Sometimes, it’s okay to play hookey. It’s okay to just take a day and say “You know what? I work hard and I deserve a break”. Well, today was one of those days for me. And what better way to spend a lazy day than making pancakes? I began by browsing Pinterest for some interesting recipes and came across this one: http://www.bunsinmyoven.com/2012/09/11/caramel-apple-pancakes/comment-page-1/which looked fabulous, but I knew it needed a little bit of modification to fit what I had in my fridge.

#1. PEACHES: I knew that I had white peaches as well as apples so I decided to add them to the topping, and I am so glad that I did! Since the recipe only calls for one apple, when adding a peach to the mixture I just added about 1/3 tablespoon of extra butter and an extra pinch of brown sugar to balance it. White peach added a softer texture to the mix as well as an extra sweet flavor which was perfect with the apples and brown sugar. My mouth is watering just thinking about it.

#2: APPLESAUCE: After I mixed my dry ingredients and I was all ready to go with the wet, I opened up my refrigerator and to my dismay, we were out of eggs. How was I supposed to make pancakes without eggs?! Luckily, applesauce was the perfect fix. I had heard before that applesauce was a good substitute for eggs but I was a bit hesitant at first since I had never tried this before. After some research I found that you can sub one egg for 1/4 cup of applesauce and that it is best to use smooth applesauce, but of course with my luck I only had chunky, so I didn’t know how it would turn out. I decided to give it a shot and try it anyway. I added a little bit of water to the applesauce to thin out the texture, then mixed it in with my wet ingredients just as I would if I was using an egg. Once the pancakes were cooked I could definitely tell the difference the applesauce made– in a good way! It made the pancakes so moist, and the flavor of apple in them was great especially since I was putting apples on top anyway. And applesauce is a healthier binder than eggs, so this is certainly a substitution you can feel good about!

#3: VANILLA: This modification is one that I make in any recipe that uses vanilla. I always use around twice or three times the amount called for because vanilla just makes everything a little more wonderful, right? It also smells fantastic.

#4: NO CARAMEL: Feel free to buy a caramel topping or make your own when making this recipe but it doesn’t even need it! After cooking the apples and peaches, the bottom of the pan still had a lot of brown sugar and butter liquid which made for a perfect sauce on its own. I’m sure caramel would have been great too, but it really isn’t necessary because the caramelized sauce from the topping is just so darn good.

Sometimes, it pays off to kick back and relax a little, and today it definitely payed off because it brought me to this wonderful recipe. And as always, if you don’t have something that the recipe calls for, be creative! Or if you have everything, still be creative! Cooking is always more fun that way. 

Enjoy! Love, The Perky Foodie