Vegetarian Recipes
Apple Cinnamon Pancakes
Cinnamon apples are simply my jam, but I especially love them during the Fall when apples are in season. And what better way to enjoy warm, cooked apples than on top of fluffy Apple Cinnamon Pancakes! This easy apple pancake recipe is infused with lots of warm and cozy flavors and simply a treat to enjoy. Sure, you can make regular pancakes this weekend, but why not take them up a notch with these extra fluffy, apple cinnamon pancakes!
Ingredients For Apple Cinnamon Pancakes
These apple cinnamon pancakes are seriously next level and the cooked apple topping really makes them extra special. Here’s everything that you’ll need:
- Apples: The sweet apple topping is what makes these pancakes stand out! There are lots of different apples to choose from, but I like to use a sweet or semi-sweet apple like Gala, Fuji, or Honeycrisp apples.
- All-Purpose Flour: Flour is the primary foundation for the pancakes. You can substitute up to half of the flour with whole wheat flour without it making the pancakes too dense.
- Baking Powder & Baking Soda: Both are leavening agents which help make the pancakes light and fluffy instead of dense and gummy.
- Sugar: Sugar adds the perfect amount of sweetness to the pancake batter and the apples. I chose granulated sugar for the pancakes and brown sugar to sweeten the apples, but you can certainly use whichever sugar you prefer.
- Cinnamon: Ground cinnamon adds a touch of sweetness and warmth to both the cooked apples and the pancake batter.
- Salt: A little bit of salt helps balance the flavor of the pancakes.
- Buttermilk: Buttermilk combines with the flour to add moisture and create the batter. I chose buttermilk for extra fluffy pancakes, but you can certainly use regular milk instead. I’ve also provided some buttermilk alternatives down below.
- Egg: The egg helps hold the pancakes together, it gives them a nice springy texture, and also helps leaven the pancakes.
- Butter: Butter adds lots of flavor and richness to the pancakes and the apples.
- Vanilla Extract: A small amount of vanilla extract adds a wonderful flavor and depth to the pancakes.
- Maple Syrup: Of course you have to finish these with a drizzle of pure maple syrup on top!😉
Buttermilk Alternatives
I love using buttermilk when I make pancakes to help make them extra fluffy. But sometimes buttermilk can be expensive, especially if you don’t plan on using it all up before it goes bad. So here are two cheaper options to consider:
- Milk + Vinegar or Lemon juice – Mix 1-2 Tbsp of white vinegar or lemon juice with 1 cup of milk. Stir and let the mixture sit for 10 minutes. Proceed to use in the recipe in place of buttermilk.
Freezing Buttermilk
Did you know you can freeze buttermilk? If you buy buttermilk from the store, instead of letting the rest go bad in the fridge, try freezing leftover buttermilk to use for later!
Recipe Tips and Variations
- Don’t overmix the batter. Stir the dry and wet ingredients together until they are just combined and there are no traces of dry flour left in the bowl. Over-mixing the batter will develop the gluten in the flour and make the pancakes rubbery rather than soft and fluffy.
- Control your temperature. Keep the heat between medium and medium-low heat. If the temperature is too high you may burn the pancakes before they’ve had a chance to cook all the way through.
- Want even more apple cinnamon flavor? Try adding some store-bought or homemade applesauce to your batter. I didn’t do this step with this recipe, but I love doing this at home to add even more flavor to the pancakes! Gently fold in up to ⅓ cup of applesauce into the batter once the wet and dry ingredients are combined. Again, be sure not to overmix.
Storing Leftovers
These apple cinnamon pancakes can easily be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator and enjoyed for up to 4 days. You can store the pancakes and the cooked apple topping separately if you want, but I often store mine together. The apples hold their texture very well. Reheat in the microwave until warmed through or pop the pancakes in the toaster to reheat separately from the apple topping.
