Apple Streusel Pancakes

Growing up, pancakes only came in three varieties in my household. Most days it was just plain, old pancakes, butter and syrup (not that there is anything wrong with that, that's the classic). Occasionally, as a treat, my mom would make a batch of blueberry pancakes, or my dad would whip up some of his banana pancakes. But that was the extent of our experimentation.

With an unlimited selection of filling and topping options, no food can be more creative and exciting than pancakes. They can be sweet and fruity, filled with bananas, or covered in strawberries. They can rich and decadent, bubbling with melted chocolate chips, piled high with mountains of whipped cream. They can be healthy, filled with quinoa, oats and nuts. They can even be savoury, speckled with corn, lathered in guacamole. Half the fun of pancakes is the experimentation, exploring various combinations of fillings and toppings.

I love desserts, particularly apple crisp, apple pie and, every now and then, apple streusel. So when I stumbled across a recipe for Apple Streusel Pancakes, I just had to try it. Needless to say, it did not disappoint. The pancakes were thick, but not too dense. The apples gave a nice tartness, which complimented the sweetness of the topping nicely. But for me the star was the topping. Crumbly and buttery and deliciously sweet, the topping rendered the though of adding syrup as distasteful. A little smear of butter, a heaping scoop of the streusel topping and these pancakes were absolutely delicious. If you are looking for a treat for the kids (or yourself) this is a good place to start.

Note: I am not a fan of nutmeg, and do not carry it in my house at all, so I skipped it. I also could have halved the topping recipe (or doubled the pancakes) as I had lots of topping leftover. Feel free to experiment as you see fit.

Apple Streusel Pancake recipe:

Streusel topping
1 cup flour
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup butter
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

Pancakes
1 1/4 cup flour
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
3 Tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 egg
1 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 Granny Smith apple, peeled and diced

Instructions:

1. Add all streusel ingredients to a food processor, process until crumbly. Set aside.

2. In a bowl add the flour, salt, baking powder, brown sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg. Mix until well combined.

3. Make a well in the dry ingredients, add the milk, egg and vanilla. Stir until just combined. Add the apple and stir.

4. Heat an electric griddle at 350 or skillet over medium heat. Coat with cooking spray.

5. Drop about 1/4 cup of batter on the hot griddle, top with 1 to 2 Tbsp of the streusel topping.

6. Cool until the edges start to looks dry, and the underside is golden brown, about 3 minutes. Flip and cook on the other side until cooked through, about 2 minutes. Plate, top with remaining streusel.

Recipe courtesy of domesticfits.com
Follow on Twitter @domesticfits

Enjoy,

- Jack