German Apple Pancakes

My partner's sister and brother-in-law are in town visiting with their two kids, Grace and Mark.  We've been spending a lot of quality time playing tour-guides throughout Philadelphia over the last few days.  We've visited Reading Terminal Market, ran up the Art Museum stairs (complete with hummed "Rocky" theme), wandered around Love Park, cooled off our feet in the city fountains, spent a day on the Jersey shore boogie boarding, and spent a lazy afternoon rafting down the Brandywine.  It's been a lot of fun! On top of all that, we've been eating really well!

The following recipe is featured on the cover of this month's Cooking Light Magazine.  Mindy's sister, Melanie, has an egg-allergy, so this recipe was a perfect fit. I used Bob's Red Mill All-Purpose Biscuit and Baking Mix for the pancake batter, but next time I'm going to make it easier for myself and just use an already packaged GF pancake mix.  Being that this was the first time I made this, there are a few things I'll do differently next time.  First, I'll slice the apples thinner. Second, I'll cook the apple mixture less. Third, I'll actually follow the instructions (I never turned down the heat from 425 F. to 375 F.).  Even with all of the mistakes I made, these came out delicious! As I'm writing this, I can still smell the sweet scent of baked apples:).  I highly suggest using a pre-mixed gluten free pancake mix for this recipe, but if you like doing everything from scratch, it doesn't take much time to prepare.

Ingredients 

Batter

• 1/2 cup all-purpose GF flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tblsp granulated sugar
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1 cup egg substitute 
• 2 cups fat-free milk
• 2 tblsp butter (melted)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Apple Mixture

• Cooking spray (make sure it's GF)
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1 cup thinly sliced Granny Smith apples

Remaining 

• 1 tblsp powdered sugar

Cooking Instructions 

1. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, 1 tblsp granulated sugar, salt, and 1/8 tsp nutmeg in a medium bowl.  In a smaller bowl, whisk together the egg substitute, milk, melted butter and vanilla. Let stand for 30 minutes.
2. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
3. To prepare the apple mixture, coat the bottom and sides of a 10-inch ovenproof skillet with cooking spray. Mix 1/4 cup sugar, cinnamon, and 1/2 tsp nutmeg. Sprinkle evenly over bottom and sides of pan. Arrange the apple slices in an even spoke-like patter. Sprinkle the apples with the remaining 1/4 cup sugar. Cook over medium heat for 8 minutes or until the mixture bubbles.  Make sure to not let it burn.  As soon as the mixture is bubbling, poor batter over the apples.
4. Throw the pan in the oven and bake at 425 degrees F. for about 15 minutes, ten reduce the oven temperature to 375 degrees F. for an additional 13 minutes or until center is set. Carefully loosen pancake with a spatula. Slide the pancake onto a serving platter, and dust the top with powdered sugar.
5. Cut into 6 wedges and serve immediately. Enjoy!!