Warm Apple Breakfasts for Chilly Autumn Mornings

Many thanks to Tom and Rachel from SLO Farm for braving the elements and bringing their fresh produce to our neighborhood last Sunday. Note that starting this Wednesday they will have a weekly booth on the University of Oregon campus at the EMU. The SLO Farm apples are really extraordinary, and well worth a march through the rain (I notice that yet again, you can see my son's hand grabbing for them in the picture). Here are a couple of warm apple-inspired breakfasts, now that the mornings are turning so dark and chilly.

Saturday morning my two year old got me up early and wanted to make pancakes.

We mixed up a batter with some corn meal in it for heft, and sliced apples to layer on top for some apple flapjacks. On a warm griddle with a generous film of melted butter, so that the apples would get a little once the pancakes were flipped, we spooned out batter and doled out the apple slices. 

We flipped them and made sure to cook them long enough on the second side to let the apples begin to caramelize.

They were delicious with a drizzle of maple syrup and a handful of hazelnuts.

Apple Flapjacks

1 cup buttermilk

2 eggs

1/2 cup white flour

1/2 cup whole wheat white flour

1/4 cup medium ground corn meal

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

sparse sprinkle of cinnamon

2 apples (such as liberty apples from SLO Farm), cored and thinly slice

butter for the griddle

hazelnuts as garnish

1. Mix buttermilk and eggs. Combine dry ingredients and mix into wet ingredients until they are just incorporated.

2. Heat griddle and butter. Spoon on batter and layer on a couple of apple slices per pancake. When cooked, flip and cook well on the second side. Serve with maple syrup and hazelnuts.  Makes about 16 pancakes. 

Another nice pairing with apples is steel cut Irish oatmeal. If by chance your sister has recently moved to Berlin and has not yet quite figured out the time change between Germany and Oregon, so you are up anyway, by all means start a pot of oatmeal for the family, and while it is simmering for 30 minutes, saute up some chopped apples in butter with a sprinkle of cinnamon and brown sugar to mix in at the end, and serve with hazel nuts for a delicious breakfast with a substantial, nutty flavor and texture. 

On the other hand, if you'd like to wake up to a prepared, warm breakfast, and the house smelling deliciously of cooked apples and cinnamon, then you can start a pot of steel cut Irish oatmeal in the slow cooker the night before. This recipe is adapted from a Cooking Light Slow Cooker recipe book.

Slow Cooker Irish Oatmeal with Apples

1 1/2 cups milk

1 1/2 cup water

2 apples, such as liberty, cored and chopped

1 cup steel cut oats

2 Tbsp brown sugar

1 Tbsp butter

1/4 tsp cinnamon

Combine all of the ingredients in a slow cooker and cook on low overnight. Serve with hazelnuts and a sprinkle more of brown sugar or a drizzle of maple syrup.