Caramel Apple Pancakes

Portland in mid-October is a cathedral of color. The maples along our street have turned — red, orange, gold — and the sidewalks are carpeted with leaves that make a sound like whispered paper when you walk through them. I took Miya for a walk every day this week, not for exercise but for beauty, for the need to show my daughter that the world does extraordinary things without being asked, that trees set themselves on fire every autumn and no one is in charge of this, it just happens, the way breathing happens, the way love happens.

I made apple miso butter this week — a fusion that happened by accident when I was making apple butter and reached for the miso paste instead of the cinnamon. The result was extraordinary: sweet, tangy, deeply savory, with the umami of the miso rounding out the sweetness of the apples in a way that felt inevitable, as if these two ingredients had been waiting in different cupboards for someone to introduce them. I made three jars and ate one with toast and gave one to my neighbor and kept one for the blog photos. The recipe got sixty-seven comments, which is a record. People are drawn to the unexpected combination, the thing that should not work but does. I think this is also why people read my blog — the combination of Japanese and American, of anxiety and calm, of grief and joy. The things that should not fit together but do.

Miya pulled herself to standing this week, using the coffee table. She stood for three seconds, wobbling, triumphant, then sat down hard and cried. I picked her up and said, "You did it," and she stopped crying and reached for the table again. Nakamura stubbornness. You fall down. You get up. You reach for the table. The table does not move. You move toward it.

I called Fumiko. She told me she made ozoni over the weekend even though it is October, because she was craving it. Fumiko making New Year's soup in October is an act of culinary rebellion that I find deeply inspiring. She follows no calendar but her own. She eats what she wants when she wants it because she is eighty-eight years old and has earned the right to disregard seasonal conventions. I want to be Fumiko when I am eighty-eight. I want to be Fumiko now.

Brian came home with a new tattoo — a hop flower on his forearm, because of course, because everything in Brian's life circles back to beer. He was excited about it. I said it looked nice, because it did, and because being married means celebrating things you do not understand about the person you chose. He celebrates my miso. I celebrate his hops. Somewhere in the middle is the marriage. I think.

After I finished the last jar of apple miso butter — the one I’d set aside for blog photos and then quietly demolished with a spoon over the kitchen sink — I still had a bowl of apples on the counter and a Miya who woke up at six demanding breakfast with the same stubbornness she brings to pulling herself upright at the coffee table. These caramel apple pancakes were the answer: all the sweetness of the season, all the warmth I needed after a week of extraordinary, ordinary things. The caramel is unsubtle and the apples are soft and the whole thing tastes like October decided to be generous for once.

Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 20 min | Total Time: 35 min | Servings: 4

Ingredients

For the apple topping:
2 medium apples (Honeycrisp or Fuji), peeled, cored, and diced into 1/2-inch pieces
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons brown sugar, packed
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 cup caramel sauce, plus more for drizzling
For the pancakes:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup whole milk
1 large egg
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Cooking spray or additional butter for the pan

Instructions

Make the apple topping. In a medium skillet over medium heat, melt 2 tablespoons butter. Add the diced apples, brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 6–8 minutes until the apples are tender and the sugar has formed a light glaze. Stir in the caramel sauce and remove from heat. Set aside while you make the pancakes.
Mix the dry ingredients. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt until combined.
Mix the wet ingredients. In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the milk, egg, melted butter, and vanilla extract.
Combine the batter. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir gently until just combined. A few lumps are fine — do not overmix or the pancakes will be tough. Let the batter rest for 5 minutes.
Cook the pancakes. Heat a large non-stick skillet or griddle over medium heat and lightly coat with cooking spray or a small pat of butter. Pour approximately 1/4 cup of batter per pancake onto the surface. Cook until bubbles form on the surface and the edges look set, about 2–3 minutes. Flip and cook 1–2 minutes more until golden. Repeat with remaining batter.
Serve. Stack pancakes on plates, spoon the warm caramel apple topping generously over each stack, and finish with an extra drizzle of caramel sauce. Serve immediately.

Nutrition (per serving)

Caramel Apple Pancakes — When the Apples Are Already Out, Why Stop at Butter