One of my favorite parts of New York City is its glorious abundance of farmers markets. Access to local and fresh produce ranges from tiny little stands on the street to mega-markets like the Union Square Greenmarket. That’s where I found myself last weekend, just before the vendors started packing up and going home for the day.
Obviously I was smitten by the organic leafy greens and the fresh baked bread, but this market had so much more. There was hard cider. And wine. And vegan pies.
And my favorite: jams, jellies, and other jarred goods. I always seek these out at big farmers markets. I consider myself a collector of artisan fruit spreads. It fits nicely with my PB&J sandwich obsession (not to mention my oatmeal addiction…). Beth’s Farm Kitchen uses local ingredients to make some phenomenal jams, fruit butters, marmalades, chutneys, and pickled veggies. My purchase? No-sugar-added apple butter. And no, that does not mean they used Splenda, and no, that does not mean they sweetened it with “white grape juice concentrate.” It means they took a fruit. Added spices. Cooked it down to a butter. No sweeteners necessary.
. . . So I made pancakes! Now, of course, any apple butter will do. In fact, if you do not have apple butter, you can use applesauce instead, and then spice the pancakes yourself. However, the apple butter creates a convenient recipe because the spices are already included in the product!
As you can see, I made tiny little silver dollar pancakes. How precious are they? I will stick to the silver dollar size from now on. It was much more fun to eat a tower of mini pancakes than a short stack of fat ones. 🙂
And as for the taste? I wholeheartedly approve!
What you'll need:
- 2/3 cup quick or rolled oats (I use Country Choice Organic)
- 2/3 cup milk of choice, or water
- 1/4 cup apple butter*
- 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 rounded tsp baking powder
- pinch of salt
- 1 tbsp flax seed (optional)
- 1 tbsp maple syrup (optional, I omitted)
How to make it:
- Put all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. Add extra liquid if necessary (just a tsp or so at a time). It should have the consistency of paint. 🙂
- Heat a griddle pan over medium low heat.
- When griddle pan is ready, spray with nonstick cooking spray (it only needs a little bit!), and use a large spoon or a small scoop to pour pancakes onto the griddle. I made silver dollar pancakes, so I used a large soup spoon, and it worked perfectly. Generally, don't go any bigger than 1/4 a cup.
- When bubbles have formed at the top of the pancake, flip over and cook for another minute. Repeat until all the batter has been used!
- Top with maple syrup, maple-nut sauce, or more apple butter. Pecans, raisins, and/or walnuts also make excellent toppings.
Just an FYI:
*Alternatively, you can use applesauce with 1 tsp apple pie spices (or at least cinnamon).
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