Apple Cinnamon Pancakes

Apple Cinnamon Pancakes!

Today, being Sunday, I decided to make pancakes from scratch for Matt and I!  I found a recipe in Glamour Magazine called "Love You Pancakes," so I decided to try those.  Well, they were supposed to be made with berries, however, when I took my raspberries out of the fridge, they were super moldy.  Boo.

Absolutely NONE of these were salvagible.  How sad!  

The recipe said that I could substitute peaches instead of berries, but I didn't have them, and since fall is upon us, I decided to cook down some apples.  I put some Smart Balance in a pan with the apples, cinnamon, and some sugar.  I cooked those until they were mushy.

Apples and cinnamon!  

After that, I added the apples to my pancake mix. The recipe also called for ricotta cheese, but I substituted cottage cheese, because that's what I had, and it worked out well.  I didn't have baking powder, so I just left it out... it didn't do anything to the taste, they were just a little flat.  Oh well, they were still yummy!

My delicious pancakes... from scratch!  

I haven't used a hand mixer before, so I whipped it out today to whip up my egg whites... which I expertly seperated from the yolks!

Look at those peaks!  

Apple Cinnamon Pancakes

Ingredients:
1 lemon
1 tsp. butter
3 apples, cored, diced
2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 cup plus 1 Tbsp. sugar
2 cups Flour
1/4 tsp. salt
1 Tbsp. baking powder
1 cup cottage cheese
1 1/4 cup milk
4 large eggs, seperated

Preparation:
Over a bowl, use a grater to zest the lemon.  Cut the lemon into wedges, set aside.
Heat butter in a small saute pan over medium heat. Add the apples, cinnamon, lemon zest, and 1/4 cup of sugar.  Heat until apples are slightly mushy.
In a medium bowl, combine the flour, salt, 1 Tbsp. sugar, and baking powder.  In another bowl, beat the cottage cheese with milk and egg yolks.  Add the flour mixture and stir until combined.  Let batter sit for 10 minutes.
Beat egg whites with a hand mixer until soft peaks form.
Gently fold in apples into batter followed by folding in the egg whites.  (Make sure you don't overmix!)
Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium low heat.  Melt 1/2 tbsp. butter at the center of the skillet.
Spoon batter into the hot skillet, directly onto the butter.
Cook until each pancake until the bottom is golden brown and the bubbles on the surface begin to break, about two minutes.  Flip the pancake and cook until golden brown, about one more minute.
Serve with maple syrup and lemon wedges.
Enjoy!

Recipe adapted from Glamour