Autumnal Griddle Cakes

Why can't I just call them "pancakes?" Why do I have to be all fancy? Because this recipe is delicious enough to be fancy but comes together quickly with ingredients you probably already know. It's more a class in making pancakes more interesting than anything else.

Also, and I'm breaking all the rules here, when you decide you want to put recipes on the internet, they send over a packet with your introductory materials and the contract you have to sign, and one of the stipulations of that contract is that you never call pancakes "pancakes" because it freaks out the simple minds of the internet proletariat. I'm probably not allowed to tell you that you're the internet proletariat either, but trust me, all the other cooking blogs out there know too, and I'm the only one who has the guts to admit that internet cooking blogs are laughing at you behind your back. You shouldn't trust those lying blogs. Only trust me.

Griddle cakes of all sorts are a great thing to have in your pocket. They're hard to mess up and easy to modify. They can be savory or sweet. This recipe is for a sweet variation which fits in well with autumn or winter, like a mulled cider pancake, but with character.

You will need:

• Applesauce
• Oats
• Egg
• Sugar
• Raisins?
• Baking soda
• Baking powder
• Flour
• Salt
• Spices
• Citrus Zest?

Applesauce

Unsweetened works, but it's not like you're not going to sweeten things with sugar. If you use sweetened, you may want to add half the sugar, make a test pancake (you can do this; they don't tell you that but no one cares if you want to test before you commit to a recipe), and see whether you need more sweetness before adding additional sugar.

Chunky is probably not best here. I'm not saying you can't use chunky, but you'll wind up with definite chunks of apple in the final product, which may affect the cake's ability to stay together on the spatula. Also, if you're looking to hide some fruits and veggies in something unexpected for your kids or whatever, chunks may give the game away.

Cinnamon is totally fine, though again, make yourself a test pancake before you go crazy on the spices later on. You really should always taste things before you commit. That's easy to say when it's something like a cooked sauce, but not so easy when it's batter, so make yourself a little silver dollar pancake to test sugar and spice levels, and also to see how your pan behaves, or if your batter is too thick or thin. No shame. I give you full permission. If you get nothing else from this recipe, take permission to test.

Whatever applesauce you wind up using, long-winded tangents about testing aside, you will need 2 cups to make roughly four healthy servings, or two hungry ones.

Oats

Oats are delightful and a staple that no one uses because they had gummy oatmeal that one time as a kid and they haven't forgotten it. In this application, the oats will add a nice texture to the finished cake. They're also what makes these not really pancakes. I am contractually obligated to call them griddle cakes, but even if I weren't, I would still call them something other than pancakes because it helps people expect the difference.

All that said, old fashioned rolled oats are the way to go. Quick oats can work, though the texture of the finished product will be slightly less toothy (and maybe you'll prefer that). I promise, these cakes will not taste like gummy oatmeal (which grows on you, but that's for another time). You want to avoid steel cut oats. They're too gritty and won't cook through in time.

The dark secret I'm about to share is that these "griddle cakes" can be made without oats. See me at the bottom of the page. The password is "oatcakes." But another dark secret is that you can use instant oatmeal packets. In fact, apple cinnamon instant oats work well, but nuts or original or maple, it's all good. I swore on my mother's grave that I would never let outsiders know that you can put instant oatmeal in griddle cakes, but she recovered and is still alive today so I guess my dread oath can't be held against me. My loss is your gain. Not that my mother being alive is a loss. She gave me permission to make this joke.

If you use the dark secret of the instant oatmeal, 2 packets should do the trick, otherwise, 1 cup of oats will be fine. Roughly. This is a very forgiving recipe.

Egg

1 of them. It helps bind. Without it, they are a little harder to flip. With more than one, you start to taste the egg, even with the other flavors. The type of egg doesn't matter at all. I imagine you could make it with quail eggs if you wanted to, but you'd probably need more than one of those. The best eggs are stolen by super-intelligent foxes, but if you don't have one of those handy, use the supermarket kind.

Sugar

Brown. Brown sugar here. Or maple syrup. The fake stuff might even work, but I think you'd probably wind up with something that tasted too MAPLE!!!!!-y. Brown sugar, light or dark, adds a nice hint of molasses. And, okay, if you don't have anything but white sugar, use that, but it's sweeter than brown so be aware and make test pancakes. A quarter cup should make nicely sweet but not saccharine pancakes, but feel free to adjust up or down.