Apple Cinnamon Pancakes
Ingredients
Apple Topping
- 2 large apples $1.50
- 2 Tbsp butter $0.28
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon $0.05
- 2 Tbsp brown sugar $0.08
- 2 Tbsp water $0.00
Pancakes
- 1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour $0.30
- 1.5 tsp baking powder $0.05
- 1/2 tsp baking soda $0.03
- 1/2 tsp salt $0.03
- 1 tsp cinnamon $0.10
- 3 Tbsp granulated sugar $0.05
- 1 cup buttermilk* $0.53
- 1 large egg, beaten $0.22
- 1/4 cup butter, melted $0.56
- 1 tsp vanilla extract $0.30
- 1 Tbsp butter (for cooking pancakes) $0.14
Instructions
-
Peel, remove the core, and dice the apples.
-
Melt 2 Tbsp butter in a small pot over medium-low heat. Add the diced apples, cinnamon, brown sugar and water to the pot. Stir together and allow the apples to come up to a simmer. Cook the apples for 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until they are tender. Remove the pot from the heat and cover with a lid to keep warm.
-
While the apples are cooking, start on the pancakes. In a large bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and granulated sugar.
-
In a separate bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, egg, melted butter, and vanilla.
-
Pour the wet ingredients into the same bowl as the dry ingredients. Stir together until just combined. Be careful not to overmix at this point. The batter will be a little thick.
-
Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Once hot add ½ Tbsp of butter and swirl around to coat the surface. Add about ¼ cup pancake batter to the hot skillet. I like to cook two pancakes at a time.
-
Cook the pancakes until bubbles form over the surface and begin to pop. The edges and bottom of the pancakes will also start to become golden brown (about 60-90 seconds). Now flip the pancakes and cook on the second side until golden brown (about 30-60 seconds).
-
Repeat with the remaining batter, adding more butter to the skillet between batches or as needed, until all of the pancakes have been cooked. Keep the pancakes warm on a plate under a towel or on a baking sheet in a warm oven until all of the pancakes have been cooked.
-
Now serve the pancakes with several spoonfuls of cooked cinnamon apples on top and a drizzle of warm maple syrup. Enjoy!
See how we calculate recipe costs here.
Notes
Nutrition
How to Make Apple Cinnamon Pancakes – Step by Step Photos
Peel, remove the core, and dice 2 large apples.
Melt 2 Tbsp butter in a small pot over medium heat. Add the diced apples, 1/2 tsp cinnamon, 2 Tbsp brown sugar and 2 Tbsp water to the pot. Stir together and allow the apples to come up to a simmer.
Cook the apples for approximately 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until they are tender. Remove the pot from the heat and cover with a lid to keep warm.
While the apples are cooking, start on the pancakes. In a large bowl whisk together 1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour, 1 1/2 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp baking soda, 1/2 tsp salt, 1 tsp cinnamon, and 3 Tbsp granulated sugar.
In a separate bowl, whisk together 1 cup buttermilk, 1 beaten egg, 1/4 cup melted butter, and 1 tsp vanilla extract.
Pour the wet ingredients into the same bowl as the dry ingredients.
Stir together until just combined. Be careful not to overmix at this point. The batter will be a little thick.
Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Once hot add ½ Tbsp of butter and swirl around to coat the surface. Add about ¼ cup pancake batter to the hot skillet. I like to cook two pancakes at a time.
Cook the pancakes until bubbles form over the surface and begin to pop. The edges and bottom of the pancakes will also start to become golden brown (about 60-90 seconds). Now flip the pancakes and cook on the second side until golden brown (about 30-60 seconds).
Repeat with the remaining batter, adding more butter to the skillet between batches or as needed, until all of the pancakes have been cooked. Keep the pancakes warm on a plate under a towel or on a baking sheet in a warm oven until all of the pancakes have been cooked.
Now serve the pancakes with several spoonfuls of cooked cinnamon apples on top and a drizzle of warm maple syrup. Enjoy these warm, apple cinnamon pancakes with some crispy air fryer bacon on the side. So good!!😋
More Pancake Recipes
The post Apple Cinnamon Pancakes appeared first on Budget Bytes.
