OK, I have a confession to make. I love pancakes. Last week the savory potato kind, this week a sweet contender. Fried to perfection and garnished with a generous sprinkle of cinnamon-sugar and caramelized hazelnuts, they're hard to resist. The mineral water used in this recipe adds an extra fluff to these cakes (and is a great way to sneak some wholesome minerals in!). I used Gerolsteiner mineral water for this recipe because it's near and dear to my heart. My home city Trier is only an hour long drive from the volcanic Eifel region where the city Gerolstein is found. I remember going on field trips to Gerolstein in elementary school and touring the factory as well as being part of a mineral water and sparkling lemonade tasting (in Germany, Gerolsteiner also sells other products made from mineral water). I was happy to first discover it at Trader Joe's about a year ago! So if you want your German apple pancakes to be even more German, I recommend using Gerolsteiner mineral water. 😉
And if you love German food, please SUBSCRIBE at the bottom of this post! ????❤️❤️
Growing up, apple pancakes weren't just on the breakfast menu, but were oftentimes served for lunch or dinner as well. Think of them as your guilty weeknight pleasure after a long day at work. Here the recipe serving 2 hungry people:
Ingredients for apple pancakes:
2 eggs - separate whites from yolks
1 pinch each of salt and brown sugar
½ teaspoon baking powder
1 c flour
½ c milk
½ c of sparkling mineral water
1 Granny Smith apple
1 tablespoon butter
2 tablespoon cinnamon-sugar (1 part cinnamon, 3 parts sugar)
Ingredients for the caramelized hazelnut topping:
¼ c of hazelnuts
1 tsp melted butter
1 tablespoon of white sugar
1 pinch of cinnamon
Make the hazelnut topping:
- Toss hazelnuts in melted butter, sugar and cinnamon. Bake at 350° F for 10 minutes.
Make the pancakes:
- Peel the apple and remove the core, dice into small cubes or slice thinly, your choice!
- With a whisk, mix together the egg yolks, brown sugar, salt, flour, baking powder, milk and mineral water (I recommend Gerolsteiner, which can be found at Trader Joe's)
- Beat egg whites until stiff and fold into the other mixture.
- Over medium high heat, add a little bit of butter to a large skillet, add half of the apple pieces and sautée for 2 minutes, pour the batter over the pieces and let cook until golden brown on both sides (you can either choose to make several small ones or one large one)
- Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar and hazelnuts and serve immediately.
- Guten Appetit & SUBSCRIBE! ❤️