You could also use artificial sweetener here. It's not a baked good and the chemistry is pretty forgiving. They're pretty full of carbs already though, and what's a quarter cup of sugar, in the end?

Raisins

These are optional, but only if you hate joy. N.B. without them, things will be less sweet, so you might compensate with a little more sugar. If you must leave them out, you could use other things, which I'll discuss in the variations section. Or maybe I won't. I might forget. Just use the raisins. A generous handful of them.

Baking Soda

This isn't for leavening (making it fluffy), it's to alter the alkalinity of the batter. Browning, or the Maillard Reaction, occurs at lower temperatures and more quickly in a basic environment... wait, come back, don't go, I promise, it's not complicated. Okay, fine, things brown better if you add a little baking soda to them. It'll leaven a little, but that's what the baking powder is for, and baking powder does a much better job in this application. If you don't add this, no one will care, your cakes just may turn out a little less golden brown, and you won't want to post pictures of them on Instagram because they're too pale. 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda will give you all the browning you need. Just a pinch.

Baking Powder

This is what makes the pancakes fluffy. It tastes salty, so there is such a thing as too much, but if you find your first batch doesn't rise, maybe your baking powder is older than dirt, or maybe just add a bit more next time. 1/2 teaspoon should see you clear to nicely fluffy pancakes

Flour

All-Purpose flour is fine. You could use whole wheat as well, though your measurements might be different. You'll need between 1 and 2 cups, depending on how juicy the apples in your applesauce were and how fluffy you like your pancakes.

Salt

A pinch to bring out all the flavor. Just a pinch. Don't make them salty.

Spices

I went with what amounted to pumpkin spice, heavy on the cloves and nutmeg because I prefer them to the more pedestrian flavor of the cinnamon, and I added cardamom. Really, any warm dessert spice works here. Apple pie spice is an obvious one, pumpkin spice is fine too, and if you like just cinnamon, no shame, just use cinnamon. This recipe is the perfect time to try new spices though.

As for amounts, I like everything bold, so you can guess that I went a little overboard on the spices. I'd say for a normal person, a teaspoon of spice mixture, whatever it happens to be, will be subtle, 2 will be forward, and 1 tablespoon will be intense. But again, make a test cake, then add more if you feel you need it.

Citrus Zest?

Okay, so this is fancy, but if you happen to have an orange, a lemon, or something similar (I used mandarin orange) and a zester, it adds a little pizzazz. Feel free to leave this out if it's early in the morning and you don't have time for fancy. As much or as little as you like. I used the whole mandarin, but there's not all that much zest on a mandarin and it's pretty subtle. Lemon, use much less. Orange, maybe a few scrapes.

You will also need:

A bowl

Make it larger than you think you need, so you don't spill while you're combining your ingredients

A griddle

Or a frying pan, though a griddle makes it easier to get the spatula under them. Something with lower sides will work better than higher sides.

Let's griddle those cakes!

Let's get this out of the way: you can't make this batter the wrong way. You can add any of the ingredients to any of the others in any order and it'll all turn out okay. But I'm going to give you the order I typically use and try to explain a little why. I just wanted you to know that you're doing great no matter what.

Start by putting the applesauce in the bowl. Then crack your egg in and combine it. I do this to make sure the egg is evenly distributed through the batter. If you try to beat an egg into flour, you'll drive yourself crazy and wind up with lumps.

Then add the sugar. Mix well. Again, this is to evenly distribute the brown sugar. Lots of cooks talk about wet and dry ingredients and frequently they put brown sugar in the wet ingredient list because it does have a bit of moisture and it's hard to mix evenly into flour. I'm not going to tell you they're wrong, but the main reason to do it this way is so you get all the hard-to-mix ingredients mixed in before you add the flour. Why? Wait and see.

Add your spices next, plus your salt. No particular reason why, but if you find yourself needing more spices later, at least some of them will have hydrated. If you're using citrus zest, this is a perfect time to add that as well.

Now add the oats and mix. They take a bit to incorporate, and this way you're not stirring them with the flour in there. Plus, you get an idea of how much flour you'll need to add. You can also add your raisins at this point.

We're to the point where we add the flour, but don't mix it yet. If I were a real cook I'd be telling you to mix your dry ingredients in a separate bowl, but who's kidding whom? Add the baking soda and baking powder to the top of your flour and stir them into the flour a little. That protects them from immediately starting to activate and create bubbles. But, dark secret ahoy, it doesn't really matter. The if you add them to wet stuff, the baking soda may foam up but you're not looking for the baking soda to leaven anything anyway, so if it stops bubbling before you cook, no big deal. This is just the most convenient way.

