Apple Butter Pancakes and Breakfast Sausage Patties

Yesterday was National Pancake Day, so what better to serve my family for dinner than their favorite meal - pancakes and sausage!  Since it was feeling and looking a whole lot like fall outside, I decided to switch up my pancake recipe a bit and use my mom's wonderful homemade apple butter.  OH YUM!!!  They were a HUGE hit!   I use the same basic pancake recipe, but change it up depending on what the kids or Steve (or I am) are hungry for.  Sometimes I use plain applesauce in place of the apple butter, and use cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg; often I use pumpkin, allspice, cinnamon, and ginger. The kids love mashed banana with a bit of ginger, and a handful of toasted pecans tossed in. Another favorite is plain applesauce with blueberries and a pinch of ginger and nutmeg (You can't taste the plain applesauce, and I prefer it to using over 1/2 cup of oil).  Before discovering Mandie's chocolate allergy, we'd make pumpkin pancakes and toss in a cup of Enjoy Life chocolate chips.  And no, the kids can't decide which kind are their favorites!  They always beg for leftovers in their lunch the next day, complete with pure maple syrup (or Grandma's peach syrup) to dip them in, which is why I make a large batch.  These freeze very well, and reheat nicely in the microwave or toaster.

Apple Butter Pancakes
1 cup buckwheat flour
1 cup sorghum flour
1 cup brown rice flour
1 cup BRM All Purpose GF flour
1 tsp. guar gum
1 tsp. salt
4 tsp. Hain Featherweight Grain Free Baking Powder
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. allspice
1 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 cup flax meal
1/4 cup chia seeds

Whisk dry ingredients together in a mixing bowl.  In a separate bowl, combine 2 Tbsp. Grapeseed oil
 1/2 cup apple butter (we used some my mom made)
 2 tsp. pure vanilla (I use our own, made from vanilla beans and potato vodka) 
4 beaten eggs*
 5 cups water

Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and mix until smooth.  I cook mine on a large electric griddle, getting 8 pancakes per batch.

*Can also use 4 Tbsp. flax meal dissolved in 3/4 cup hot water

 Sage Breakfast Sausage Patties

 1 lb ground pork
1 lb ground turkey
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
5 Tbsp minced fresh sage or 2 Tbsp dried sage
5 Tbsp. minced fresh parsley or 2 Tbsp. dried parsley
6 cloves of minced garlic
 4 tsp. ground fennel seed
1 1/2 tsp. sea salt
1 tsp. freshly ground black pepper


Combine all ingredients - I use my hands and squish them together.  Using about a 1 Tbsp. measure, form sausage into balls and flatten slightly.  We cook ours on our George Foreman grill, for 3-4 minutes.  You can also cook them 3-5 minutes per side, in a skillet coated with about 1 Tbsp. of grapeseed oil.  

Linked to: Whole Intentions Weekend Whatever Linkup #40
Vegetarian Mama Gluten Free Fridays #7