Caramel apple pancakes

This fall is turning out to be an amazing season for pop music, at least according to my (excellent, very refined) tastes. Adele, JoJo, Sia—what other amazing mononymous female pop stars are going to come out with brand-spanking-new music after long hiatuses? How about Canadian producer and all-around genius Grimes?

Basically, the story is, in her first album since Visions, Grimes has just released Art Angels, and I’m obsessed. So I have to share it with you. I mean, I’m kind of obligated, given she’s still a somewhat underground artist, and it’s a crime that not everybody knows who she is and how awesome her music is.

You might know her from “Oblivion”, that ethereal, chamber-pop / EDM single every music publication as salivating over in 2012.

Since then, Grimes has clearly evolved, and it’s awesome.

(Warning: blood. And creepy contact lenses.) 

Some diehard fans may have gotten their jimmies rustled by her transition to a more pop-inspired sound (though, if you ask me, they just can’t handle change)—but as a sucker for all things catchy pop songs, I’m in love. Art Angels is everything Lady Gaga’s Artpop should have been, plus floaty, angelic vocals that make Ellie Goulding sound like Etta James (in reference to Etta’s brash, full-throated sound, not skill, obviously), plus amazingly innovative production and I don’t know what the hell I’m talking about, it just sounds frickin good.

(“Kill V. Maim” is my personal favorite, and it’s been stuck in my head for days now.)

What’s more impressive is the fact that she writes and records and produces everything herself like some kind of one-woman music machine. Hell, she taught herself to play the violin for the record! She’s the pop star we need, if not the one we deserve right now.

And come on. She collaborated with Janelle Monae for “Venus Fly”, another super badass lady musician.

Okay, that’s all I’ll say about that today. I apologize if I have annoyed you with my fangirlishness.

Now let’s talk about pancakes.

That wasn't too painful, was it?

It’s been far too long since I shared a legit pancake recipe with you—none of that Dutch baby nonsense. This time, we’re back with a very seasonal flavor combo, apple and caramel.

They’re soul mates. Tart, crisp apples and sweet, rich, ever-so-slightly salted caramel. It was inevitable that I put them in pancakes. 

Excuse the blurriness. I was too excited to hold the camera steady.

This recipe uses my basic pancake recipe with some chopped apple and spices folded in, topped with my favorite recipe for homemade caramel. If you make the caramel the night before, these would work perfectly as an easy breakfast recipe to impress.

Plus they’re seasonal! Better make these fast, before apple season passes!

Here’s the recipe.

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Caramel apple pancakes

Adapted from my favorite pancake recipe and this caramel

Ingredients

Caramel sauce

200 grams • granulated sugar • 1 cup

60 grams • water • 1/4 cup

11 grams • light corn syrup • 1 1/2 teaspoons

122 grams • full-fat coconut milk • 1/2 cup

4 grams • vanilla extract • 1 teaspoon

1 gram • fleur de sel • 1/4 teaspoon

Pancakes

250 grams • all-purpose flour • 2 cups

16 grams • baking powder • 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon

3 grams • salt • ½ teaspoon

5 grams • cinnamon • 2 teaspoons

1 gram • nutmeg • 1/2 teaspoon

1 gram • cloves • 1/2 teaspoon

60 grams • dark brown sugar • ¼ cup

235 grams • nondairy milk • 1 ¾ cups plus 2 tablespoons

8 grams • apple cider vinegar • 2 teaspoons

28 grams • olive oil • 2 tablespoons

182 grams • diced apple • 1 medium

Directions

First, make the caramel sauce. In a medium saucepan, bring sugar, water, and corn syrup to a boil over high heat. Cook until sugar is dissolved, but do not stir. After about six minutes, an amber caramel will form; remove from heat and drizzle in cream slowly while stirring.

Remove from heat and mix in salt and vanilla. Transfer caramel to a bowl. Let cool completely before using (or at least until it’s just warm, not ridiculously hot).

While your caramel cools off, make the pancake batter. Whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and dark brown sugar in a large bowl. Pour in milk, vinegar, and oil and stir until combined. Fold in diced apple.

Fry pancake batter on a well-preheated frying pan until golden-brown on both sides. Eat with a gallon or so of caramel sauce.

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Needs more caramel.

For more apple-y recipes, click the following links.

Apple bundt cake with brown sugar glaze. Super easy, with a super rich glaze to top things off.

Apple cider doughnuts with stewed apple pie filling. Probably the most popular recipe on the blog.

Apple peanut butter cheesecake pie with sautéed apples. I improvised this. It worked out pretty well.