Vegan Apple Sage Pancakes with Crispy Sage Leaves

Happy fall! Here in New York we've slipped into the sweetest season with its crimson leaves and cool mornings. I spent last weekend up in New Haven, CT dancing around the kitchen with one of my sweetest and oldest friends, KM . We went apple picking at our favorite spot, High Hill Orchard. It's a whacky apple and chestnut farm that winds over hills and sumac-filled ditches and is full of old growth fruit trees and wild fungi. We picked a bag full of Cortland apples, our favorites, and made these sweet and savory pancakes!

Fried sage is a beautiful and delicious addition to any fall dish. These delicate little leaves have the ability to spruce up any flapjack stack or bowl of butternut soup. In this recipe, I use coconut oil to fry the leaves, but you can use whatever you have around. Simply heat a few tablespoons of oil in a small frying pan and prepare the fresh sage leaves by pinching them off the stems. Once the oil is hot, add the leaves and fry until crisp (about 5 seconds). Remove from the pan with a fork and place on a paper towel to rest.

Apple-Sage Pancakes
Recipe makes about 8 small pancakes. Double if you're feeding a crew!

1 1/3 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup almond milk
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
1/3 cup water
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 Tablespoons maple syrup
1 Tablespoon coconut oil
1-2 apples (chopped finely)
2-4 sage leaves (chopped finely)

In a small bowl, mix the almond milk and apple cider vinegar and set aside to curdle. In a large bowl, combine the dry ingredients. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix until just combined. It's ok if there are some lumps remaining! Fold in the apples and sage leaves. Set aside.

Heat a heavy cast-iron pan over a medium flame for about three minutes or until heat is dispersed. Once hot, add some coconut oil and fry those flapjacks to perfection! Serve hot with crispy sage leaves (recipe above) and drizzled with maple syrup!

Enjoy!
NRG