Good Morning everyone! It is a great morning after a very long weekend of being away from my sweet husband. He was involved in a Global Game Jam with a group of indie game developers over the weekend. A game jam is where people get together and try to make a game in 48 hours. There were some bumps along the road, but they were actually able to make a game in that time! I'm super proud of him for doing something so exciting, but it was a long weekend alone for me. Yes, I was feeling pretty sorry for myself, and because of that, I ate really badly over the past few days. Lots of noodles with peanut sauce, biscotti, and wine. Ha! It was terrible not to have anyone to cook for. But enough of that! My hubby is back, and we're back on track!
I wanted to make something special this morning, so I found a yummy apple pancake recipe in my other favorite cookbook Food to Live By. I don't ever buy syrup, so our pancakes are usually topped with some sort of fruit compote. I try to keep some frozen berries in the freezer for just this type of occasion. The only fruit I had left was raspberries, so that's what I used today, and I have to say, they were a really nice complement to the pancakes.
Although this recipe is a good one and the pancakes were delicious, my only complaint was that they came out pretty doughy. The recipe called for only a small amount of baking powder, but I think the addition of the apples made the dough a little too wet and dense. I would have added in a pinch of baking powder to offset this. And maybe not add quite so many apples. Or maybe shredding the apples caused it to be thicker. Thinly slicing the apples might not have added in so much of their juice into the batter. Other than that, though, I would highly recommend these for a good morning!
Also, the raspberry compote is super easy to make and would be a great topping for pancakes, french toast, desserts, or even morning oatmeal! I make my compote a little on the tart side because I think it balances the rich, doughy sweetness of the pancakes. I also like keeping the natural taste of the fruit. If you want something sweeter, you are welcome to add more honey to this recipe, though I would recommend tasting the compote before you sweeten it further.
Apple Chocolate Chip Pancakes
Adapted from Food to Live By by Myra Goodman
Makes 6 small pancakes or 3 large
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
(1/4 tsp baking soda...optional, though it might help lighten the pancake)
1 TB brown sugar
pinch of salt
2 tsp cinnamon
1 cup shredded or thinly sliced apple (1 medium apple)
1/2 cup chopped, toasted pecans (optional)
1/2 cup chocolate chips (optional)
1 large egg
1/2 cup almond milk (or other milk)
2 TB coconut oil, melted (or melted butter, or canola oil)
spray oil or butter
confectioner's sugar for dusting
1. Combine all dry ingredients in a large bowl. Whisk to combine.
2. In a separate bowl whisk together oil, milk, and egg.
Whisk liquid ingredients into dry ingredients. Fold in apple, nuts, and chocolate chips.
3. Heat a large skillet on medium to medium high heat. Butter or spray oil the pan (make sure oil doesn't burn or will make your pancakes taste bad...if it does start to burn, take the pan off the heat and wipe oil out with a paper towel. Let the pan cool, then spray it again and add in batter. Then put back on the heat). Add in about 1/2 cup of batter for each pancake, or more if you want large pancakes. Cook on one side until that side is golden brown and there are little bubbles on top of the pancake. Flip over and repeat on the other side.
Serve pancakes warm with powdered sugar and raspberry compote (or syrup).
NOTE: If you are not going to serve pancakes immediately, you can keep them warm in the oven on a baking sheet.
Raspberry Compote
Makes about 1 cup...might need to double it for more people!
1 cup raspberries, frozen or fresh
1 tsp lemon juice
1-2 tsp honey
water as needed
Place all ingredients in a small sauce pan with enough water to cover the bottom. Place pan (with a lid) on medium high heat and boil until berries start to fall apart (about 3-5 minutes). Turn down heat, uncover, and simmer until most of the water has evaporated. Turn off heat and let cool. Serve warm.
NOTE: You can use other fruit in a similar manner. Blackberries, peaches, blueberries, apples (if you don't put them in the pancakes!), plums, and cherries all cook down well. Any fruit that can be made into a jam will work great. Or try combinations!
Actually, putting jam on pancakes would also work great, though it will be much sweeter. The great thing about making fresh compote is that you can control the sugar/acid content, and how far down you cook the fruit.
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