Vegetarian Recipes
Homemade Kimchi
Once upon a time, I auditioned for one of those reality food shows, and my kimchi spring rolls got me to the next level of auditions (If you haven’t tried them yet, I posted a budget-friendly version here on the blog!) Why would a recipe like that get me flown to Los Angeles, you ask? Well, the judge asked me how I made my kimchi, and apparently, I aced his test; it’s not simply pickled; it’s fermented! I’ve always loved fermented foods, and this Homemade Kimchi is easy, vegan, budget-friendly perfection—the longer it sits, the better it gets! However, the process is super important, so let’s dive in!
Easy Recipe for Homemade Kimchi
Kimchi is a spicy, tangy, and veggie-packed Korean side dish made by fermenting fresh vegetables (think of it like pickles with a probiotic boost!). Instead of vinegar, the magic happens through lacto-fermentation, where good bacteria (the kind that’s great for your gut) naturally preserve the veggies and build the signature sour-savory flavor. I love serving it on rice bowls, tucked into wraps, or eaten straight from the jar as a quick snack. 😋
When I was in my 20s, I took a holistic nutrition course with a Naturopath Doctor in Indonesia. On my sojourn, I had a very long layover in South Korea, where I swear I ate 100 different kinds of kimchi. It helped me pinpoint the veggies I love most in my homemade recipe, but you can use just about any hardy vegetable you have on hand; I like to do a seasonal version as well, using raw pumpkin or butternut squash in the fall. Veggies like cucumbers and zucchini can be used, but because of their super high water content, they turn too mushy for my liking. Cabbage truly helps the texture no matter what else you add, so be sure to pick out a nice fresh head of cabbage!
Homemade Kimchi Recipe
Step-by-step photos can be seen below the recipe card.
Equipment
-
3 12 oz Canning Jars
-
Food Processor
-
Large Mixing Bowl
Ingredients
- 1 Tbsp agave $0.14*
- 1 jalapeno seeded, $0.41
- 1 red bell pepper seeded and divided, $1.48
- ½ red onion divided, $0.54
- 2 inch piece fresh ginger peeled, $0.24
- 2 large cloves garlic $0.06
- ½ green cabbage mine was about 1 ¾ lbs, $1.66
- ¼ red cabbage mine was about ¾ lb, $0.86
- 4 green onions $0.48
- 2 ribs celery $0.30
- 2 carrots $0.16
- 1 Tbsp sea salt $0.08
Instructions
-
Begin by sanitizing your workspace and running three 12 oz canning jars through your dishwasher on high heat to sanitize them. Alternatively, you can also sanitize your jars by submerging them in boiling water and then allowing them to air dry.
-
Meanwhile, in a food processor, combine agave syrup, 1 jalapeno (seeded), ½ red bell pepper (seeded), ¼ red onion, peeled ginger, and garlic cloves.
-
Pulse vegetables and agave in a food processor until all vegetables have been broken down into a paste-like consistency, with any visible vegetables all being the same size, minced. Set aside.
-
Prep all the vegetables: roughly chop or slice both cabbages, roughly chop the green onion (discarding only the very tip of the root), dice celery, julienne carrots, remaining ½ red bell pepper, and remaining ¼ red onion. This step is a great time to practice your knife skills or skip laboring over cutting everything and just chop it up coarsely. Kimchi is very forgiving, and it’s fun to have a lot of different shapes that will contribute to the texture once it is fermented later.
-
In a large mixing bowl, combine all prepared veggies and salt. With clean hands, massage the salt into the prepared vegetables until they are all very soft. (It’s arm day, y’all! Use those muscles, and don’t stop!)
-
After at least 10 minutes of massaging the vegetables and salt, add the prepared, processed vegetable and agave mixture. Continue to massage the vegetables and the spicy-sweet processed mixture together for another 5-10 minutes, or until a significant amount of water is released from the veggies, and you can see it pooling at the bottom of our bowl.
