German for “best pancake ever.”  When you go to order this at the Magnolia Haus in San Antonio, the friendly wait staff are trained to spot you trying to say “Munk-nih–” and they finish pronouncing it for you, so quickly you want them to say it three more times.  It’s really German for “Munich Apple Pancake” and it claims to be “an authentic taste of Bavaria” translated from Oma’s cookbook.  I believe it.

out of the oven and ready to flip onto a plate

If you don’t feel like waiting in line for an hour to get a seat in one of MH’s hard little wooden gingerbread booths (is this authentic German too?) to eat this, you can make it at home, in your pajamas, with a pot of coffee.  This place was featured last year on a Food Network show, so what was before an incredibly busy restaurant is now two insanely busy restaurants.  And if you are trying not to eat enormous amounts of dessert for breakfast, and you don’t have your entire extended family around to share it with you, you can make my more modest sized version below.  It turns out eating even half of this modified version is far less calories and sugar than an American pancake with syrup.

When I first ate this, I was impressed with the intensity of cinnamon.  It is thoroughly spiced, which makes this more intense than most cinnamon rolls even.  I cannot wait to make this with some rye flour, and maybe sprinkle with some toasted nuts.  You could do all kinds of variations here– although apple cinnamon, with a rich vanilla batter is perfectly wonderful.  It looks somewhat fancy, but it was incredibly easy to make.  The texture is fluffier and more airy than a pancake, and the taste is richer than a crepe.

apples in butter and brown sugar

MÜNCHENER APFEL PFANNEKUCHEN

adapted from Magnolia Pancake Haus

(New Feature! To Print this recipe, click here.)

 Ingredients

  •  1 small tart sweet apple, peeled, cored and thinly sliced
  • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/3 cup milk (whole milk is preferred)
  • 1 tsp. vanilla
  • 1/3 cup flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon sugar
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
  • 2 1/2 tablespoons cold butter
  • Powdered sugar or whipped cream to garnish

 Procedure

  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
  2. Toss the apples with cinnamon and nutmeg, and saute in a 6-inch oven-proof nonstick pan. Stir occasionally with a rubber spatula to prevent sticking. Sauté over medium-low heat until apples begin to soften, about 3 to 5 minutes. (This is about how long it takes to make the batter.)
  3. While the apples are cooking, whisk together the eggs, milk and vanilla in a medium bowl. Add the flour, sugar and salt and whisk until just combined. Don’t overmix (a few lumps can remain, but it should be a thin batter).
  4. Increase the heat on the apples to medium and add the brown sugar and butter. Stir this until it begins to form a syrup (it will bubble nicely, like in the picture here), about 2 to 3 minutes.
  5. Pour the batter into the center of the pan. With a heat-resistant spatula, swirl the apple syrup mixture through the batter. Do not fully combine the syrup and batter– try to get the batter to the outer edges but keep the apples on the bottom.
  6. Cook on the stovetop until small bubbles appear around the edges of the pancake. Transfer the pan to the oven for 10-12 minutes. Remove the pan with oven mitts or towels, then turn the pancake over onto a plate (mine slid right out when I turned the pan over– no need to hold the plate to the pan.) Since these are smaller than the original recipe, inverting a plate onto a very hot saute pan is not necessary– just dont forget to use an oven mitt.
  7. Sprinkle powdered sugar over top, or add whipped cream, or just dig in. You dont really need any syrup or anything on this– it is perfect all by itself!
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