So how much flour? Start with a cup. Stir it together gently. Lumps are okay. You'll never notice them with all the oats and raisins and stuff in there already (actually, lumps make things better, for reasons I'm not going to go into). They key is not to over-mix. If you do, you'll make your cakes chewy.

What's over-mixing? Fortunately this batter is even more forgiving than normal pancake batter, what with all the oats and applesauce and stuff. Just mix until all the flour is in there.

Check your texture. For good fluff, you'll want it to be a little thicker than the applesauce you started out with. Any thinner and they'll be very tender, any thicker and they'll be more like pan bread than griddle cake. These are never going to be crepes. They've got too much stuff in them. But here is the perfect time to make a test cake to see.

However, the batter will thicken as it sits. Let it rest for five minutes if it seems too thick, before you put any more flour in. This isn't dough, but the flour in it will still hydrate and make everything thicker. Spend the time heating your pan.

I nearly always use cooking spray to cook pancakes, and griddle cakes are no exception. You don't need lots of oil. You can also use butter for additional flavor. Heat your pan on medium heat, then try a test cake to see how things are cooking. If the cake burns, turn things down. If it doesn't start setting up and bubbling around the edges almost immediately, either wait a little for your pan to warm up or turn things up a little. But don't worry. It's hard to mess these up. They're actually really good beginner pancakes because the batter already has a lot of natural structure, so they won't run away from you and they puff up nicely.

Once you start to see browning around the edges and some bubbles in the center, flip. I'm not here to tell you how to flip a pancake, but if you make your pancakes about the size of your spatula, it makes it easier. Cook them one at a time until you get the hang of it, even if your griddle can hold more. You'll get there eventually.

Once both sides are browned and they spring back when you poke them in the center, they're done. They're hard to overcook though, unless you burn them, because the applesauce holds moisture in a way flour doesn't, so they won't dry out as easily.

And that's pretty much all there is to it. Serve them with butter. I find them to be nicely sweet already and don't use syrup, but you may feel differently.

Variations, in Q and A Form

Q: Can I make these gluten free?

A: Absolutely. You want to avoid gluten anyway (it's what makes them chewy if you overmix). Oats are gluten free (though if you're concerned, buy certified gluten free oats) and so is oat flour, which would work wonderfully. Or you can process a cup of oats into fine pieces and use that "flour" along with a cup of whole rolled oats.

Q: How about vegetarian/vegan?

A: Yes. Leave out the egg, add a bit more applesauce. I've made pancakes without eggs for years. They may be a bit more tender and harder to hold together, but honestly, flour is a great binder. You can make pancakes with just flour, baking powder, and water if you're desperate. Will they be as good? Maybe not, but they'll put breakfast on the table.

Q: Can I leave out the raisins?

A: If you must. Try other dried fruit like cherries or cranberries to keep with the autumn theme. Try slivered almonds to add some texture. If you leave out the raisins you may need a little more flour because the raisins will soak up some moisture, but let your batter sit for 5-10 minutes and it'll probably thicken up fine without them. But seriously, why do you hate joy?

Q: "Oatcakes."

A: Okay, good, you weren't followed. Here's the thing: it's just a pancake with oats in it, and if you leave out the oats, you can make this with some extra flour. The oats don't hydrate as quickly as the flour either, so you may not need that much extra. The applesauce should keep the pancakes from drying out as you cook them, even without the added structure the oats would have provided, but the consistency of the batter will be slightly more finicky. Definitely try a test pancake to see whether you need more flour or even more baking powder to give you lift.

Once you've figured out that you can make this without oats, you'll probably wonder whether you can make it without the applesauce too. And once you've mastered the proper batter consistency, you absolutely can. The world is your oyster. You can make basic pancakes with no sugar or spice, or you can make pancakes with cocoa powder, sugar, and coconut, or just cinnamon with a confectioner's sugar glaze, or even savory pancakes. And you'll see me posting another "griddle cake" recipe and think to yourself, "Who does he think he's fooling? It's just a pancake with different seasonings in it." And on that day, the student will have become the master.

But until then, this is a great way to try out making your own pancakes, because as I said, the oats help a lot with the structure and the apparent loft of the final product. Play with them. Add different spices. Add more or less oats. Use some applesauce and some water. A whole new pancake world will open up to you.