Spiced Apple & Oat Pancakes
Breakfast has always been my favorite meal of the day. Unfortunately it's also the most neglected and the least thought about for most people, myself sadly included. So on weekend mornings, after sleeping in the for the first time all week, I almost always wake up craving a warm home-cooked breakfast. This is no more true than when the seasons change in the Fall.
These pancakes represent all that is good and cozy in the world. I've made some version of them nearly a dozen times. They are chock full of so much freshly grated apple, we endearingly refer to them as apple latkes. They are spiked with fresh apple cider (bonus points if you get it from a local farmer's market!) and sweetened with real maple syrup. They have just enough oats to make them filling and hardy. Perfect for lazy Sunday fall mornings.
Makes about 12 pancakes
adapted from: Smitten Kitchen
Ingredients:
3/4 cup milk, any kind (I used almond)
1/2 cup apple cider (or sub more milk)
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 tablespoons real maple syrup
2 cups freshly grated peeled apple (~ 2 medium apples)
1 1/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour
3/4 cup old-fashioned oats
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon all spice
1/2 teaspoon salt
unsalted butter for cooking
In a large bowl combine the milk, cider, eggs, vanilla, and maple syrup. Peel and core the apples then grate them using either the grating attachment of a food processor or a box grater. Measure out exactly 2 cups. (More and they had trouble cooking through). Set aside.
In a medium bowl whisk together the flour, oats, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, and salt. Pour the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and stir until just combined. Add in the apples and stir until integrated.
Warm a fry pan over medium heat. Once hot, add a thick slice of butter to the skillet and top with 1/4 cup dollops of batter. Flip once brown and crispy on the bottom. Continue with remaining batter, adding butter each time. Serve hot!
Meat-Free Thanksgiving Inspiration
I'll admit being vegetarian on Thanksgiving poses extra challenges. Nate was initially supposed to be away for Thanksgiving this year, and I stressed for weeks about how I was going to find a place to go for the holiday, only to show up as possibly the most difficult guest ever, a vegetarian!
So how does being a vegetarian on Thanksgiving work? If we have enough people Nate barbecues a turkey, one year we had two meat-eaters so we cooked a chicken, and if it's just us we go completely untraditional and eat meat-free.
I have to say my first vegetarian thanksgiving made me a little sad. Not because I wanted turkey, but because I felt a bit isolated from the tradition. I wanted to big statement piece on the table, I wanted it to feel like the Thanksgivings I had growing up. And although I'm not sure I've quite found the answer, I figured I'd share a handful of my favorite meat-free, fall inspired meals.
Vegetarian Mains:
Farmstead Roasted Vegetable Risotto from Kneading Home
Spinach & Feta Quiche from Kneading Home
Butternut Squash Lasagna Skillet from How Sweet It Is
Roasted Autumn Vegetable Pot Pies from The Candid Appetite
Pumpkin Gnocchi with Crème Fraîche–Sage Sauce from Chow Hound
Holiday Stuffed Pumpkin from Green Kitchen Stories
Salads:
Autumn Kale Salad in a Maple Vinaigrette from Kneading Home
Warm Farro Salad with Roasted Squash, Persimmons & Pecans from The Kitchn
Raw Kale and Brussels Sprouts Salad with Tahini-Maple Dressing from Cookie and Kate
A Simple Roasted Butternut Squash Salad from Oh She Glows
Apple + Fennel + Pistachio + Apricot from Joy the Baker
Big Beautiful Harvest Salad with Delicata Squash and Kale from The Year in Food
World's best vegetarian gravy:
Vegetarian Mushroom Thyme Gravy, from Food52
Photo from Oh She Glows
Potatoes:
Sweet Potato with Chilies, Lime, and Cilantro from Alexandra Cooks
Twice Baked Potatoes with Kale from Food52
Thyme Parmesan Roasted Sweet Potatoes from Sprouted Kitchen
Crispy Smashed Potatoes with Avocado Garlic Aioli from Oh She Glows
Maple Sweet Potato Cakes with Curried Greek Yogurt from Food52
Photo from Alexandra Cooks
Vegetable Sides:
Dijon Braised Brussels Sprouts from Smitten Kitchen
Coconut Curried Kale and Sweet Potato from Cookie and Kate
