Welcome to Frugal Homemade! This week, I am going to share one of my favorite frugal ways to make a breakfast staple more interesting in these Apple Pancakes. Apples cut into rings add a nice sweetness to your pancakes, and they look pretty cute, too. I love to make these for guests during this time of year because they look impressive — and people really appreciate knowing that we are using fruit from somewhere not terribly far away. But they are also easy enough that I am happy to just make them for the family’s weekend breakfast throughout the year as well.

We are right in the middle of apple season, and apples of all kinds are plentiful and cheap. Berries are a popular and tasty pancake addition but they aren’t always cheap or reliably tasty. You can almost always find a decent and reasonably priced apple and they last a while in the fridge, so even when it isn’t peak apple season, they are fruits we often have on hand.

Add Apple Pancakes to your existing pancake routine

You can do this no matter how you typically make pancakes, whether it be from scratch, from a box, from a jug or can, gluten-free, etc. And you can use any type of apple you have!

I am using a Golden Delicious simply because that is what I have, but really anything will work. A more tart apple would be great since you are cooking it, which will make it sweeter, and in all likelihood, syrup will be added.

I use Alton Brown’s “Instant” Pancake Mix. As a side note, I rarely have buttermilk on hand, so use lemon juice and milk for a substitution. For each cup of buttermilk you need, just put a tablespoon of lemon juice in a liquid measuring cup and whisking, slowly add milk to reach a cup.

Then, however you are doing it, mix up your batter.

Peel and core your apple, then slice it about 1/8″ thick. I usually don’t use the top and bottom slice, so this medium sized apple gave me ten slices, which was perfect for the three of us.

Heat your skillet or griddle. When it is hot, rub some butter on it, then wipe it so there is only a thin coating. This is something I learned from the Alton Brown recipe and it really does work to make them brown but stay light and fluffy.

To the hot pan, add the apple rings.

Over each ring, carefully pour batter to cover the ring. Just like any pancake, flip them when they start to bubble all over, then remove and keep warm when cooked through.

These can also be frozen and reheated in the toaster or toaster oven for quick weekday breakfasts.

What are YOUR favorite things to do with apples?

Be sure to check back each week for something new! I will be bringing you how-tos, advice, and articles on everything pertaining to easy frugal living: From DIY, to recipes, to practical tips and tricks. To help balance out the couponing and deal chasing we do a lot of here, I’ll talk about easy ways to incorporate frugality into everyday life and to do more from scratch.