One Saturday morning, Mikey wanted pancakes because he woke up “starving”. And he wanted not just any pancakes but Apple Pancakes. These are also known as a “Dutch Baby” and are a baked pancake chock full of apples. The rule with these pancakes though is that he has to help make them. However, before any of that – I needed some coffee!
PS: 2 batches make enough for our family of 3 plus some left over for a quick breakfast another morning.
For one pancake, you’ll need:
- ½ stick of butter (divided in half)
- 1-2 tablespoons of combined cinnamon and nutmeg (proportion to your flavor tastes)
- 1-2 diced OR sliced apples (We use whatever is on hand but the Gala are our favorite)
- ½ cup whole or 2% milk
- ½ cup flour
- 4 large eggs
- 3 tablespoons sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Preheat the oven to 435F.
Melt 2 tablespoons of butter. Slide or dice up the apples. In a large bowl, mix all the dry ingredients (flour, sugar, and salt). Then add the milk and vanilla to the bowl.
Whisk it very well. Then add the eggs to the bowl and whisk well again. Slowly pour in the melted butter into the bowl as you whisk the batter.
Set the bowl aside. In a cast iron (10-11 inch deep skillet), add the other 2 tablespoons of butter. Turn the heat to medium high. As the butter starts to melt, add the apples and cinnamon/nutmeg. Lightly sauté for 2-3 minutes until the apples start to soften (keep them in an even layer).
At this point, turn off the heat and pour the batter over the apples. Then quickly place the entire skillet in the oven. Bake for 12-14 minutes until the pancake is puffed and golden.
PS: Mikey has grown up being involved in the kitchen. We have worked with him to make sure he understands safety first in the kitchen. He even has 2 child sized oven mitts! No child was in danger while taking these pictures or while making breakfast!
After we had our yummy breakfast, it was time for the usual cleanup, chores, and Saturday errands. Knowing that we planned to go out and use our Living Social deal for dinner, Daddy asked Mikey to select where we should stop and grab some food for a light lunch while we were out. We live in the country, it’s around 20-30 minutes to get to the big box stores so it’s not easy to run back and forth. For all his gruff, Daddy can’t say no to Mikey when it comes to food. So we ended up at the A1 Japanese Steakhouse for lunch.
https://www.facebook.com/A1JapaneseSteakHouseMooresville
They actually have a kids’ menu that includes more than just chicken nuggets or macaroni & cheese. Of course, always willing to try new foods… Mikey took a sip of my soup (onion, miso). Thankfully, Daddy let him have his since he loved it (I have a cold and did not want to share my soup).
Mikey ordered the kid’s steak hibachi and a Ramune to drink. Don’t know what Ramune is – check this out – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramune.
Later that evening after all the errands and chores were done, we drove to Bosphorous Café [https://www.facebook.com/thebosphoruscafe] for dinner. Thank you Living Social for the great deal! Mikey is in love with hummus so we started with that as an appetizer.
The couple seated next to us were not shy in discussing his polite behavior and outstanding appetite. (thank heavens he got over his crabby nap wake-up) Mikey and I shared Iskender which is gyro meat over pita chunks covered in a tomato sauce with yogurt on the side.
He also had half of Daddy’s green beans. Mikey’s love of green beans is why we have a lot of green bean seedlings in our greenhouse just for him!
I don’t know where he puts all this food! He and I ate the same amounts and I was stuffed. I need to stop trying to eat as much as my 4 year old and just accept the fact that he can out eat me. At least today is sunny and I can work off some of that food by planting, weeding, and cleaning…
PS: At some point, perhaps I may start using a real camera instead of my iPhone… especially if I’m going to share these outside of family. One more thing to carry around (I rarely bring a purse)!
A four year old foodie 