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These Apple Oat Pancakes are a true healthy breakfast treat. Perfect for the fall when you're full of those holiday leftovers.
Here are more pancake recipes to try: Sweet Potato Pancakes, Thin Crispy Pancakes, Blueberry Pancakes, Peach Cobbler Pancakes, Banana Pancakes, and Red Velvet Pancakes.
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These healthy apple pancakes are unlike any other pancakes I've ever made. Simple and straight to the point, all in a blender, and just like that, you're enjoying some deliciousness.
Recently, I learned that I have a gluten sensitivity and I need to switch up my diet to make sure I can still enjoy one of my two favorite things in life, cooking and eating! These apple pancakes are perfect for a gluten-free breakfast because they are loaded with flavor, health benefits, and no stomach pain.
My version of apple oat pancakes involves grating the apples to achieve a more textured result that I fold in at the end after blitzing the oatmeal, buttermilk (one of my favorite flavors in pancakes), avocado oil, raw cane sugar, baking powder, ground cinnamon, ground nutmeg, and kosher salt.
The results were truly impressive; the oats took the place of flour and held everything together. Now, don't mind the pictures - I was experimenting with different cooking times and temperatures (hence the darker apple pancakes). Still, I found the perfect time and temperature on the griddle to be 350°F for 2 minutes on each side, creating the perfect golden brown apple pancakes.
Then I made a maple pecan butter with maple syrup, butter, and pecans. The homemade maple syrup adds a welcome texture to my breakfast.
Apple Oat Pancakes Key Ingredients
To make these wholesome, flavorful apple oat pancakes, here's what you'll need and why each ingredient makes a difference:
Fresh Apples
I like Honey Crisp apples for their natural sweetness and firm texture. They hold up beautifully to cooking and baking, giving the pancakes juicy bursts of apple flavor without turning mushy.
Old-Fashioned Rolled Oats
Rolled oats serve as the backbone of this recipe, replacing flour and maintaining the batter's gluten-free nature. When blended, they create a binding "oat flour" that helps the pancakes cook up with the familiar texture of traditional pancakes—tender but hearty.
Eggs
Eggs add richness, golden color, and structure. They act as the glue that keeps the apples, oats, and buttermilk working together for a pancake that holds its shape.
Buttermilk
No pancake recipe feels complete without buttermilk. It's tang balances the sweetness of the apples and sugar, while the acidity helps create a soft, fluffy texture you can't get from regular milk.
Sugar
Just a couple of tablespoons of sugar enhances the natural sweetness of the apples. It rounds out the flavors so these pancakes taste like a real treat, even though they're wholesome.
Baking Powder
These may be gluten-free, but they still rise like classic pancakes. Baking powder provides the batter with lift, ensuring the pancakes are fluffy rather than flat.
Warm Spices
Cinnamon, nutmeg, and a touch of kosher salt bring warmth and balance. They highlight the apple's flavor and add that cozy, fall-inspired aroma.
Vanilla Extract
A splash of vanilla perfumes the pancake batter, deepening the flavor and making these pancakes taste as good as they smell.
Pure Maple Syrup
Always finish with Grade A maple syrup. Its rich, natural sweetness pairs perfectly with the apple cinnamon flavor, tying the whole plate together.
How to Make Apple Oat Pancakes
These apple oatmeal pancakes are very easy to make. All you need is a powerful blender to crush the oatmeal, and you'll be cooking these up in no time.
Apple Pancakes
Grate an apple over a medium bowl.
In a food blender, add eggs, buttermilk, oil, and vanilla, and blitz for 10 seconds. Add oatmeal, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. Blitz on high for 1 minute until smooth.
Pour the batter over the grated apples and stir to combine.
Turn the heat to medium in a large non-stick skillet or griddle and preheat to 350°F(176°C). Melt 1 tablespoon of butter and oil, then spread it evenly over the skillet. Use a ¼ cup measuring cup to scoop the pancake batter and spread it to make a circle.
Cook 3 pancakes at a time in a skillet for 2 minutes on each side, until golden brown. Repeat until you finish cooking pancakes. Keep pancakes warm in a 200°F oven.
To make maple butter pecan syrup, combine maple syrup, pecans, cinnamon, and melted butter in a bowl. Serve three pancakes with some maple butter pecan syrup.
Storage
Apple oat pancakes are best eaten immediately, but they will remain fresh in an airtight container for up to 3 days in the refrigerator.
You can also prepare the apple pancakes ahead of time and wrap three pancakes per package in plastic wrap. Place them in an airtight container or freezer-safe bag and freeze for up to 2 months. Thaw one day before reheating.
Reheat the pancakes in the microwave for 15 seconds.
Store maple syrup in an airtight container on the counter for up to seven days. You can keep it in the fridge for up to one month, but you will need to reheat it in the microwave until warm or in a small skillet over medium heat.
