Indulge without gallons of guilt! This recipe for apple pancakes calls for whole grains and fresh apples caramelized without added sugar. It works with whole wheat flour or any gluten-free blend. Perfect for cool, crisp apple season when a warm, comforting breakfast is just the ticket.
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The Story
Warm caramelized apples and whole wheat pancakes make for a delicious stack on Saturday morning. It's an indulgent, satisfying breakfast you can enjoy without regret. And the pancakes are deliciously earthy and offer a decent bit of fiber. The recipe works with almost any flour, so you can use what you prefer or have on hand.
The technique for caramelizing apples doesn't require adding any sugar (unless you want to). It's the way I prepared them in restaurants, and is so simple. A win-win when you're craving a warm sweet, apple-laced stack of pancakes as the quintessential fall fruit ripens.
The Ingredients
Feel free to substitute any type of milk you like. Since the recipe uses baking powder and not baking soda, the pancakes rise just fine without the acidity of buttermilk. But the textures and consistency of the finished pancakes will differ depending on your milk and flour substitutions. Even with a gluten-free flour blend and plant-based milk, the spiced pancakes hit the spot.
- whole wheat flour, gluten-free flour, or all-purpose (whatever you have)
- oat flour or oats
- baking powder
- salt
- cinnamon, cloves, and allspice (or apple pie spice)
- buttermilk, milk, or plant-based milk
- eggs
- apples, any variety
- vanilla extract, optional
- citrus zest, from a lemon or orange, optional
On the oat flour. If don't have, can't find, or don't want to buy oat flour, you can substitute in more whole wheat flour or your gluten-free blend. If you have oats and a blender, you can make your own oat flour by grinding them to a sandy texture.
On the spices. Cinnamon, cloves, and allspice are traditional apple pie spices. So if you have a jar of apple pie spice, a teaspoon is a nice amount in this recipe.
The Formula
When I make pancakes (or bake), I reach for my digital kitchen scale and not my measuring cups. It streamlines the process since you can place the bowl on the scale, and zero out the weight before you add each ingredient.
Depending on what flour(s) you choose, you may need up to twice the milk to reach a batter consistency. I find when I make pancakes with buttermilk or gluten-free flours, I tend to need more milk. Sometimes twice as much.
Pancake Formula
4 parts flour + 4 parts liquid + 2 part eggs + 1 part butter or oil
Put into action, it looks like this:
- 8 ounces of all-purpose flour
- 8 ounces or 1 cup of whole milk
- 2 large eggs (about 2 ounces each, so a total of 4 ounces)
- 2 ounces of butter or oil
You need one teaspoon of baking powder or a quarter teaspoon of baking soda for every five ounces or one cup of flour. You definitely have a little wiggle room within the amounts. But this formula is the textbook starting point for any successful pancake recipe.
The Method
Most pancakes are one-bowl wonders (unless you're after soufflé pancakes). And my approach to apple pancakes is no different. For best results, first, whisk together all the dry ingredients. Then make a little well in the center and add the eggs and liquid. This method allows you to whisk just the eggs and milk a bit before bringing in all together.
It doesn't matter as much for gluten-free pancakes, but if you're using any kind of wheat flour mix just until the batter is blended (but still slightly lumpy). Over-mixing can produce a tough, rubbery stack. And with any form of wheat flour, let the batter rest for ten or twenty minutes before cooking. This allows the gluten proteins to unwind after becoming tense during mixing. And equals a more tender plate of pancakes.
The Steps
Gather all of your ingredients and tools. You can whip up great pancakes with a large bowl, a whisk or flexible spatula, and your go-to sauté pan or non-stick pan. A griddle is great if you own one, aim for a temperature of no more than 375° F.
- Combine the dry ingredients. In a large mixing bowl, combine the wheat flour, oat flour, baking powder, salt, and spices. Then whisk to combine.
- Add the milk and eggs. Make a well in the center and add the eggs and milk, any extract, and citrus zest.
- Mix and rest the batter. Using a whisk, begin with a small mixing motion to break up the eggs and mix them with just the liquid ingredients. Then broaden your strokes to bring the batter together. Aim for a batter that is well-combined and homogenous but still slightly lumpy. If you're making gluten-free pancakes, however, mix well until the batter is completely smooth. Transfer it to a large measuring cup if you like, to make pouring it into the pan easier (I also like to use a scoop with a release). Let the pancake batter rest for half an hour before cooking.
- Cook the pancakes, flipping only once. Preheat your pan to medium-low heat, or your griddle to 370° F. Melt a little butter in the pan, if you like, sopping up the excess with a towel. Scoop or pour your batter onto the pan and cook until bubbles break the surface in the center. Then flip the pancake(s) and finish cooking on the second side. You only need to flip pancakes once. If they are browning too quickly before bubbles break the center, turn the heat down a little.
- Hold warm and serve with caramelized apples and melted butter. You can keep the first batches warm in a low-heat oven at around 200° F while you cook the rest and caramelize the apples. Covering the finished pancakes with foil will keep them from drying out in the oven.
- Serve or freeze. Store leftover pancakes in the refrigerator, or freeze them. If you freeze pancakes, you can reheat them by toasting them (my favorite) or in the microwave or oven.
