Apple Pancake is a German tradition that is also known as Apfelpfannkuchen. Apfel (pronounced AP-fel) is the German word for apple. Adding it to the front of pfannkuchen get us delicious apple pancakes. It is a single large pancake smothered with sauteed apples and cinnamon sugar, plus baked to perfection.
The smell of the apples cooking in the oven will drive you wild – let alone the taste of this Apple Pancake after it is baked! You could not serve a better pancake recipe to your family and friends for breakfast or brunch. So good!
Learn all about Eggs and how to cook them. For more great brunch ideas, check out my Brunch Recipes.
- 2 tart cooking apples, peeled, cored, and sliced into 1/4-inch slices
- 1/4 cup sugar (granulated)
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 3 eggs, beaten and room temperature
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup flour (all-purpose or bread flour)*
- 1/2 cup milk, room temperature
- 1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 7 tablespoons butter
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Preheat oven to 425 F. Place oven rack in the middle of your oven.
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In a small bowl, combine sugar and cinnamon; set aside.
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In a large bowl, combine eggs, salt, flour, milk, and vanilla extract; beat until batter is smooth (the batter will be thin, but very smooth and creamy); set aside.
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In a large heavy ovenproof frying pan or a cast-iron skillet (I like to use my 10-inch cast-iron skillet) over medium heat, melt butter, tilting pan to cover sides. Add apples and sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon mixture. Stir and let cook for 5 to 7 minutes to slightly cook the apple slices; remove from heat.
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Pour prepared pancake batter over the apples into the baking pan. Place pan in preheated oven and bake approximately 20 minutes or until puffed above sides of the pan and lightly browned (it may puff irregularly in the center); remove from oven.
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Remove pancake from the baking pan by flipping upside down onto a serving platter (apples and cinnamon will be on top). Once out of the oven, the pancake will begin to deflate.
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To serve, cut into serving-size wedges and transfer to individual serving plates. Serve with an optional dusting of powdered sugar over the top
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Makes 1 large pancake of 2 to 4 servings (depending on your appetite).
* Bread four is a high-protein flour. The high protein helps the pancake rise. All-purpose flour may be use, but the results will not be as spectacular.
Source: Photo from the Original Pancake House restaurant in Portland, Oregon. Other photos shared by Al Kapp of Genoa City, Wisconsin
8 Responses to “Apple Pancake Recipe – German Apple Pancake”
Kimberly
APPLE PANCAKES
I made 1 1/2 batch and made a small pyrex dish as well.
Jan
Had this yummy plate of deliciousness at the Pancake House in Salem, OR, so I started looking for a similar recipe online. So happy to find this! Having the apples on the bottom is what makes this so good; the sugar-cinnamon caramelizes and crisps portions of the pancake, making it irresistible! I usually prefer a savory breakfast, but I cannot pass up this Dutch baby variation, so I just have it with bacon on the side – a piece of heaven on a plate!!
Gina
Great recipe! I pinned this recipe a year or two ago and have made it several times. My family loves it!!
Kim
I sooo looked forward to this recipe but the batter I poured on top of the apple just sank into the apple mixture unevenly so the end result didn’t have a beautiful dome coated in cinnamon and sugar that puffed up. The flavor was good but presentation wasn’t at all pretty. I used a cast iron skillet, it looked more like monkey bread than an apple pancake. I did use bread flour. I found another recipe that include wheat gluten, maybe I should try that? Any suggestions on getting the batter to evenly and smoothly pour on top of the apples? I’m ‘desperate’ to perfect this recipe, so many childhood memories of eating this with family in Michigan!
Brenda
Let the apple mixture cool for a hour or overnight. Or set it in the freezer. Then pore batter on top. And bake. It will cook. Apples stay on the bottom this way. Put a plate on top of pan and flip out!
Suz
I followed the recipe to a T, and used bread flour as well. But I felt like there was not enough pancake to apple ratio. Did I do something wrong?
Whats Cooking America
The pancake should have puffed up around the pan.
LG
I’m curious as to why no baking powder or soda in the pancake mix to help it rise.