Apple-potato latkes with cinnamon sour cream

Today I had a productive day.  Did paperwork for a project I'm working on, had a meeting, had lunch with two friends, edited my paper so far (on the subway - I'm quite good at multitasking), picked up a gift for my dad, found a recipe I had been looking for, went to the grocery store, made the changes to my paper, started defrosting the baked goods in the freezer (so I can package them up tomorrow), finished my paper, made cookie dough, made the recipe I had found earlier in the day, printed a final copy of my paper to edit on the train to work tomorrow, and finally sat down to have dinner and taste one of these Apple-Potato Latkes with Cinnamon Sour Cream!  I didn't get to start the peppermint truffle cups today, though, as I had originally planned.

I saw this recipe for these latkes about a week and a half ago on the subway when the woman standing in front of me was reading whatever was on the flip page of this recipe, so that the recipe was facing me (no, I was not reading over her shoulder, a pet peeve of mine, although I find myself doing it from time to time).  I had been meaning to look up the recipe since then, but finally did it today.  Being that I'm not really a fan of fried things, but am more so not a fan of my apartment smelling like fried potatoes and onions for weeks on end, I decided to try baking these instead of frying them.

I brushed a tray with olive oil, and allowed the tray to get hot in the over before putting the latke batter on them and baking them, flipping them over half-way through.  (By baking them, I feel it is completely legit to include them on my baking blog.)  The only problem is that they didn't get browned or crispy, although they had the flavor of being fried without the excess oil.  So, I was forced to fry the second batch.  Unfortunately, I don't really feel like you can taste the apples in these, which is sad considering I love applesauce on my latkes and figured this recipe would taste like applesauce on a latke.  Oddly, though, I liked the cinnamon sour cream.  Luckily for me, my mom makes the BEST latkes in the world, so I'm not too shaken up about these...

Apple-Potato Latkes with Cinnamon Sour Cream (courtesy of The New York Times)

6 Tbsp sour cream or greek yogurt
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp maple syrup

2 golden delicious apples, peeled and cored
1 large russett potato, peeled
1 medium yellow onion, peeled
2/3 cup flour
3 large eggs
2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper (I used white, simply because it was more accessible than the black)
1 1/4 tsp baking powder

Olive oil, for frying

1. Mix together the sour cream (or Greek yogurt), cinnamon, and maple syrup.  Put aside in fridge until ready to serve.

2. Coarsely grate the potato, apples, and onion (this is where my new food processor came in handy).  Afterwards, strain VERY WELL to get as much moisture out as possible.  [I lined a strainer with paper towels, put the mixture in there, and then took it out in 1/5ths and rang them out in paper towels].

3. Transfer mixture to a bowl and add the eggs, salt, pepper, flour, and baking powder.  Mix until the flour is absorbed.

4. Fry in hot oil, in small batches.  Drop heaping tablespoons of mixture into hot oil, flattening them with the spatula, frying 3-4 minutes per side until deep golden brown.  Remove and place on a paper towel-lined plate.

5. When serving, place a dollop of the cinnamon sour cream on top.

Happy Channukkah!