Mmmmm...Pancakes!

Honestly I don't know what my food kick is lately.  I guess because during the summer I have a chance to think about what I cook more, and then I can actually cook more.

Summer mornings are my favorite.  I use the term "morning" loosely, because sometimes I wake up late.  But what I like about summer mornings is that there's not a deadline for leaving the house.  I can take my own time and go through my routine without worrying that I'm running late.

So often I make a fairly complicated breakfast.  On a normal school day, I will have cereal, oatmeal, a bagel, or a microwaveable breakfast sandwich.  Something that doesn't take a lot of time or thought.  However, I loooove pancakes.  Freshly made ones.  Frozen pancakes and waffles are OK, but they just aren't the same as those you make fresh.

So.  I was trolling through Pinterest and I found this recipe for fried apple pancake rings.  Now, I'm not one for complicated usually, so I read the recipe and decided to do it my own way.  I do that a lot.

The recipe calls for using regular pancake mix as the batter.  No biggie.  Whenever I make pancakes, I actually substitute some of the pancake mix with oatmeal.  The brand I use calls for 2 cups of the pancake mix, so I use 1 1/2 cups of the mix and 1/2 cup of oatmeal.  Oatmeal makes things healthier, right?  Oh, and the recipe calls for something like 1 tablespoon of white sugar, and I use brown sugar instead.

Since I just cook for myself, I used one apple for the batch I made today.  I decided just to make pancakes rather than the rings, so I simply sliced the apple.  Then I tossed it with a little cinnamon sugar and microwaved it for about 1 minute to get the cooking started.  Then, I made the pancakes: poured the batter in the pan, added some of the apple slices, and then cooked the cakes through, flipping when bubbles appear.   (I should also point out that I usually cook up about half the pancake mix one morning and then save the rest to cook on another day.  I'll add a small splash of milk to the leftover batter to loosen it up).   I get the "vanilla spice" or "cinnamon spice" pancake syrup variety from my local grocery store's brand.

Definitely a successful breakfast!  Frequently I will do a pancake breakfast on a Saturday morning and try to make leftover pancakes so I can eat them for breakfast later in the week.  I will certainly do the apple pancake recipe again!