My mother is a latkes innovator.

Never being content to make the same recipe year after year, when Hanukkah rolls around, she’ll try something new.

She has made latkes with purple potatoes and latkes with sweet potatoes. She has added carrot, celery root, and once even shredded beet for a borscht-like mouthful of crunch. She has made fat latkes with mashed potatoes and flat latkes with a blender (don’t try that at home).

What this meant was that when I left home, I became a staunch latkes traditionalist. For years, my potato pancakes were a classic mix of potato, onion, egg and not much else.

But eventually, I became bored and opened the floodgates of latkes play. It turns out, though, that simple, straight-up latkes are hard to beat.

This year, I wanted to add something to keep it interesting. I decided on apple. I’ve always liked the flavor of potato latkes with applesauce, and if I fried the apples into the pancakes, I hoped I would get the same flavor without needing a separate sauce.

After altering the ratio of apple to potato in a few test batches, I came up with a version that tasted wonderfully of both. They were golden, crunchy, salty-sweet and very satisfying, with applesauce and without.

The secret to the recipe is squeezing the liquid out of the grated apples and potato mixture before frying, otherwise the latkes end up on the soft side rather than truly crisp. This is because apples are juicier than potatoes, so a firm squeeze in a clean dish towel brings down the moisture content considerably.

Apple-Potato Latkes with Cinnamon Sour Cream

Makes about 11⁄2 dozen latkes.

6 TBS sour cream or Greek yogurt

1⁄4 tsp ground cinnamon

1⁄2 tsp maple syrup

2 Golden Delicious apples, peeled and cored

1 lg russet potato, peeled

1 med yellow onion, peeled

2⁄3 C all-purpose flour

3 lg eggs

2 tsp kosher salt

11⁄4 tsp baking powder

1⁄2 tsp black pepper

Olive oil, for frying

In a small bowl, whisk together the sour cream or yogurt, cinnamon and syrup. Cover and chill until ready to use.

Coarsely grate the apples, potato and onion. Put the mixture in a clean dish towel and squeeze to wring out as much liquid as possible. For the crispiest pancakes, you want the least moisture.

Working quickly, put the mixture in a large bowl, add the flour, eggs, salt, baking powder and pepper, and mix until the flour is absorbed.

In a heavy-bottomed pan over medium-high heat, pour in about 1⁄4 inch of oil. Once the oil is hot (a drop of batter placed in the pan should sizzle), drop heaping tablespoons of batter into the pan, cooking 3 to 4 latkes at a time. Use a spatula to flatten the scoops into disks. When the edges of the latkes are brown and crispy, 2 to 3 minutes, flip them. Cook until the second side is deeply browned, another 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer the latkes to a plate lined with paper towels to drain. Repeat with the remaining batter. Serve with dollops of the cinnamon sour cream on top.