Apple Fritters for Breakfast!

On the weekends, my husband and I sit down for breakfast.  Most times it is as simple as eggs, or cheeses, olives and bread.  Today there were no eggs and no bread in the house.  And I just wasn’t “feeling” a walk to the store.  So while he slept, I started brainstorming.

I had picked up Aunt Jemima’s pancake mix on my last trip to the States. We had apples.  So I was thinking apple pancakes.  But no, the ready mix called for an egg!  Off I went to the internet.

I started searching for apple fritter recipes.  To be honest, I had never eaten an apple fritter.  But I love conch fritters!  And I love potato pancakes, which certainly are fritters!  Much to my dismay, every recipe called for one egg.  So I checked the fridge again – nope still no eggs.  (Isn’t “fridge” a strange word? There’s no “d” in refrigerator.)

I changed my google search thusly:  apple fritter breakfast recipe -egg.  That’s right!  Don’t show me a recipe with an egg!

It worked!  The first recipe, the one that looked easiest and caught my eye began with one cup of pancake mix.  I had that!  But I had to chuckle as I read on, 3/4 cup of apple pie filling.

I have never ever in my life followed a recipe that started with add a can of this, and a can of that!  But whatever, I was determined to make this one work.

After giving it some thought, I remembered that not all pancake mixes are the same.  For example, mine called for milk and a dreaded EGG, but I knew others were “add water only” mixes.

The original recipe called for the mix, the pie filling, 2 Tbsp. of water and allspice.  So here’s what I did.  I used one cup of pancake mix.  I added 2 Tbsp. of milk.  I added only a tsp. of sugar (thinking that would cover for the missing juices of the apple pie filling.)  Could have added more, but I’m not a sweets person and it was breakfast afterall!).

I grated two apples and added to the mix.  There was no way I was going to dice apples for breakfast!  Finally, I ground my own allspice, and added a little cinnamon too.

The mix is supposed to be thick, but it was still way too dry.  I kept adding milk until all of the ingredients were wet, at least another 2-3 Tbsp. of milk.  (I want to note here that a Tbsp., tablespoon, should always start with a capital “T”.  A tsp., teaspoon, is always a lower case abbreviation.  It drives me nuts when I see tbsp.  There are other acceptable variations such as Tbls.  But if you use the lower case, you run the risk!)

I was going to add a squeeze of orange juice, but I forgot.

Instead of deep frying, I added just enough vegetable oil to cover the pan a little thicker than I would for a normal pancake.  I fried until golden on both sides, and man, did they puff up!  They were almost an inch thick when done!

To serve them, I added a little butter to pancake syrup and heated in the microwave.  The syrup was served as a side for dipping.  (Okay, so one would think I would be more of a snob about maple syrup.  But no, Aunt Jemima Original is just fine by me.)

If you really like them sweeter, or want to serve them as a dessert, sprinkle some powdered sugar on them.

It was a delicious breakfast treat created simply by things I had in the house and a little imagination!

Afiyet Olsun!

Here’s the link to the original recipe, the one with pie filling:
Apple Fritter Pancake Puppies

If you have eggs, there are a lot of recipes out there so these can be made in Turkey, without having specialty items such as pancake mix.  You can use a nice fruit compote, or pekmez as a dipping sauce.

Pancake syrup and Maple syrup can be found in some specialty markets and are found regularly at Metro Grosmarkt.  They are, however, quite expensive.