With warming spices and delicious flavor, these Sautéed Apple Ginger Cinnamon Pancakes are the perfect breakfast in autumn. Surprisingly healthy too - vegan, made with whole wheat and no refined sugar.
This time of year is all about pumpkin everything, but let's not forget apples are so delicious and in season this time of year too. Add in some warming spices like ginger, cinnamon and nutmeg and apples are transformed into a delicious, equally deserving autumnal dish. These Sautéed Apple Ginger Cinnamon Pancakes are a perfect example. Fluffy cinnamon pancakes topped with crisp, sweet apples that have been sautéed with plenty of cinnamon and just enough fresh ginger, these pancakes scream autumn is here!
These pancakes may look complicated, but they're actually quite simple and come together fairly quickly. Just let the apples cook while you prepare the pancakes and everything is ready in about 40 minutes.
If you're expecting these pancakes to be complete sugar bombs and not healthy in the least, guess what? You'd be wrong! Coconut sugar provides just enough sweetness without being sickeningly over the top and because of it's lower glycemic index than white sugar, you won't have the typical spike in blood sugar. The pancakes are made with whole wheat flour and are sweetened with apple sauce and a tiny bit of coconut sugar so they are not very sweet. But once paired with the apples and light drizzle of real maple syrup, they are the perfect sweetness.
This is a great breakfast for those slow, lazy weekend mornings, but you can also enjoy it during the week too. Simply cook your apples the night before and refrigerate. Then just whip the pancakes in the morning and warm the apples in the microwave before serving. You could even make the pancakes the night before too, just warm in the oven for about 3 minutes before serving.
If the kiddos are not fans of ginger, you can easily omit it or reduce the amount. The flavor is not overwhelming though, just a gentle heat that even my 2 year old loved.
Here's a few more recipes using apples:
Vegan Apple Butter Oatmeal Bars
Vegan Sautéed Apple Yogurt Parfaits
Vegan Cranberry Apple Chickpea Salad Sandwich
If you try this recipe, let me know how it turns out! Leave a comment below or snap a pic and tag it @weelittlevegans on Instagram so I’ll be sure to see it!
Recipe
Sautéed Apple Ginger Cinnamon Pancakes
Ingredients
Sautéed Apples:
- 2 medium apples - use sweet varieties like fuji, red delicious, etc. I used a combination of fuji and envy.
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil
- 1 ½ tablespoon coconut sugar
- 1 teaspoon fresh ginger, finely grated
Pancakes:
- 1 cup white whole wheat flour
- 2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 3 teaspoon baking powder
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- ⅛ teaspoon nutmeg
- 1 cup non dairy milk
- ½ cup applesauce
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 2-3 teaspoon coconut sugar
- ½ teaspoon vanilla
Instructions
Sautéed Apples:
- Peel, core and chop apples into small pieces, about ¼ inch.
- Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add sugar and ginger, stirring to combine. Cook for 1-2 minutes until sugar has melted.
- Once sugar has melted, add apples and stir to coat.
- Cover skillet and cook for 15- 20 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes. The apples will release liquid and soften as they cook. The liquid will cook and thicken to coat the softened apples. The apples are ready when no liquid remains. Watch apples carefully in the last 5 minutes of cook time to ensure they do not burn.
Pancakes:
- While apples are cooking, begin making the pancakes.
- Combine flour, cinnamon, baking powder, nutmeg and salt in a medium bowl and whisk to thoroughly incorporate. Set aside.
- In another bowl stir together milk, applesauce, vinegar, apple cider vinegar, sugar and vanilla.
- Pour wet ingredients in dry and gently stir just to combine. Let pancake batter rest for at least 5 minutes. Heat skillet over medium heat while the batter rests.
- Once skillet has heated, a drop of water should sizzle and quickly evaporate, add small amounts of batter to pan leaving space between. You may need to use a small bit of oil depending on the type of pan you use to cook the pancakes.
- Cook for 3-4 minutes or until edges have dried and bubbles form over the surface of the pancakes. Flip and continue to cook for 1-2 minutes longer or until cooked through and browned lightly.
- Continue this process until all batter has been used. You can warm an oven to 200 degrees to get prepared pancakes warm while the rest cook.
- Serve pancakes with the sautéed apples you prepared and maple syrup, if desired.
Did you make this recipe? Let me know!