-
With clean hands, spoon your mixture into jars and push it down firmly with the spoon once full. You should see a significant amount of liquid brine rising to the top, covering your vegetables whenever you push it down with the spoon (or clean fingers!) Don’t waste the brine; top off the jars as much as you can to cover the veggies.
-
Place lids on jars loosely and wipe down the jars. Transfer the jars to a dark place in your kitchen for 24 hours. I like to place my jars in a spare Tupperware container and keep them under the sink, so they are contained and in a warm(ish) place to help with the early fermentation process.
-
After 24 hours, carefully “burp” each jar by simply removing the lid to allow some of the naturally occurring gasses to escape. If your kitchen is particularly warm, you may want to burp your kimchi after just 12 hours to avoid a small (potent!) explosion. 🙂
-
After the initial 24-hour fermentation period, burp your kimchi every 8-12 hours until you see consistent, active bubbles every time you open the lid. Once you see a lot of bubbling on a regular basis, you can screw the lid on tight and transfer the jars to your refrigerator. It’s done!
See how we calculate recipe costs here.
Notes
The total amount of time for fermentation to take place can depend on various factors, such as the temperature of your kitchen. Keep burping the jar every 8-12 hours after the initial 24-hour (or 12-hour) fermentation period until you see consistent bubbles.
Nutrition
how to make Homemade Kimchi step-by-step photos
Gather all of your ingredients. Before starting, completely sanitize your workspace and run three 12 oz canning jars through your dishwasher on high heat to sanitize them. Or, you can alternatively sanitize your jars by submerging them in boiling water and then allowing them to air dry. I’ve also shared more on this below the step-by-step photos for reference.
Prep the veggies: While you wait for your jars to sanitize, you can get started on the vegetables. Add 1 Tbsp agave syrup, 1 jalapeno (seeded), ½ red bell pepper (seeded), ¼ red onion, 2 inch peeled fresh ginger, and 2 large garlic cloves to a food processor.
Pulse them in the food processor until all the veggies break down into a paste-like consistency. Any visible veggies should roughly be all the same size, minced. Set this mixture to one side for now.
Now roughly chop or slice ½ green cabbage and ¼ red cabbage, roughly chop 4 green onions (discarding only the very tip of the root), dice 2 ribs celery, julienne (thinly slice) 2 carrots, remaining ½ red bell pepper, and remaining ¼ red onion. You can also chop up everything coarsely if desired (this recipe is very forgiving!)
Massage the vegetables: Add the prepped vegetables to a large mixing bowl and sprinkle with 1 Tbsp salt. With clean hands, massage the salt into the vegetables until they are all very soft (about 10 minutes).
After at least 10 minutes of massaging, add the processed vegetables and agave mixture from your food processor to the bowl.
Massage the vegetables with the spicy-sweet processed mixture for a further 5-10 minutes or until a significant amount of water has been released from the veggies.
You should see it pooling at the bottom of your bowl, as shown in the photo above.
Add to jars: Again, with clean hands, use a spoon to add your veggie mix to the sterilized jars.
Push the mixture down firmly with your spoon once full (a significant amount of liquid brine should rise to the top, covering the homemade kimchi as you push down).
Don’t waste any of the brine from the bottom of the mixing bowl! Try to top off each jar with as much as you can. You ideally want all the veggies to be submerged in the brine for fermentation.
Ferment: Place the lids on the jars loosely and wipe down the sides of the jars. Now, place the jars in a dark place in your kitchen for 24 hours. (I like to place my jars in a spare Tupperware container and keep them under the sink so they are contained and in a warm(ish) place to help with the early fermentation process.)
Once it’s been 24 hours, carefully ”burp” each jar by removing the lid. This allows some of the naturally occurring gases from the fermentation process to escape the jars. If your kitchen is quite warm, you may want to ”burp” your jars after 12 hours, not 24, to release the gases and avoid any small explosions!