How to Caramelize Apples
The secret to making caramelized apples without adding loads of sugar is to exploit their natural sugar content. And to do so, you need a fairly hot pan. Plant-based sugars will caramelize but only at higher temperatures.
In restaurants, I would do this on a commercial plancha (a flat-top grill that gets very hot). At home, your sauté pan or your griddle works great. You can lightly dip the apple slices in a small amount of granulated or brown sugar, but it's not necessary. A little goes a long way and the balance of sweet, tart, and caramel flavors are just delicious!
- Core and slice your apples into pieces no more than a quarter of an inch thick. Or peel the apples and cut them into half-inch cubes. If you like, spread brown or granulated sugar in a thin layer on a plate and dip the apple slices in it.
- Heat a large sauté pan or griddle over medium or medium-high heat.
- Add as many apple slices to the pan as you can while maintaining one layer. You may need to work in batches in order to leave space between them. Otherwise, the moisture from the apples can't escape and they will steam each other instead of browning and caramelizing.
- Cook the apples until the first side is a deep golden brown. Then flip them or shake the pan if you cubed the apples to caramelize the other side(s). Fight the urge to move them while they're cooking. This will prevent the apples from caramelizing well.
- For a saucy topping, add a bit of butter and ground cinnamon or apple pie spice to the pan. Warm through over medium-low heat, gently swirling the pan, until the cinnamon is distributed and the butter is foamy and melted.
Chef's Tips
- Choose apples on the sweeter side. Reach for sweeter apple varieties for the best results. Fuji, Red Delicious, and Honeycrisp apples contain higher sugar content than other common varieties. And will brown and caramelize a little better than more tart apples.
- Grated apple. For even more apple in your stack of pancakes, peel and cut an apple off of its core into large pieces. Then grate the apple into small shreds with a microplane or a box grater. Fold the grated apple into the batter after mixing.
- For incredibly light and fluffy pancakes. For the ultimate stack of fluffy apple flapjacks, separate the whites and yolks of the eggs. Mix the yolks in with the batter as you would usually. Then in a small bowl, beat the whites with a tablespoon of sugar to soft peaks with an electric hand mixer. Gently fold the whipped whites into the batter by scooping around the bottom of the bowl and up over the top.
Frequently Asked Questions
Baking soda is three to four times stronger than baking powder. So if you are replacing the baking powder in a recipe with baking soda, start with a quarter of a teaspoon for each teaspoon. For pancakes, you can err on using less, since you only need a little bit of a rise.
Conversion:
¼ - ⅓ teaspoon of baking soda = 1 teaspoon of baking powder
Applelutely! You can easily make apple pancakes with a mix by following the instructions on the package. Simply add apple pie spices when you mix it. Then if you want to add a grated apple, fold it in gently after mixing the batter. And you can top any pancake with caramelized apples or a warm apple compote made by simmering peeled and chopped apples in butter with a little lemon juice, sugar, and spices.
If you save pancake batter made with double-acting baking powder, you can save it in the refrigerator for a day or so. This is because this type of baking powder reacts twice to create a rise: first when mixed with liquid, then again when subjected to heat. The pancake batter will thicken a little as the starches absorb the liquid, so you may need to thin it out with more milk.
Pancake batter made with baking soda is a different story. It reacts right away (and never again), so your pancakes won't rise if left for any length of time. Your best bet is to cook every last scoop of any batch of pancake batter. And simply freeze the leftovers.
Edible Epilogue
This apple pancake recipe is inspired by the incredibly indulgent stacks served at Chicago's infamous eatery, The Bongo Room. The popular spot is known for its gargantuan portions of seasonal brunch favorites. And the fall menu almost always includes a sweet, artery-clogging concoction involving apples and caramel sometimes sitting in a pool of créme anglâise (I didn't say it was a place for a healthy breakfast).
So really, these pancakes have a leg up on their inspiration. No sugar crash. No running an extra mile to burn them off. And the amount of guilt is only equal to how much maple syrup or melted butter you drizzle on top.
📖 Recipe
Caramelized Apple Pancakes Recipe
Delicious, not-so-guilt-inducing caramelized apple pancakes perfect for apple season. With whole grains, plenty of spice, and freshly-grated apple, these pancakes are rich, enticing, and satisfying.
Top your stacks with caramelized slices that don't require any added sugar. For the ultimate apple pancake, top your stacks with a bit of the spiced whipped cream from this apple cider recipe. Please note when made without any substitutions this is a thick pancake batter. If you like it thinner, add a bit more milk.
