the bowl, and mix until fully combined.
Add flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg to the bowl, and mix again until combined.
To a pan on a low/medium heat, add about 1 tsp of butter. Once the butter has fully melted add 3/4 tbsp of the batter. Once bubbles start to form on the surface, flip the pancakes and cook for another minute or two. Bear in mind that as you cook the pancakes, the pan will get increasingly hotter, risking to dry out or burn your pancakes. So lower the heat slightly as you go and keep checking on the pancakes.
Cut up your apples into small chunks, then add them to a bowl, along with honey (or maple syrup), cinnamon, cloves and water. Transfer into a saucepan and cook for a few minutes on a medium heat, or until the apples soften and start to brown. Make sure to remove the cloves from the pot before serving the apples.
Pile your pancakes on a stack and top with your stewed apples, as well as an extra drizzle of honey or maple syrup.
Dig in and enjoy!
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