When Life Gives You Bad Apples...

My kids have absolutely no interest in apples that are soft, puckered skin, or with blemishes- oh, how we are spoiled now aren't we?  We are so used to the "perfect" food presented in the grocery store that we really will tolerate nothing less. But I digress!  When life gives you bad apples... make applesauce!  It really was so easy- you should try it!

Applesauce
makes about 4 cups of applesauce, you can adjust to recipe to make more or less!
about 6 apples
1/4 c. water
2 Tbsp. lemon juice
1/2 - 1 Tbsp. maple syrup (depending on how sweet your apples are, or how sweet you like it)
sprinkle of cinnamon

Put water, lemon juice, maple syrup and cinnamon in your cooking pot, stir.  Chop the apples into about 1" pieces (I did not peel them, you may, but you might be surprised how easily those peels blend into the finished sauce- so try it without).  As you chop each apple, toss it into the cooking pot & stir to coat the pieces (the lemon juice will keep them from turning brown as you chop more).
Heat to boiling, them reduce to simmer for a few hours, or until very, very soft.  (Yummy smells in your kitchen!)  Remove from heat & allow to cool slightly.  Toss it all into your food processor (or blender) and blend to desired texture.

Can you see any apple peel in there?  Nope! 

I found a few more apples that were less-than-perfect and I decided to make Apple Oven Pancakes.  I am not sure where I printed this recipe from, but I have adjusted it to include soaking of the flour.  If you want to shorten your morning prep time (like I did) and don't mind heating your oven twice, you can cook the apples the day before.  I also combined the remaining batter ingredients in a jar, shook it up to mix, and put it in the fridge to make my morning even quicker!

Apple Oven Pancakes

about 6 servings

1 c. buttermilk (or plain yogurt thinned with milk)

2/3 c. whole wheat flour

*12-24 hours before baking, combine buttermilk & flour in blender (gently).  Let soak til ready to cook.

4 Tbsp. butter

2 apples, sliced very thin (peeling optional)

Preheat oven to 425.  While oven is heating place butter in 9x13 pan & put in oven to melt.  Once melted, place apple slices evenly across bottom of pan.  Bake in oven for about 10 minutes.

4 large eggs

2 Tbsp. honey

2 Tbsp. raw sugar (if using tart apples)

1 tsp. vanilla

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. cinnamon

Add these ingredients to the flour/buttermilk mixture in the blender and blend to combine.  Pour over apples in dish.  Bake for 20 minutes.  Pancake will be very tall & puffed up when you first remove it from the oven, but will collapse back down after cooling slightly.  Slice & serve with applesauce or maple syrup.

Hmm, not the most flattering picture, but we were headed on a train trip that day & I didn't have time to make a pretty picture!  If you plan ahead you only need to spend 5 minutes in the morning on this (plus oven preheat time & bake time- but you can be getting ready then) plus you get more protein than a regular pancake too.

And just for fun, here's a picture from our trip to Seattle that day.  My son trying to get a good view from the top of the Space Needle- using the telescope backwards of course. ;)

Enjoy!

Lisa

This post is a part of The Nourishing Gourmet's Pennywise Platter Thursday.