These fluffy vegan apple pancakes are perfect for a lazy fall breakfast. With applesauce and cinnamon in the batter and extra apple slices on top, they’re tasty and easy to make.
This time of year we are always coming up with ways we can make the most of the abundance of apples we find ourselves with!
One of our favourite ways to preserve apples is by making a load of unsweetened applesauce, and freezing it in small batches which we can use in baking for the rest of the year.
We often use applesauce as the base to our Vegan Apple Tart and in our Vegan Apple Cake, but I’d never used it in pancakes before - until now!
And it works great! The applesauce gives the pancakes a great texture and fluffiness. It’s also a great alternative to using banana mash in pancakes if you aren’t such a fan of the banana flavour.
Ingredient tips
Here’s what you’ll need for these vegan apple pancakes - just 8 easy ingredients:
Applesauce - we use homemade applesauce, which is really easy to make. It’s as simple as dicing some apples, then cooking them in a saucepan with a splash of water. When they’re tender, puree them with an immersion blender. You can also use jarred unsweetened applesauce.
Apple slices - these go on top of the pancakes when cooking and add an nice extra apple bonus. We like to use sweeter apples with a softer flesh for this, but any kind of apple will work.
Flour - just plain or all purpose flour. You could use whole wheat flour with a dash more soy milk to compensate for the extra liquid it absorbs.
Cinnamon - you gotta have cinnamon with apple, right?
Baking powder - gives the pancakes a nice and fluffy texture.
Sugar - this helps to give the pancakes that warm golden brown colour. We just used organic sugar, but you could also use a less refined option such as rapadura or coconut sugar. You can also just omit it if you prefer.
Oil - choose a neutral tasting oil such as sunflower or canola.
And plant milk - we find soy works best, but you can use other non dairy milks if you prefer.
Step by step
You’ll find the full recipe in the card below, but here’s a handy visual overview of how to make these pancakes.
Step 1 - Mix all the dry ingredients: the flour, baking powder, cinnamon and sugar, together with a whisk.
Step 2 - Mix together the wet ingredients: the apple sauce, soy milk and oil.
Step 3 - Pour the wet mix onto the dry mix and gently combine into a smooth, thick batter.
Step 4 - Heat up a lightly greased pancake pan or griddle, and make circles with about ¼ cup of batter each. Top with apple slices, gently pushing them into the batter.
Step 5 - When bubbles appear on top, and the base of the pancake is golden brown, they are ready to flip.
Step 6 - Cook on the other side for around 2 minutes, until the batter is fully cooked and the apple is slightly starting to brown. Continue until all pancakes are cooked, cleaning and re-greasing the pan as needed.
Top tips for making pancakes
Use a dedicated non stick pancake pan or griddle.
Preheat it well to avoid sticking and to cook the pancakes evenly.
You’ll know that a pancake is ready to turn over when bubbles start to appear on the surface, not just around the edge, but in the middle too.
For easy flipping use a thin wooden spatula, and loosen the pancake from both sides before turning it over.
Serving
Although we photographed them in a stack, the truth is: we pretty much wolf them down as soon as they come out of the pan!
You can enjoy them with maple syrup or your favourite pancake topping - peanut butter and chocolate is one of mine.
The apple pancakes are particularly nice with some foraged blackberries on the side and some more applesauce.
Any leftover pancakes can be stored in the fridge, and heated up in a microwave (we find 30 seconds for 3 pancakes works well) or in your oven.
Try these other yummy vegan pancake recipes:
These gloriously green Vegan Spinach Pancakes
And these Blueberry Oat Pancakes with a beautiful berry sauce.
Vegan Apple Pancakes
Ingredients
- ½ cup (120 g) applesauce
- 1 cup (240 ml) soy milk
- 2 tbsp oil
- 1 ½ cups (190 g) flour
- 2 tbsp sugar
- 1 tbsp baking powder
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 2 apples thinly sliced
Instructions
Batter
- Combine applesauce, soy milk and oil into a wet mixture.
- Whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder and cinnamon to make a dry mix.
- Combine wet and dry mixture into a smooth, slightly thick batter.
Cook
- Preheat a slightly greased non-stick pancake pan or griddle on medium heat.
- Spoon or pour batter into the hot pan to form circles. Use about ¼ cup (4 tablespoons) of batter per pancake. Top each circle with apple slices.
- When small bubbles appear on the top of the pancakes and their base is golden brown (this takes around 2 minutes), carefully flip the pancakes over. Cook for another two minutes.
- Take the pancakes out of the pan to stack them or serve immediately. Top with extra applesauce, maple syrup, fresh berries or dark chocolate. The apple pancakes are best served while still warm.
Loved our recipe? Have a question we can answer? We'd love to hear from you! Sophie and Paul 💚