Great fall breakfast

There is no better way to start out a dreary autumn morning, than with a hearty breakfast. This morning, I made my all-time favorite. I could eat this for breakfast, or for a snack, or for dessert even. It is just that versatile and that good. It is Big Apple Pancake.

The version that I make is an adaptation from a recipe by Gale Gand, the pastry chef who delighted us with her delectable goodies on the Food Network’s Sweet Dreams in the early 2000’s. For me, she took the intimidation out of baking. She made me think I too could make delicious deserts. The recipe is as follows:

Ingredients:

3 tbsps unsalted butter
2 large apples, peeled, cored and sliced ¼” thick
¼ cup light brown sugar, packed
3 eggs
1 tsp granulated sugar
Pinch salt
½ cup milk
½ cup all-purpose flour
¼ tsp cinnamon
2 lemon wedges

Preheat oven to 450º F. In a large ovenproof skillet (preferably with curved sides), melt 2 tbsps of the butter over medium heat. Add apple slices and cook, stirring until tender; about 10 minutes. Add 2 tbsps of the brown sugar and stir to combine.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, sugar, salt, milk, and flour. Pour this batter over the apples in the skillet, transfer to the oven, and bake until puffy; about 10 minutes. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, mix the cinnamon and remaining 2 tbsps brown sugar. Cut the remaining tbsp. of butter into pieces. When the pancake puffs, remove from the oven, dot with butter, sprinkle cinnamon sugar, and return to the oven to bake until browned, about 10 minutes more. As the pancake comes out of the oven, squeeze the lemon wedges over the top. Serve in wedges right out of the pan.