Sundays are meant for a slightly fancier breakfast.  You aren’t rushing off to work or school and you can take the time to put a little extra effort into your morning meal.  I usually make Adam a huge plate of hash browns, eggs, and then pancakes or waffles depending on what I have on hand.

Lately, I have been craving his pancakes.  I usually make his with whole wheat flour and that is a no go for me.  So I decided to combine a few ideas and came up with this pancake.

I had seen apple ring pancakes online and always thought they looked delicious, so I thought that these pancakes would be good with a little taste of apple in them.  The actual pancake part is gluten free and dairy free, plus they can be made vegan if you use a flax or chia egg instead of regular eggs.

I also left the pancake a little less sweet than normal because the apple adds enough sweetness for me.  Other than that, these pancakes are a fun breakfast to make and serve, plus they look extra fancy without being that difficult to put together.  So if you want to serve up a tasty twist on pancakes, try these ones out!  Oh and if you need an idea of what to top it with, try my peanut-apple butter sauce.

Gluten-Free Apple Ring Pancakes

• 1 large yellow plantain
• 2 eggs or 2 tbsp ground flax seeds mixed with 6 tbsp water
• 1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk
• 2 tbsp pureed pumpkin
• 2 tbsp maple syrup
• 2 tbsp peanut or coconut flour
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 medium granny smith apple
• chopped pecans, optional

1. Wash and dry the apple.  Cut out the core and cut the apple into thin rings.  Make sure you keep them thin or the pancake won’t cook right.
2. Place the plantain, eggs, almond milk, pumpkin, and maple syrup into a blender.  Blend until you have a smooth mixture.
3. Add all the dry ingredients (not the pecans) into the blender and blend until combined.
4. Heat a little coconut oil in a skillet over medium heat.  Once the oil is hot, place one apple ring into the skillet and then pour a little batter over the ring making sure it is completely covered.  If you’re using the pecans, sprinkle a little onto the pancake.
5. Cook for about 3 minutes and then carefully flip the pancake.  It’s ok if the pancake breaks a little, it took me a few tries to get the pancake to flip perfectly.
6. Keep cooking until all the apple rings and batter is gone, keeping the finished pancakes on a plate in a warm oven.
7. Top with maple syrup, your favorite nut butter, or the peanut apple butter sauce below!

Peanut-Apple Butter Sauce

• 2 tbsp apple butter or apple sauce
• 1 tbsp peanut flour or peanut butter (could sub almond butter too)
• 1 tsp maple syrup
• 1/4 tsp salt

1. Mix everything together until you have a smooth sauce and spread onto your pancakes! 

Other than making these pancakes, what other plans do you have for this weekend?  Adam and I are going to see Elf the musical to celebrate our anniversary and I’m very excited!  Elf is one of my absolute favorite movies and I can’t wait to see the musical version.

Happy weekend everyone!