After the initial 24-hour fermentation period, you want to burp your jars every 8-12 hours until you see consistent and active bubbles whenever you open the lid. As soon as you see lots of bubbling on a regular basis, screw the lid on tight and transfer the jars into your refrigerator. Now it’s ready to be eaten!
What is lacto-fermentation?
I mentioned lacto-fermentation earlier, but I just wanted to touch on what that actually means. It’s a natural preservation process where good bacteria (lactobacillus) feed on the sugars in the veggies and produce lactic acid. That acid gives kimchi its tangy flavor and helps keep it safe to eat. This is the same process used when making sauerkraut and dill pickles. But before that can happen, we need to salt the veggies.
Salting helps draw out moisture, slows the growth of harmful bacteria, and creates a brine that sets the stage for fermentation. So, yes, all that massaging the veggies isn’t just a good workout—it’s vital for the lacto-fermentation process!
Important Recipe Success Tips!
- CLEAN CLEAN CLEAN! Whether you’re experimenting with this recipe, sauerkraut, pickling, brewing beer, or making kombucha, you want to make sure you’re always working with clean materials when it comes to fermentation. We are trying to promote healthy bacteria, not the bad kind!
- Sanitize your jars. Following on from the previous point, you must sanitize your jars before starting this recipe. Run them through the dishwasher on high heat, submerge them in boiling water and let them air dry, or give them a bath in a food-grade hydrogen peroxide and water mix (follow the label for the correct ratio and instructions).
- Keep it submerged. You can use the rough ends of your cabbage and red onion or the butts of carrots to help keep the prepared vegetables submerged in the brine during the fermentation process. Just put the lid on top after you add the rough vegetable ends. Before you get to the refrigerator step, discard those pieces of veggies that didn’t go beneath the brine. If you skip this tip, you can scrape off the top of the kimchi if it doesn’t sit underneath the brine. (Sometimes this happens if you are short on brine.) Everything underneath will be fermented just right and safe to eat!
- Don’t tighten the lid during fermentation. Make sure to leave the lid loose while your vegetables ferment. Tightening the lid too early can lead to pressure buildup (and possibly a kimchi explosion…not fun!)
- Use a sea salt with no additives. Stick to plain sea salt with no additives. Additives can interfere with fermentation, and I want you to give those good bacteria the best chance to thrive!
Serving Suggestions
I love piling this recipe for kimchi on scrambled eggs…it adds just the right kick to a simple breakfast. For lunch or dinner, I’d toss it into fried rice or add it to an easy rice bowl (our Bibimbap recipe is perfect for this!). And, of course, I couldn’t make my kimchi spring rolls without it. Or, if you want a comfort food twist, it’s amazing in quesadillas with some melty cheese. You can also spoon it over grain bowls, stuff it into wraps and sandwiches, or add it to any salad for an extra punch of flavor.
How to Store
This recipe can last for several months in an airtight jar in the fridge. Be sure to use clean fingers or utensils whenever you grab some, as introducing new bacteria can shorten its life span or throw off the flavor. Also, make sure the top layer is always submerged under the brine to keep everything fresh and safe. If anything starts to look or smell off, it’s best to toss it and start a new batch.
More Easy How-Tos
The post Homemade Kimchi appeared first on Budget Bytes.
-
Vegetarian Recipes6 years ago22 Best Soup Recipes
-
Indian Vegetarian Recipes5 years ago
avocado salad
-
Vegetarian Recipes6 years ago
Easy Vegetarian Chili
-
Vegetarian Recipes6 years ago
Stuffed Zucchini Boats
-
Vegetarian Recipes6 years ago
Butternut Squash Soup
-
Vegetarian Recipes6 years ago
Pickled Red Onions
-
Vegetarian Recipes6 years ago
Peanut Butter Jelly Bars (Vegan, Gluten Free)
-
Vegetarian Research5 years ago
SERIOUSLY FUDGY VEGAN & GRAIN-FREE BROWNIES WITH PEANUT BUTTER
