Corn Cakes with Apples and Sausage

Tonight was the first night of white binder Rachel Ray recipes.  Brenna helped me go through them during the monthly dinner menu planning and chose a few to try.  Of course she picked the one that mostly resembled a pancake, but technically it is a new recipe so I can't complain.  Don't worry, she did pick some more adventurous things to try in the weeks to come.  We try to have a breakfast dinner once a week so this also fell into that category.  It was pretty simple and the kids all enjoyed it.  Tyler gave it a 9 out of 10 and was pretty happy he actually got to use real maple syrup instead of the fake maple flavored corn syrup they normally use.  The closest thing to describe the taste would be cornbread....so just imagine taking a piece of not so sweet cornbread and flattening it into a circle shape.  Also, the appearance is pretty deceiving.  Although they look like a pancake, the texture is completely different.  Don't make these expecting to bite into something soft and fluffy.  They were very dense and kind of grainy because if the cornmeal in them.  They were very filling and I would make them again.  I really liked the apple topping...I think that was probably my favorite part.

Corn Cakes:

1 c whole wheat flour (recipe just said flour so I decided against white and went with wheat.

1/2 c cornmeal

1 tbsp brown sugar

2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1 c. milk (I actually used between 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 cups to thin the batter because the whole wheat flour tends to make it more thick than using a white flour)

2 large eggs

4 tbsp butter, melted

My Assistant Chef was back on duty tonight and helped me collect the ingredients.

In a large bowl, whisk together dry ingredients.  In a smaller bowl combine the wet ingredients.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix well.



The completed corn cake batter.



Apple Topping:

3 red apples.  I used Pink Lady because they are my current new favorite.  Nice mix between tart and sweet.

3 tbsp butter

11/2 tbsp brown sugar

Cinnamon to taste

Dice the unpeeled apples into small pieces.

In a saucepan, melt butter over medium high heat.  Add apple pieces, brown sugar and cinnamon.  Recipe says to cook 3-4 mins, but mine cooked probably close to 10 mins before they were tender, but not mushy.

Ethan did a good job overseeing the project.

Once apples were done I transferred them to an oven proof dish and placed them in a 200 degree oven with my cooked turkey sausage links to stay warm.  No, the paper towels did not catch on fire.

Apple topping.

Drop 1/4 c. batter onto a heated griddle set to 350 degrees.  You could easily make these in a pan if you don't own a griddle.

Once batter starts to bubble, flip them.

This is why I use a griddle.  Even browning.  Pretty!

Finished corn cakes.  I was able to make 15 of them.

Finished corn cakes with apples and sausage.  Also made some scrambled eggs and served with sliced strawberries.