Tempting Tuesday - Apple Puff Pancake

Back when my sister was alive, when we used to visit my sister, BIL and nephew, we'd often make a stop at Bibler's Pancake House, in South Bend, where they lived. Bibler's was the ultimate breakfast place - it was like a dream IHOP - a huge variety of pancakes and breakfasts, but they were all actually good. (No offense to those who love IHOP). The breakfasts at Bibler's tasted completely homemade, and each order was cooked to perfection. This also meant that breakfast at Bibler's was a leisurely meal and a special treat.

We each had our favorites. I'm not sure what my BIL's was - I don't think he went with us very often. Usually, we either went on Sundays and took my nephew and my sister and BIL had some alone time, or my sister and I went out together for breakfast, if I was visiting during the week. My nephew's favorite was the strawberry crepes with whipped cream. My sister loved the Swedish pancakes with lingonberries. For my little family, we had two favorites, depending on how splurge-y we were feeling - the Dutch baby pancake or the Apple Pancake.

The Apple Pancake was an enormous, souffle-like concoction with caramelized apples, crispy edges and delicious, eggy puffy goodness within and a caramel glaze everywhere. It also took about 25 minutes to prepare and probably included a million calories and a gazillion fat grams.

Bibler's is no more. It's now taken over by one of their former employees and called The Original Pancake House, and while they still have many of the Bibler's favorites, it just isn't the same (probably because my sister can't come with us), and we just don't stop there when we visit my BIL and his lovely and wonderful wife, my SIL.

But we really, really enjoyed that pancake. And since I'm all about re-creating healthier versions of recipes, I decided to search. I tried a variety of adapted recipes and finally found something that meets with kid/parent approval and it's become the breakfast we have most Sundays. It's simple to make and absolutely delicious. It's still not exactly healthy, but it's a much more reasonable version than the original. And now, here's the recipe - Enjoy!



Apple Puff Pancake

Serves 4:

Preheat oven to 400.

Ingredients:

2 TBS salted butter
3 medium apples, cored, peeled and thinly sliced and halved
6 TBS sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
4 eggs
2/3 cup whole wheat pastry flour or all purpose flour (DON'T substitute regular whole wheat flour here)
2/3 cup skim milk
1 HEAPING TBS reduced fat sour cream
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla

Prep apples. Melt the butter, sugar and cinnamon in an oven-proof skillet. The mixture won't really get melted until you add the apples. Add the apples and mix to coat thoroughly in the pan. Cook 3 - 5 minutes until the apples are *just* tender. Take them off the burner.

Whisk the 4 eggs until foamy. Add the milk, flour, sour cream, salt and vanilla and whisk together until there are no lumps. Pour the batter over the apples in the skillet.

Put the skillet in the oven and let bake for 25 minutes. Ovens vary, so this is ready when you see it puff up. It won't look like the picture because we don't dump heaps of caramel sauce over it in the oven.

When apple is puffed, take it out and serve. Serve with a drizzle of maple syrup (if you like) and a bit of sour cream or yogurt on the side, to cut the sweetness.


Nutrition info:

Fat: 12.2 g
Carbs: 53.1 g
Calories: 354.4 g
Protein: 10.8 g

Nutrition info provided by Sparkrecipes.com with the recipe calculator application.