A while back, my boyfriend Jason bought a bottle of apple whiskey to try and he didn’t like it at all. He was quite disappointed (it was an expensive bottle of whiskey) and didn’t know what to do with it. I decided to take it off his hands but I don’t drink whiskey so I had to think of something else to do with it. Somehow, I decided to try it in my usual pancake recipe and it turned out AMAZING. Both Jason and I loved it and it’s become one of my go to pancake recipes. Overtime, I’ve tweaked the recipe to add granny smith apples (Jason’s favourite apples), buttermilk, and an apple whiskey compote that’s added as a side dish. I’ve named the recipe after Jason since he inspired it. I now buy apple whiskey just to make these pancakes. They’re light, fluffy and very apple-ly (that’s totally a real word 🙂 ).
How to Make Jason’s Apple Whiskey Pancakes
To make Jason’s apple whiskey pancakes, start by beating two eggs in a mixing bowl. Add 1 cup of buttermilk, 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract, and 2 tablespoons of melted butter to the eggs and whisk everything together well. To prevent the butter from clumping, use buttermilk and eggs that aren’t cold. Make sure that the butter isn’t too hot or it will cook the eggs.
In a separate bowl, combine 1½ cups of flour, 2 teaspoons of baking powder, 1 teaspoon of baking soda, 3 tablespoons of granulated sugar, and 1 teaspoon of salt. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix just until the dry ingredients are incorporated with the wet ingredients. Do not over-mix the batter, it’s okay to have some lumps in the batter. Over-mixing the batter will cause gluten to develop which will make the pancakes tough and chewy.
Grate one Granny Smith (green) apple; I removed the skin from the apple but you can include it if you’d like. Use a spatula to fold the grated apple into the batter along with ¼ a cup of apple whiskey. Let the batter sit for at least 5 minutes. This will allow the gluten that formed when you mixed the batter to relax a bit; gluten develops even with minimal mixing. Letting the batter rest will also make it less lumpy.
Put a frying pan on the stove on medium heat. When the frying pan becomes hot, lightly grease the pan with butter or oil. You can test if the heat is at the right temperature by dropping a bit of the pancake batter on the frying pan to make sure that it doesn’t burn right away or take ages to cook.
Once you’re satisfied with the heat level, pour some of the batter onto the frying pan to make your first pancake. The batter will be ready to flip when lots of bubbles form and start to pop on the uncooked side of the pancake. Before flipping the pancake, use the spatula to lift it a bit and take a peak at the underside to make sure that it’s golden brown before flipping. Gently flip the pancake with the spatula when it’s ready to turn over. Generally, it should take the uncooked side of the pancake about half as long to cook as it did the underside. Set the pancake aside once it’s done. Pour some of the batter onto the frying pan for the next pancake. Repeat the steps until all the batter has been used to make pancakes. To prevent the batter from sticking to the pan, add a bit of butter or oil to the frying pan between pancakes.
How to Make the Apple Whiskey Compote (Optional)
To make the apple whiskey compote, core and chop at least 1 Granny Smith apple into cubes. Heat 1 teaspoon of butter in a frying pan. Add the chopped apples to the pan along with 1/3 a cup of apple whiskey and 1 tablespoon of granulated sugar. Turning occasionally, let the apples cook until they soften, about 3 minutes. Serve the apple whiskey compote with the pancakes along with maple syrup and/or butter, if you desire. Alternatively, you can eat these pancakes with yogurt instead of syrup and butter. Enjoy!
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Jason’s Apple Whiskey Pancakes
Ingredients
For the Pancakes
- 1½ cups flour
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 tbsp butter (melted)
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 3 tbsp granulated sugar
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 large Granny Smith apple (grated; I removed the skin)
- ¼ cup apple whiskey
For the Apple Whiskey Compote
- 1 large Granny Smith apple (chopped into cubes with the core removed)
- ⅓ cup apple whiskey
- 1 tbsp granulated sugar
- 1 tsp butter
Instructions
For the Pancakes
- In a mixing bowl, beat the eggs. Add the buttermilk, butter, and vanilla extract to the eggs and whisk everything together. Use buttermilk and eggs that aren't cold to prevent the butter from clumping. Make sure that the butter isn’t hot as it might cook the eggs.
- Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar, and salt in a separate bowl.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Mix just until the dry ingredients are incorporated with the wet ingredients. Do not over-mix the batter as it will cause gluten to develop which will make the pancakes chewy instead of light and fluffy.
- Fold the grated Granny Smith apple and apple whiskey into the batter using a spatula.
- Let the batter rest for at least 5 minutes. It will allow the gluten that formed to relax a bit and get rid of some of the lumps in the batter.
- Heat butter or oil in a frying pan over medium heat. You can pour a bit of the batter onto the frying pan to test that the heat is at the right temperature; if the temperature is right, the bottom of the batter won’t burn right away or take more than 2 minutes to brown.
- To make your first pancake, pour some of the batter onto the frying pan. The pancake is ready to flip when lots of bubbles form at the top and start to pop.
- Gently flip the pancake with the spatula when it's ready to turn. Set the pancake aside once it's done.
- Continue to pour batter onto the frying pan to make pancakes until you’ve used up all of the batter. You might need to add more oil or butter to the frying pan between pancakes to prevent the batter from sticking to the pan.
For the Apple Whiskey Compote
- Heat the butter in a frying pan and add the chopped apples to the pan.
- Add the apple whiskey and sugar to the apples and mix everything together.
- Cook the apples until they soften, about 5 minutes.
- Serve the compote with the pancakes.
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