German Pancake with Brown Sugar Apple Topping

Anyone else as excited about I am about apple season?  Crisp, cool Fall days are perfect for making apple picking trips to the North Georgia mountains.  It's definitely one of my favorite family Fall traditions and I was thrilled to have Courtney home for the weekend to join us.  

There are so many things that I look forward to making with the fresh apples that we pick at the farm every year. Most years, I run out of time to bake all of the apple recipes that I've saved up all year, before I run out of apples.  This year, I'm kicking off apple baking season with this German Pancake with Brown Sugar Apple Topping. 

German Pancake with Brown Sugar Apple Topping
1 3/4 cups flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 Tablespoon lemon zest
1 Tablespoon lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups milk
6 eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
3 Tablespoons butter
 
Brown Sugar Apple Topping
2 Tablespoons butter
1/3 cup water
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon salt
3-4 apples, peeled and sliced thin
​

Whisk together flour, 3 T. sugar, lemon zest and salt. 

Whisk together milk, eggs and vanilla. 

Slowly whisk milk into dry ingredients. 

Melt butter in 12" non-stick skillet.  Add batter and transfer to 375 oven.  

Bake 30-35 minutes. ​

For topping, melt butter in a skillet.  Add water, sugar, cinnamon and salt.  Add apples and bring to a simmer.  ​

Cover and cook 5 minutes. 

​Uncover and cook 5-7 minutes longer.  

Remove pancake from oven, sprinkle with lemon juice and 1 T. sugar.  

Remove pancake from skillet and fill with apples.  

Slice into wedges. 

This is Apple season at it's finest.  A simple puffed pancake is the perfect base to hold these fresh, sweet apples.  The apples provide just the right mount of sweetness so there is no extra syrup needed.  We enjoyed this delicious pancake for one of our traditional Sunday night "breakfast for dinner" meals.  It comes together quickly enough that you could also serve it for breakfast or brunch too.  The best part is reliving the day of apple picking in the mountains when we eat it.  

Ciao!  

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