CINNAMON APPLESAUCE PANCAKES

Hello again!

Its been a very busy month with life in general, all good and I hope everyone is doing well. Things should be back to normal and I hope to post a new recipe once a week from now on. Today I share with you a very easy pancake recipe to add to your pancake repertoire. As the title suggests, these are filled with the goodness of apples and cinnamon. I used an organic jarred unsweetened applesauce here but you can make your own pretty easily following this recipe from Food 52. I did some of the pancakes with apple slices cooked in and some without, feel free to do the same or any way you prefer. I personally loved the ones with the apple slices, they cook up soft and tender while adding a bit of texture. So good! Mix up the spices and flours to suit your taste and/or needs. For this recipe I've used cinnamon and a dash of nutmeg. You may opt to replace the nutmeg with cardamom or allspice, or keep it simple with just cinnamon. For the flour, spelt is my absolute favorite but of course you can sub in your favorite flour or flour blend. These pancakes are every bit as good as they sound. Tender and fluffy, I'm pretty sure you'll be whipping these up often! 

Simple, wholesome and delicious!

CINNAMON APPLESAUCE PANCAKES

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups spelt flour, or flour of choice
• 2 tablespoons coconut or organic pure cane sugar 
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/8 -1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• pinch of mineral salt
• 1 1/2 cups unsweetened almond milk
• 3/4 cup unsweetened applesauce 
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon of coconut oil, for greasing

Preheat your oven to 200 degrees F. Place a baking sheet on the middle rack while oven is heating.

Heat griddle as per instructions or if using a large skillet heat over medium high heat.

In a large mixing bowl, add flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt, mix well. Next, add in the applesauce, non-dairy milk and vanilla extract, mix until just combined, do not over mix. Your mixture may seem to foam up a bit due to the baking powder, this is normal.

Clean and quarter an apple, remove the core. Cut into thin slices about 1/8 - 1/4 inch. 

Place about 1 teaspoon of oil on the griddle/skillet and spread evenly over the cooking area (I use a silicon brush). Lay two sliced apples next to each other on the griddle. Using a 1/4 cup measuring cup, scoop batter and place over top apples, gently helping the batter to cover the apples and form a circle. Cook until bubbles form on the top and edges start to look dry, about 2 1/2 - 3 minutes per side, or until golden.

If not adding apple slices, scoop batter as noted above and place on griddle. You won't need to help the batter, it will do its magic on it's own without the apple slices underneath. Continue as directed above.

As pancakes become done, place them in the oven on the warm cookie sheet to keep warm until all pancakes are ready.

Serve with pure maple syrup. A few fresh apple slices would also be great to serve.

Makes 9 pancakes, serving 3.

Notes:

Make a vegan buttermilk by adding a teaspoon of apple cider vinegar or juice of 1/2 small lemon to the milk 10 minutes before using.

I used Fuji apples, they are my favorite. Use your favorite apple.

Vary up your spices with cardamom, allspice or cloves in place of the nutmeg.

For maximum fluffiness, once you place the batter on the griddle, do not flatten out the top to try to spread the pancake. I learned this from experience, my pancakes weren't bad but just not as fluffy as they could've been.

For thicker pancakes use less milk, for thinner use more.

I'd love to see your re-creations!

#thesimpleveganista