Apple Custard Pancake

I'm always on the lookout for brunch recipes since it's my favorite meal to host. Back in college, we would call it epic brunch. After Sunday mass, we would gather any friends that showed up and have what we called epic brunch. Brunch would last until the late afternoon and we would put off our studies to eat and spend more time together. It is a tradition that has carried on even after graduation. Even though we're all miles away, we still have brunch during our reunions. Since Sunday is a day for sleeping in and general relaxation, I like simple recipes that can be thrown together quickly. This apple pancake is one of them. I made it with the anticipation that it would be more like a German pancake. It wasn't. It was really more of a custard- at least, to me! It reminded me of Laura's apple cinnamon bread pudding minus the bread. The recipe is from the Kitchn.

Apple Custard 

3 medium Granny Smith apples

4 tablespoons sugar, divided

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1/3 cup unsalted butter

1/3 cup dark brown sugar

3/4 cup flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1 cup milk

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

5 eggs

Brown Butter Chai Spiced Snickerdoodles

At this point, I've made a couple batches of chai snickerdoodles that just didn't have enough chai spice in them. This recipe will change that! It has spices in the dough and also in the sugar coating. That makes all the difference. The recipe is from Will Cook for Friends from the great cookie exchange for bloggers. I vote we do this next year among ourselves through the mail. Also browned butter makes the cookie even better. I've made a gluten free version with gf all purpose flour mix that turned out well.

I've also been making my own chai concentrate lately! I'll be posting that soon. As you can tell, I love chai as much as I love pumpkin flavored baked goods.

When baking these you want to bake them just until they are barely set! The inside of the crackles will look bubbly and but not too gooey. Use the first tray of cookies to gauge how long you want to bake the rest of the cookies for. Remember they will continue to bake and set after taking them out of the oven. If you take these steps, your cookies will be chewy yet crispy and awesome.

By the way, happy New Year's Eve! We're on the turnpike towards Pittsburgh! I do not miss this drive but at least this year we're not all afflicted with food poisoning :)

1 cup + 4 tbsp unsalted butter 

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour or gf mix

2 tsp. cream of tartar

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. kosher salt 

1 tbsp ground cinnamon

1 1/2 tsp. ground ginger

1 tsp. ground cardamom

1/4 tsp. finely ground black pepper

1/4 tsp. cloves

1 cup granulated sugar

3/4 cup dark brown sugar

2 large eggs

2 tsp. vanilla extract