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: About 10, 4.5" Pancakes 1x
Ingredients
For the Pancakes
- 5 ounces or 1 cup of whole wheat flour (or gluten-free flour or all-purpose flour)
- 3 ounces or ¾ cup plus 1 tablespoon of oat flour (or ground oats)
- 1½ teaspoons of baking powder
- ½ teaspoon of kosher salt (less if table salt)
- 1 tablespoon of cinnamon
- â…› teaspoon of cloves
- â…› teaspoon of allspice
- 2 cups of buttermilk or 1 cup of whole milk or plant-based milk
- 2 large eggs
- ¼ cup or 2 ounces of melted butter or oil
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, optional
- zest of one lemon or orange, optional
- 1 apple, peeled, cored, and grated, optional
Caramelized Apples
- 1 or 2 apples, cored and sliced thin, or peeled and diced
- Granulated sugar, optional
- 4 tablespoons of butter, optional
- 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon or pie spice
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Instructions
For the Pancakes
- If you plan to add grated apple to your pancake batter, peel, core, and grate the apple with a box grated or microplane for very small pieces. Melt the butter and set it aside.Â
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the wheat flour, oat flour, baking powder, salt, and spices. Then whisk to combine.
- Make a well in the center and add the eggs, milk, any extract, and citrus zest. Using a whisk, begin with a small mixing motion to break up the eggs and mix them with just the liquid ingredients. Then broaden your strokes to bring the batter together until the large lumps are gone, but small ones remain. For gluten-free pancakes, mix until all the lumps are gone and the batter is smooth. Stir in the grated apple gently, if using.Â
- Preheat your pan or griddle to medium (370° F on a griddle). Scoop or pour your batter onto the pan into same-size circles and cook until bubbles break the surface. Then flip the pancake(s) and finish cooking on the second side, which will be faster than the first. You only need to flip pancakes once. If they are browning too quickly before the bubbles break through the center of the pancakes, turn down the heat a little.
- Keep the first batches warm in a low-heat oven or warming drawer at around 200° F while you cook the rest. Covering the finished pancakes with foil will keep them from drying out in the oven.
- Serve the apple pancakes with the caramelized apples on top, a little spiced whipped cream, and melted butter or maple syrup.Â
For the Caramelized Apples
- Core and slice your apples into quarter-inch pieces or dice them into cubes. If you like, spread brown or granulated sugar in a thin layer on a plate and dip one side of each apple in it.Â
- Heat a large sauté pan or griddle over medium-high heat.
- Add as many apple slices to the pan as you can while maintaining one layer. You may need to work in batches in order to leave space between them. Otherwise, the moisture from the apples can't escape and they will steam each other instead of browning and caramelizing.
- Cook the apples until the first side is a deep golden brown. Then flip the slices over or shake the pan to easily flip over diced apples. Caramelize the second side watching them carefully. Fight the urge to move the apples while they're cooking. This will prevent them from caramelizing.
- Once all the apples are speckled a deep brown, turn the heat down to medium-low and add any earlier batches back to the pan.
- Add the butter to the pan and gently swirl it to coat the apples.
- Sprinkle the apples with the cinnamon and swirl again to mix it all together gently. You can add up to a stick of butter for a saucier caramelized apple compote.Â
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Notes
On the oat flour. If don't have, can't find, or don't want to buy oat flour, you can replace it with more whole wheat or gluten-free flour. If you have oats and a blender, you can make your own oat flour by grinding them to a sandy texture. A few whole oats left are fine. And will simply add a little texture which is delicious.
On the spices. Cinnamon, cloves, and allspice are traditional apple pie spices. So if you have a jar of apple pie spice, a heaping teaspoon is a nice amount in this recipe.
Chef's Tips
Choose apples on the sweeter side. Reach for sweeter apple varieties for the best results. Fuji, Red Delicious, and Honeycrisp apples contain higher sugar content than other common varieties. And will brown and caramelize better than more tart apples.
For light and fluffy pancakes. For the ultimate stack of fluffy apple flapjacks, separate the whites and yolks of the eggs. Mix the yolks in with the batter as you would usually. Then beat the whites with a tablespoon of sugar to soft peaks with an electric hand mixer. Gently fold the whipped whites into the batter and cook as usual.Â
On the professional pancake formula. I love culinary ratios because recipes based on these tried-and-true formulas succeed every time with proper technique. Even with substitutions for allergies or dietary needs, you need to adjust amounts a little bit. If a recipe publisher wants you to avoid reliable substitutions for a common dish, it's most likely because they didn't start with a professional ratio. The pancake ratio is: 4 parts flour + 4 parts liquid + 2 part eggs + 1 part butter or oil.
On the Nutrition Information
The nutrient amounts below are based on the recipe as written, using whole wheat flour, oat flour, and buttermilk. Any ingredient substitutions or additions such as more butter will change the nutrient profile outlined below.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Category: Breakfast
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Gluten Free
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 2, 4.5" Apple Pancakes
- Calories: 194
- Sugar: 8.8 g
- Sodium: 70.6 mg
- Fat: 8.3 g
- Saturated Fat: 4.3 g
- Carbohydrates: 26.3 g
- Fiber: 3.8 g
- Protein: 5.8 g
- Cholesterol: 54.8 mg
Keywords: pancakes recipe, apple pancakes recipe, gluten-free pancakes, pancake formula, caramelized apples
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PaulH
I never knew the trick with being able to save baking powder pancakes versus soda. Very clever, actually. I’ll be trying that myself.
Christina
The two definitely lend their own characteristics to recipes (for instance, baking soda causes more of a browning reaction). But the conversion is a handy one to know!
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Malou
Yummy! I will definitely try this caramelized apple version. 😉