A delicious family favorite, these healthy Apple Pie Pancakes are super fluffy and kid-approved. Warm apples, cinnamon, and whole wheat make these pancakes irresistible.
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If my fluffy whole wheat pancakes and healthy cinnamon apples had a baby, it would be these apple pie pancakes. Packed with flavor and filling whole grains, these pancakes are sure to become a family favorite.
This recipe incorporates diced steamed cinnamon apples for the ultimate treat. The cinnamon apples freeze REALLY well (related: How to Freeze Apples), so we always have some in our freezer. If you’re not up for the extra step of steaming the apples, simply add grated/shredded apples to the batter in step 4. I have also used homemade canned apple pie filling.
You’ll want to choose an apple that holds its shape well when heated. My favorites for this recipe are fuji, gala, Honeycrisp, pink lady, or jazz.
How to Freeze Pancakes
Use a rimmed baking sheet lined with parchment and freeze the pancakes for 1 hour. Remove frozen pancakes and transfer to freezer storage (we love these reusable bags). Allowing them to freeze individually before storing will prevent a giant frozen “pancake clump”.
It is super easy to meal prep pancakes and double or triple the batch and then freeze them (related: freezer essentials). Thirty seconds in the microwave, and boom, hot breakfast in the same amount of time it takes you to pour a bowl of cereal.
Pro Tips/Recipe Notes
- I love using buttermilk because it gives the pancakes great texture. If you do use buttermilk, save the extras for future batches. Learn more about it in this post on freezing buttermilk.
- No buttermilk? No problem! Add 2 tsp of white vinegar to 2 cups milk, stir, and let sit for 10 minutes. Boom! Buttermilk.
- No whole wheat flour? Feel free to use all-purpose and leave out the vital wheat gluten as well.
- Whole wheat flour tip: let the batter sit for 10 minutes while you heat your pan or griddle. This will allow the glutens to develop, creating air bubbles. That will produce a super fluffy pancake.
- I set my electric griddle to 375 degrees to heat up for 10 minutes, and then drop it down to 350 degrees for the actual cooking.
MORE AWESOME Breakfast Recipes
- Sour Cream Pancakes
- Easy Instant Pot Yogurt
- Strawberry Waffles
- Homemade Pear Sauce
- Small Batch Cinnamon Rolls
- Frozen Berry Cake
- Oat Milk Pancakes
- Cinnamon Pretzel Bites With Apple Syrup
- Fluffy Whole Wheat Waffles
- Cinnamon Apple Donuts
- Make-Ahead Breakfast Recipes
- Overnight Cinnamon Rolls
- Easy Make-Ahead Scrambled Eggs
- Homemade Honey Wheat Bread
Healthy Apple Pie Pancakes
Ingredients
- 2 apples, peeled and chopped
- 2 tbsp ground cinnamon
- 2 cups whole wheat pastry flour {all-purpose works too}
- 2 tbsp vital wheat gluten {leave out if using all-purpose}
- 2 tbsp baking powder
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 2 cups buttermilk, room temperature
- 2 eggs (room temperature), beaten
- 1/4 cup butter, melted {optional: plus more for pan}
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
Instructions
- Peel the apples, and dice in bite-sized pieces.2 apples, peeled and chopped
- In a pot fitted with a metal steamer basket, add enough water to cover the bottom of the pan.
- Steam the apples on medium-high until the apples are able to be pierced easily with a knife (about 4 minutes).
- Drain, place in a small bowl, and toss with the cinnamon.2 tbsp ground cinnamon
- Mix the dry ingredients (whole wheat flour through sea salt) in a large bowl. Set aside.2 cups whole wheat pastry flour, 2 tbsp vital wheat gluten, 2 tbsp baking powder, 1 tbsp sugar, 1 tsp sea salt
- Combine the liquid ingredients in a medium bowl, and mix well.2 cups buttermilk, room temperature, 2 eggs (room temperature), beaten, 1/4 cup butter, melted, 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients, and pour in the wet ingredients. Mix until almost combined, and then add the apples. Whisk just a few more times. There may be a few lumps here and there. That's ok.
- Once mixed, set aside for 10 minutes and heat up your frying pan or griddle.
- Pour batter on the pan or griddle, and wait until the edges look dry and there are bubbles popping in the middle. Flip and cook the other side until golden brown.
Notes
- If you’re not up for the extra step of steaming the apples, simply add grated/shredded apples to the batter in step 4.
- No whole wheat flour? Feel free to use all-purpose and leave out the vital wheat gluten as well.
- No buttermilk? Add 2 tsp of white vinegar to 2 cups milk, stir, and let sit for 10 minutes.
Hey there! Just wanted to let you know that the link above for “Healthy cinnamon apples” actually links to an amazon product instead of to your recipe. Â Â
Sooooooo good.
One of our favorites! 🙂 So glad you liked them.
Sooooooo good, if my 4yr old doesn’t eat all the apples first! Always make a double batch!
Haha, I have apple monsters too! 🙂
we are moving over near an apple orchard (you know the one 🙂 ) so we may have another reason to go to it!
Yes!!! I make a similar apple-cinnamon concoction that I can – and then when we have pancakes I just open a jar and warm it up to have as a topping. I do the same with peaches – except use cinnamon and almond extract – add water and cornstarch to make it a little saucy. Pancake/waffle toppings, speedy fruit crisps, pies … and kind of delicious desserty-bread and fruit combo you want! 🙂
I honestly never thought of using canned apples for it; brilliant. I do can apple slices https://www.sustainablecooks.com/homemade-apple-pie-filling/. Is your recipe similar to that? If not, I’d love to hear your version! As much as I hate canning, spending time canning things we enjoy is just part of the job. 🙂
‘Recipe’ – no. General guideline – sure!
I peel, core, and slice my apples and leave them sit in lemon water so they don’t brown. I make a syrup/sauce of water, vanilla, cinnamon, sometimes nutmeg, etc … I usually sweeten with raw honey rather than sugar – and as minimally as I can. Then thicken it with cornstarch. ClearJel is supposed to work amazing for this – but it’s not very easy to come by here. Next time I do it I want to look into the feasibility of (or just try) using tapioca as the thickener as I think it would be smoother than cornstarch, and would also be clearer. I raw pack my clean hot jars with the apple slices, fill with syrup, and process.
I make both quart jars and pint jars, and for us – a pint jar is just perfect for a small crisp for after supper, or for a topping for a meal of pancakes. But quart jars are nice to have on hand too if I’m making a few pies or a bigger crisp for company etc.
If you’re canning apples anyway – it’s just a matter of making up the syrup to use for some of them! (If you google ‘canned apple pie filling’ you’ll find lots of recipes to reference. They just generally tend to have more sugar in them than I like to use!!
Give it a try – I’d love to hear what you think! 🙂
I clicked on “all basic” FUNNY !!!!
Troy showed me that a few months ago.