Roasted Acorn Squash with Maple Butter from Alexandra Cooks
Autumn Root Vegetable Gratin from Food52
Bread:
Apple, Rosemary, & Sharp Cheddar Galette With Caramelized Shallots from Kneading Home
Buttermilk Biscuits with Maple and Sea Salt from Alexandra Cooks
Pumpkin Sage Biscuits from Minimalist Baker
Dessert:
Roasted Pear + Salted Caramel Cheesecake Bites With Speculoos Cookie Crust from Kneading Home
Homemade Rugelach 3 Ways from Kneading Home
Brown Butter Apple Tart from Bon Appetite
Apple Sauce Cake with Caramel Glaze from Food52
Pear, Cranberry and Gingersnap Crumble from Smitten Kitchen
Roasted Pear + Salted Caramel Cheesecake Bites with Speculoos Cookie Crust {vegan}
Thanksgiving is coming! I have to be honest, normally Thanksgiving gets me super stressed. It's the ultimate foodie holiday, and when you're a person whose known by family and friends for cooking, people have expectations. Nate and I normally plan for weeks, I decorated a pinterest-inspired table with gords and pretty votives, and we food prep together for at least a solid week.
Thanksgiving is sort of our holiday. We've spent every thanksgiving together since we met and this will be our 8th. Every year it seems like we spend it with different people in a different place, and we love that about the holiday. We love everything this holiday stands for: inclusiveness, good food, and gratitude.
But this year we're going low-stress, simple. I've pulled too many all-nighters and written to many papers in the past two weeks to stress about a holiday!
One thing I know is I will be eating these little beauties. They are the creamiest, tastiest cheese cake bites that will please vegans and non-vegans alike. The crust is made from crushed up speculoos cookies the cheese cake base is a date sweetened blend of coconut milk and toasted cashews with spiced roasted pear, all topped with salted caramel. Guys, I had no idea vegan caramel was possible, let alone this good!
Roasted Pear + Salted Caramel Cheesecake Bites with Speculoos Cookie Crust
makes 18 cheesecake bites
For the crust:
1 1/2 cups speculoos cookie crumbs, (or sub graham cracker)
1/4 cup coconut oil
For the filling:
1 cup raw cashews
8 dates, pitted
1/2 cup coconut oil, melted
1 can full-fat coconut milk
1 medium d'anjou pear, (relatively firm)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt
For the caramel
1/3 cup brown sugar, packed
1/4 cup maple syrup
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
pinch of salt
1 can full-fat coconut milk
fluer de sel for finishing
Make the crust. Preheat the oven to 350. Fill muffin tins with 18 wrappers. In food processor, blend cookies into crumbs. Stir in melted coconut oil until evenly coated, then divide the crumbs among muffin tins. Press the crumbs down to form a crust - a shot glass works great for this. Bake for 8-10 minutes until fragrant and golden brown.
Make the filling. With the oven still on, line a baking sheet with parchment paper and top with cashews. Cook for 8-10 minutes, rotating halfway through, until just slightly brown and very fragrant.
In in the bowl of a food processor with a blade attachment, or blender, add cashews and dates and blend for about a minute. With the food processor running, slowly pour in the coconut oil, followed by the coconut milk. (Make sure to do it in this order. If you put it all in at once the liquid will splash everywhere and make a huge mess. I know from experience.)
Peel, core, and dice the pear. Combine pears, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt into a small saucepan. Cook over medium heat for about 5 minutes, stirring frequently, until the juices begin to release and the mixture looks gooey like jam. Pour the pear mixture into the cheesecake mixture and stir to combine.
Divide the filling among the muffin tins and refrigerate for at least two hours.
Meanwhile, make the caramel. Combine all of the ingredients in a small saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally for 30-40 minutes. The mixture will bubble up slightly, darken in color, and eventually thicken and reduce to the consistency of caramel. Keep cooking until it has reduced to about 1 1/4 cups. Transfer to a jar.
Just before serving top the cheesecakes with caramel, you will have extra, and sprinkle liberally with chunky sea salt.