Aebleskiver - Apple Stuffed Pancakes

My children were very curious about a pancake pan that we noticed while we were out shopping. With rounded indentations and made out of black cast iron, the pan was for making Danish aebleskiver. Completely captivated by the idea of little round pancakes, we bought the aebleskiver pan and brought it home.

The origin of aebleskiver is unknown, but Karl Jorgensen, former owner and publisher of the Santa Ynez Valley Visitor's Magazine had his own theory. He thought that a group of battle weary Viking's returning to their ship wanted to have one of their favorite foods from home. All they had to cook on was a banged up shield. The pancakes cooked on the shields produced little pancake balls that are now called aebleskiver, now a traditional Danish dish. Traditionally, aebleskiver were served around Christmas and were filled with slices of apple or applesauce. At the Solvang Restaurant in California, they serve their aebleskiver topped with raspberry jam and powdered sugar.

Other nations have dishes similar to aebleskiver, the Dutch have poffertjes, the Japanese have takoyaki, the Thai have kanom krok, and the Indians have kuzhi paniyaram or gunta pongadalu.

Aebleskiver batter is very versatile and can be sweet as well as savory. Try adding chocolate chips to the center or dip in lemon juice and powdered sugar. For a savory options try coconut milk and corn or green chilis and Monterey Jack cheese.

However you choose to eat them, aebleskiver are lots of fun. My children were very entertained by eating the round pancakes with their fingers and dipping them into maple syrup. My husband and I enjoyed how each little ball was crispy on the outside and slightly gooey on the inside. Our new aebleskiver pan has gotten a workout as we have become enamored with these crispy little pancakes.

Recipe

Equipment Needed: Cast Iron Aebleskiver pan (mine is from Lodge)

Apple Filling

1 Tb butter
3 Tb brown sugar, packed
2 Granny Smith apples, peeled & finely chopped
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
2 Tb orange juice

Pancake Batter

1/2 cup brown rice flour
1/2 cup corn flour
3 Tb cornstarch
3 Tb sweet rice flour
2 tsp flax seed meal *
3/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp agave syrup
3 egg yolks
1 1/3 cup oat milk, soured **
5 egg whites

Filling

1. Dump in the butter, brown sugar, apples, nutmeg, cinnamon into a skillet and cook on medium heat. Stir the apple mixture frequently until the apples are tender. Remove from the heat and drain off the liquid. Set aside and allow to cool.

Batter

2. In a medium bowl, dump in the flours, flax seed meal, soda, baking powder and salt. Stir together.

3. In another medium bowl, pour in the agave syrup, egg yolks and soured oat milk. Then stir the ingredients together.

4. Pour the liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir together. Set aside while you mix the egg whites.

5. Plop the egg whites into the bowl of an electric mixer. Beat the egg whites on high speed until it forms firm peaks. Fold the egg whites into the pancake batter until blended.

6. Grease the bottoms of the cups of the aebleskiver pan. Pour 1 Tb of batter into the bottom of each cup and cook for 2 minutes. Place 1 tsp of apple filling in the center of each pancake. Then place another tablespoon of batter on top of the apple filling. Cook for another 2 minutes.

7. Use bamboo skewers to flip each pancake upside down. Cook each pancake another 2 minutes. Remove each pancake from the pan and set on a plate to cool. Makes 18 pancakes.

* You can use flax seed meal, psyllium seed meal or chia seed meal.

** How to make soured oat milk: Use 1/2 cup of certified gluten free oats, 1 Tb agave syrup and 2 cups of water. Dump the oats into your food processor and pulse until finely chopped. Then add the agave syrup and pulse. Pour in the water and pulse to blend. Be careful not to pulse too long as the water might leak out from under the lid of your food processor and onto the counter. Store oat milk in the refrigerator. To sour the oat milk pour 1 1/4 tsp vinegar into the milk and stir. Allow to sit for a few minutes.