Apple Pancakes with Maple-Pecan Syrup

The apple harvest continues and now fall’s favorite fruit jazzes up breakfast. This apple-infused pancake recipe by cookbook author Alison Lewis, which appeared in Real Food, calls for a McIntosh apple, which is described as tangy and tender; good for snacks, sauces, and pies. This juicy apple’s tender white flesh cooks down easily, which makes it preferable to a very crunchy apple in pancakes, since the cooking time is rather brief.

And a trivia tidbit: This old, well-known variety was discovered as a chance seedling by John McIntosh in 1811, according to the U.S. Apple Association. 

This weekend breakfast is topped off nicely with the Maple-Pecan Syrup. Celebrating the apple harvest just got sweeter.


Apple Pancakes with Maple-Pecan Syrup

Serves 8

2 c. all-purpose flour
¼ c. sugar
1 tsp. baking powder
¼ tsp. salt
¹⁄8 tsp. nutmeg
2 c. buttermilk
2 large eggs
2 tbsp. butter, melted
1 large McIntosh apple, peeled and chopped

Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and nutmeg in a large bowl. Make a well in center of mixture.

Stir together buttermilk, eggs, and butter in a large mixing bowl. Pour into well in flour mixture, stirring just until moistened. Fold in apple.

Pour ¼ cup batter for each pancake onto a hot, lightly greased griddle. Cook until tops are covered with bubbles and edges look cooked; turn and cook the other side. Serve with Maple-Pecan Syrup (recipe below).


Maple-Pecan Syrup

1 c. maple syrup
¼ c. honey
½ c. chopped pecans, toasted
½ tsp. ground cinnamon

Cook syrup and honey in a small saucepan over medium heat, stirring often, until slightly thickened, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in pecans and cinnamon. (Mixture will thicken as it cools.)

Mary Subialka is the editor of Real Food and Drinks magazines, covering the flavorful world of food, wine, and spirits. She rarely meets a chicken she doesn’t like, and hopes that her son, who used to eat beets and Indian food as a preschooler, will one day again think of real food as more than something you need to eat before dessert and be inspired by his younger brother, who is now into trying new foods.