Puffy Oven Apple Pancake

It's time once again for my monthly Secret Recipe Club post!

This month I had the pleasure of checking out The Double Dipped Life, which belongs to Krista alllll the way in Utah.  I had a great time looking through the recipes on Krista's blog. Maybe I was just really hungry this month.  That wouldn't be unheard of.

I was torn between making Mexican Street Corn or the Puffy Oven Apple Pancake.  I really just want to make it all! But there are only so many hours in a day and I can only eat so much.  In the end, I chose to make the puffy oven apple pancake.  I'm really excited about this decision for several reasons.  Want to hear them?  Here we go...

1) Shut up that this recipe is from Betty Crocker.  The Betty Crocker Cookbook is one of the first cookbooks I remember leafing through.  Ever.  My mom had an old cookbook that my sister and I would use when pretending to serve in our very own restaurant, complete with paper food cutouts that we made ourselves.

2) Hellooooo! Fall recipe!  Between the apple and the spices, I'm not sure what exactly I was more into.  Maybe the apple.  No wait, maybe the spices?  Oh hold up, brown sugar's in here too?

3) Can I get an amen for breakfast as lunch/dinner?  I love breakfast dishes but I don't love eating a meal early in the morning.  Of course, I then spend the day trying to squeeze breakfast into my other meals.

4) Finally, this recipe was laid back and easy. Just my style.  It took no time to whip together all the ingredients and produce this huge, tasty pancake.

Puffy Oven Apple Pancake

very slightly adapted from The Double Dipped Life

makes 1-4 servings

Print Recipe

• 1 tablespoon butter
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1 cup diced apples, peeled or unpeeled (equates to about 1 medium apple)
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

1) Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.  Place the butter in a pie dish, and place it in the oven to melt for about a minute.  Once the butter is melted, use a pastry brush to brush the butter up the sides of the dish.

2) Sprinkle the brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg on the bottom of the pie dish.

3) Place the apples on top of the sugar and spices.

4) In a medium bowl, beat the eggs lightly.

5) Add in the flour, milk, and salt.  Stir until just combined.  Don't mind the lumps you see.  This is OK!

6) Slowly pour the batter on top of the apples.

7) Put the dish in the oven and bake for ~30 minutes, or until the edges are browned and puffy.

8) Remove the dish from the oven and immediately run a spatula around the edges to loosen the pancake.  Flip the pancake onto a plate.  Sprinkle with powdered sugar, or serve with maple syrup or whipped cream.

This pancake seriously reminded me of the french toast I made growing up.  My sister and I would make a brown sugar and cinnamon topping to sprinkle over freshly made french toast.  The biggest difference was that this "french toast" has apples in it.  The sweet and spicy pancake is nicely balanced by the crisp, fresh apples.  This is not a heavy meal, which I love because that means I can eat all of it by myself and not feel too guilty.  Not that I would do anything like that.