I may have failed to produce any edible football watching snacks last weekend, but I did manage to put together a pretty great breakfast for us Sunday morning. Crispy oven-fried bacon, scrambled eggs with goat cheese, a big tasty pile of these fluffy cinnamon apple pancakes, and the most amazing apple cider syrup to drown said pancakes in. So much yum, y’all.
The only snag was that the whole meal took me frickin’ forever to cook. Partly because multi-tasking is hard, but mostly because I was too lazy to bust out my big griddle and choose to go with a small frying pan instead. This genius move resulted in my producing pancakes at the impressive rate of one pancake every three or four minutes. There was a lot of batter, so…it took a while.
By the time I finally got breakfast on the table, Dan was pretty hangry (being tantalized with the smell of bacon and pancakes for two hours will do that to a person). But, he’d be the first person to tell you that the meal was well worth the wait. Bacon and eggs are delicious at all times, of course, but those pancakes! Fluffy apple pancakes drenched in buttery smooth, tangy sweet apple cider syrup = breakfast perfection.
Although, if we’re being totally honest, the pancakes themselves, while very tasty, were not the highlight of the meal (what can I say, I’m not a big pancake person). What really made the whole thing shine was that amazing syrup. Just look at it. I could eat it on everything! Or just straight out of the pitcher with a spoon. Whatever.
I don’t want to oversell it or anything, but the English language doesn’t have enough words to properly describe the wonder that is homemade apple cider syrup. If I had to describe it I’d say that it tastes like…the essence of autumn…pure joy…world peace…and childhood.
Just kidding, it tastes a lot like those apple cider caramels everyone is so wild about this time of year, but in liquid form. Lots of concentrated apple flavor, great balance of sour/sweet, with a nice buttery finish. Not too thick, and not cloying the way some pancake syrups are. I did actually eat a whole bunch of it with a spoon.
Outside of pancakes, I could see this stuff being great a lot of things – waffles (which is what Cooking Classy ate it on), crepes, ice cream, apple pie (inside or poured on top), or maybe as a glaze drizzled on loaf/bundt cakes. The possibilities are endless! This syrup is liquid (apple) gold, people.
- 2 cups all purpse flour
- 4 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- ½ tsp salt
- 2 eggs
- 2 cups fat-free milk
- 2 tbsp honey
- 1 tbsp canola oil
- 1 medium apple, peeled and grated
- 1 cup packed brown sugar (light or dark, up to you)
- 2 tbsp cornstarch
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- ⅓ tsp ground ginger
- 1 dask ground cloves
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 cups apple cider
- 1-1/2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- ¼ cup salted butter (half a stick), cut into 4 pieces
- In a medium saucepan, whisk together brown sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, allspice, ginger, cloves and salt until cornstarch is evenly distributed.
- Stir in apple cider and apple cider vinegar and turn your stove to medium-high heat.
- Bring mixture to a boil, stirring constantly.
- Allow mixture to boil for 1-2 minutes, stirring constantly.
- Remove from heat, stir in butter and allow to cool.
- Store in refrigerator in an airtight container until you're ready to serve. Rewarm in microwave before serving.
- In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, honey and oil.
- Gently stir wet ingredients into dry ingredients just until moistened.
- Stir in apple.
- Pour batter by ¼ to ⅓ cupfuls onto a hot griddle (or pan over medium-low heat) coated with butter or cooking spray.
- Flip your pancakes when bubbles form on top.
- Cook until second side is golden brown.
- Serve immediately, with sliced apples (cooked or not, up to you), and a few generous spoonfuls of your warmed apple cider syrup.
(Pancakes slightly adapted from Taste of Home; Apple Cider Syrup slightly adapted from Cooking Classy)
That pancake stack looks to die for!! And homemade apple cider syrup to boot? So perfect for this time of year…
Thanks! I think so too 😉
i am seriously drooling over these photos!
Thanksss 😀
Oh my gosh! These are so mouthwatering! Yummm 😉
Thanks, girl!
I wish I was waking up to a stack of these apple pancakes tomorrow morning. They look seriously delicious and I am loving all that syrup going on!
Thankkkkks! It’s a shame we’re not neighbors – I’ve got a ton of syrup leftover 😉
Could that glistening stack of pancakes look any more tantalizing? Gorgeous work! I want that syrup on everything!
Thanks! I want to put it on all the things too…and I just might do it ;p
Your photography is so gorgeous! I need you to head over to my house and teach me a thing or two about lighting. BEAUTIFUL!! This recipe sounds perfect 🙂
Awww thanks, Becky! You are too sweet 🙂
That apple cider syrup!! NEED 😀
:D:D:D
These look delicious! I love the idea for the syrup. I don’t like maple syrup (I know, I know…) but I LOVE all kinds of other fruit flavored syrups, so I think I will try this for tomorrow’s breakfast if I can find some apple cider by then.
No judgment – I don’t like maple syrup either! If you like this syrup, keep your eyes peeled for a whole bunch of flavored syrups coming soon 😉
I need a jar of this syrup in my Thanksgiving basket from you (this is a thing – I’m making it a thing).
Haha – duly noted 😉