Pro Recipe Substitutions, Tips & Tricks
Follow these tips while you make these delicious, healthy apple pancakes. Also, remember that a slightly lumpy batter is ok and will not ruin your pancakes.
- You can use almond milk, coconut milk, or any milk you enjoy as a substitute for buttermilk.
- You can make these dairy-free by using two medium, ripe bananas instead of two eggs.
- You can also use vegan butter (mykonos is my favorite) instead of unsalted butter if you need to make these vegan pancakes.
- Feel free to drizzle any nut butter, chocolate chips, whipped cream, powdered sugar, apple slices, or whatever your heart desires to top off your pancakes.
- It's essential to use a high-quality and powerful food blender, rather than a food processor, because you need to turn the oatmeal into oat flour to ensure the batter comes out correctly.
- The hotter your skillet gets, the more batches of pancakes you can make. Just be sure to lower the heat as you go so they don't burn. The longer you cook your pancakes, the hotter your skillet or griddle will get, so be cautious of lowering your temperature over the long cooking time to keep your apple oat pancakes a pretty golden brown.
- Feel free to use Granny Smiths, Gala, or Fuji apples as alternatives to Honey Crisp.
- You can use chopped walnuts, peanuts, or almonds as a substitute for pecans in your maple syrup butter.
- A cast-iron skillet makes the best crispy pancakes.
- You can use coconut oil or olive oil as a substitute for avocado oil. I prefer avocado because of its high smoke point and health benefits.
- Make this a full breakfast with a cheese omelette, cheddar cheese grits, smoked sausage, beef or turkey bacon, and breakfast potatoes.
Before You Begin
Before getting started, here are the steps I use to get organized.
Step 1: Get all ingredients and tools for the best apple oat pancakes on the counter.
Step 2: Measure out all the ingredients into separate bowls.
Step 3: Get ready to enjoy some incredible healthy apple pancakes.
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📖 Recipe
Apple Oat Pancakes
Ingredients
Apple Pancakes:
- 1 sweet apple Honeycrisp, Fiji or Gala
- 2 large eggs
- ⅓ cup buttermilk
- 4 tablespoons avocado oil divided
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 ½ cups old fashioned rolled oats
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
Maple Butter Pecan Syrup: optional
- ½ cup grade A maple syrup
- ½ cup chopped pecans
- ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 stick melted unsalted butter
Instructions
Apple Pancakes
- Grate an apple over a medium bowl. In a food blender, add eggs, buttermilk, oil, and vanilla, and blitz for 10 seconds. Add oatmeal, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. Blitz on high for 1 minute until smooth. Pour the batter over the grated apples and stir to combine.
- Turn the heat to medium in a large non-stick skillet or griddle and preheat to 350°F(176°C). Melt 1 tablespoon of butter and oil, then spread it evenly over the skillet. Use a ¼ cup measuring cup to scoop the pancake batter and spread it to make a circle.
- Cook 3 pancakes at a time in a skillet for 2 minutes on each side, until golden brown. Repeat until you finish cooking pancakes. Keep pancakes warm in a 200°F oven.
Maple Butter Pecan Syrup
- To make maple butter pecan syrup, combine maple syrup, pecans, cinnamon, and melted butter in a bowl. Serve three pancakes with some maple butter pecan syrup.
Notes
- You can use almond milk, coconut milk, or any milk you enjoy as a substitute for buttermilk.
- You can make these dairy-free by using two medium, ripe bananas instead of two eggs.
- You can also use vegan butter (mykonos is my favorite) instead of unsalted butter if you need to make these vegan pancakes.
- Feel free to drizzle any nut butter, chocolate chips, whipped cream, powdered sugar, apple slices, or whatever your heart desires to top off your pancakes.
- It's essential to use a high-quality and powerful food blender, rather than a food processor, because you need to turn the oatmeal into oat flour to ensure the batter comes out correctly.
- The hotter your skillet gets, the more batches of pancakes you can make. Just be sure to lower the heat as you go so they don't burn. The longer you cook your pancakes, the hotter your skillet or griddle will get, so be cautious of lowering your temperature over the long cooking time to keep your apple oat pancakes a pretty golden brown.
- Feel free to use Granny Smiths, Gala, or Fuji apples as alternatives to Honey Crisp.
- You can use chopped walnuts, peanuts, or almonds as a substitute for pecans in your maple syrup butter.
- A cast-iron skillet makes the best crispy pancakes.
- You can use coconut oil or olive oil as a substitute for avocado oil. I prefer avocado because of its high smoke point and health benefits.
- Make this a full breakfast with a cheese omelette, cheddar cheese grits, smoked sausage, beef or turkey bacon, and breakfast potatoes.
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