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Shorter days, cooler nights, and the changing colors of the leaves are just a few indicators that the seasons are changing. I love the warm, rich colors and flavors that dominate Autumn, and this is the season when I carve out extra time to bake and cook special dishes and meals for my family. If you walk into your grocery store during this time of year, you’ll likely see an abundance of apples on display in a rainbow of varieties. With Thanksgiving just two short months away, I’m already dreaming up special harvest dishes for our traditional family dinner including Dutch Apple Cake and Apple Butternut Squash Soup. Since breakfast is my favorite meal of the day, I decided to use the gala apples I purchased at Walmart to make Apple Cinnamon Buttermilk Pancakes.
How to Choose Apples For Your Recipe:
Admittedly, I know very little about how to choose apples for recipes, so I thought I’d share some tips I learned after doing a bit of research.
1. Select firm, bruise-free apples. Avoid apples with brown, mushy spots.
2. Look for apples with a shiny skin
3. Use this guide to help you determine which variety of apple you’ll need, based on your intended purpose, since some apples are ideal for eating while others soley for cooking and baking
How to Store Apples:
1. Store apples in the refrigerator
2. Do not wash apples until right before use
Since I chose an apple variety that has a fresh, sweet flavor, I decided to use the gala apples for a homemade applesauce that I then used in the Apple Cinnamon Buttermilk Pancakes. Making homemade applesauce is easier than you think and doesn’t really require a recipe. Here is what you’ll need to do:
- Rinse apples with water or a 1:3 part ratio of vinegar to water
- Peel, slice, and remove the core from 2 gala apples. Removing the peel is completely optional and I opted to leave it on during the cooking process to enhance the flavor. I also recommend picking up an apple slicer which makes this process go very quickly, particularly when you’re trying to prepare a large number of apples.
- Fill a large stock pot with apples and add water until there is approximately 1/4 inch covering the bottom
- Add 1 cinnamon stick
- Cover and cook on medium heat until apples are soft (Be sure to watch your apples in case you need to add a tablespoon or two of water while the apples are cooking)
- Remove from heat, strain, and puree in a food processor (after removing the cinnamon stick) until smooth (alternatively, you can use a potato masher for a chunkier applesauce)
- Run the applesauce through a mesh strainer if you’d like to remove the skin
- Enjoy!
I always purchase unsweetened applesauce and I found this particular homemade version to be the perfect balance of natural sweetness without the need to add sweeteners. However, if you find that it isn’t sweet enough, you can add organic cane sugar (be judicious) during the final few minutes of cooking this applesauce.
*Tip* Don’t throw out the water that the apples were cooked in. It’s actually quite flavorful and can be used for other dishes (although my kids just drank it like apple cider!)
Now that our homemade applesauce was prepared, it was time to put together our pancake mix. With the holiday season approaching, consider making up several batches of this and placing them in mason jars with a small tag and gifting them to your foodie friends.
Homemade Pancake Mix
1 cup flour (I like to use King Arthur Flour’s Unbleached Cake Flour)
2 1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
2 tsp organic cane sugar
Combine all ingredients and place in a mason jar. For gifting, print out a label with an ingredient list and instructions and tie it to the lid of the mason jar with a ribbon.
- 1 cup of pancake mix
- 1 egg
- 1/2 cup buttermilk
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 2 tbs brown sugar
- 1/2 cup homemade applesauce
- 3/4 cup chopped apple
- Sautéed Apple Topping:
- 1 apple sliced
- 1 tbs of butter
- 2 tsp brown sugar to taste
- 1 tsp cinnamon to taste
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Combine all ingredients in a medium-sized bowl. Do not overmix.
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Prepare a skillet with non-stick cooking spray or oil (I like to use coconut oil).
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Drop 2 tablespoons of batter onto hot skillet for each pancake.
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Cook until bubbles start to form, approximately 2 minutes and flip.
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Cook an additional 2 minutes or until each side is golden brown.
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To make sautéed apple topping, melt butter and brown sugar.
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Sprinkle apples with cinnamon and cook until soft but not mushy.
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Serve pancakes topped with sautéed apple topping.
These pancakes are incredible fluffy and delicious and worth the small amount of work involved in making them. I highly recommend prepping your pancake mix and storing it in sufficient quantities so it is ready to use. You can also make larger quantities of apple sauce to have on-hand, and this guide from Ball will teach you proper canning techniques.
When you are ready to incorporate your apples, be sure to peel, core, and slice them immediately before use or they will turn brown. Alternatively, you can place them in water prior to use to prevent them from turning brown. In this recipe, I added the apples last and then began cooking my pancakes which seemed to work out well.
Right now, Walmart has a huge Apple Fest taking place in-stores. You’ll find an expansive assortment of apples in the grocery section and apple-themed recipes and tips on Walmart.com.
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