About Apple Cinnamon Pancakes
You can never go wrong with fluffy, old-fashioned pancakes, but you can make them better. Like, say, with a cinnamon twist topped with chunky, gooey apple goodness.
This tried and true recipe is sure to please everyone – from your kids to your friends. Family breakfast on a Sunday? Adult brunch on a Saturday? Pancakes are perfect for any time of day.
Can I make pancakes in advance?
Good news here – the answer is yes!
The apple topping is easily made ahead of time and stored in the refrigerator until use. And because the apples are fresh, I’d recommend using it within a day or two for the best taste.
The pancake batter can also be made the night before, but there is a catch. If a recipe calls for egg (as this one does) you can mix everything but the egg beforehand. So, mix the pancake batter up, leave the egg out, stick it in the refrigerator in a sealed container overnight, and simply put the egg in when you’re ready to start cooking.
Can you save leftover pancake batter?
Yes, you totally can!
Not only can you freeze the pancake batter, but you can also freeze the apple cinnamon topping.
To freeze: In separate Ziplock bags, pour in the pancake batter or apple cinnamon topping. Roll the bags to remove any excess air, and then lay them flat to seal. Once sealed, you can store both the batter and apple topping in your freezer for up to one month.
When you want to use your frozen batter, let it thaw out in warm water, cut the corner of the bag off, and pipe a perfect pancake directly onto your pan. You can also allow your batter to thaw out overnight in the refrigerator before use.
To defrost the apple topping, put bag of frozen topping into a sink of warm water until thawed, then place it into a pan and heat on low until hot.
How many people does this apple cinnamon pancake recipe serve?
This particular recipe yields 4 servings, which should feed about three to four people, depending on appetite. Fortunately, this recipe is very easily doubled or tripled – and with how easy it is to freeze any leftovers, there’s no harm in making a big batch.
My pancake batter didn’t turn out right. What did I do wrong?
Mastering the art of pancake batter mixing means knowing when enough is enough.
First, make sure you only mix the batter until it just comes together. If you still see lumps of flour, that is fine.
Second, while fat is necessary for a great pancake, you do not want to go overboard with it. Too much butter or too many eggs can result in a super dense, pound cake-like pancake. Do not stray far from the butter and egg directions in a pancake recipe if you’d like to keep your dish light and fluffy.
Third, be sure to cook pancakes over medium heat. Use your first pancake as a tester for the heat of your pan to ensure that the rest of your pancakes are beautiful!
Can I substitute maple syrup for something else?
Honey, molasses, and agave nectar are all common substitutes for maple syrup. However, please be aware that all of these will give different tastes to the dish. Golden syrup can be used, but you do want to make sure the consistency is correct.
So, if your substitution choice is a bit thicker than maple syrup, you can add one or two spoons of water to thin it out. It’s also possible to make your own syrup out of jams or jellies. Check out this guide for more ideas: 5 Pancake Toppings That Aren’t Maple Syrup.
How to make Apple Cinnamon Pancakes
This next part is only a photo tutorial of the recipe steps. If you’re looking for the full recipe measurements and instructions, scroll down to Recipe Details.
Step 1 – Before starting, make sure to peel the apples, remove the core, and chop into bite-sized pieces.
Step 2 – In a medium saucepan, cook the butter, light brown sugar, cinnamon, maple syrup, and apples until the ingredients are melted and the apples are tender. Once cooked, set the apples aside.
Step 3 – In a large mixing bowl, add the milk, egg, and vanilla, then mix well.
Step 4 – Pour in the melted butter, then mix again.
Step 5 – Add flour, baking powder, sugar, salt, and cinnamon to the bowl, then mix a final time.
Step 6 – In a large skillet, pour in the batter (about 1/4 cup at a time) and cook for a few minutes. Flip the pancake and cook for a few minutes more until the sides are golden brown. Repeat this step until all of the batter has been used.
Step 7 – Serve immediately topped with cinnamon apples and more maple syrup or powdered sugar.
This post was originally published on March 20, 2015. It was updated with new content on October 28, 2019.
Recipe Details
Apple Cinnamon Pancakes
Fluffy old fashioned cinnamon pancakes topped with fresh cut apples that are cooked in a cinnamon syrup glaze. Serve with more syrup or powdered sugar.
Ingredients
Instructions
For the Apple Topping
-
In a medium
saucepan over medium heat, add butter, brown sugar, cinnamon, syrup, and chopped up apples. Cook for 3-6 minutes, stirring occasionally, until apples are soft. -
You can either set the heat to low or remove saucepan from heat and cover while preparing the pancakes.
For the Old Fashioned Pancakes
-
In a medium
mixing bowl , sift together flour, baking powder, salt, sugar, and cinnamon until thoroughly combined. Set aside. -
In a large bowl,
whisk together milk, egg, and vanilla. Slowly pour in the cooled melted butter, whisking vigorously. -
Slowly stir the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, forming a smooth, fluffy batter.
-
Spray a
skillet withcooking spray and warm over medium heat. -
Scoop 1/4 cup of pancake batter into the pan, then use a spatula to gently spread the batter into a flat circle (about 4-5 inches wide). Cook pancake for 2-3 minutes or until bubbles appear along the sides. Flip the pancake and cook for another 1-2 minutes until golden brown. Repeat until all the batter has been used.
-
As pancakes are ready, serve with cinnamon apples on top.
Yum! I just pinned this. Thanks for sharing. I love pancakes. Funny story about your neighbor & your 1 serving pancake stack 🙂
Thanks Tee! I’ll have to make it up to her with a full serving next time 😀
Those pancakes look so yummy. I kinda just like my pancakes plain with just syrup but seeing those pics. I am going to have to give this recipe a try very soon! Thanks for sharing!
NP Ashley! I used to feel the same way about pancakes, but I’ve slowly been baby stepping out of my syrup-and-butter comfort zone. This recipe is a decent one to start with 😀
Yummy pancakes, I love the addition of apple topping! Yum! Pinned it!
Thank you Ilona!
I didn’t realize that pancakes are in right now! 🙂 I do love pancakes and like to have breakfast for dinner!
Breakfast for dinner sounds great to me! And food trends are so fickle – it’s interesting to see how they evolve over the course of the year.
These look so delicious! I have to try!
DELICIOUS!! Oh my word that looks and sounds amazing. My kids would go all over the place for these pancakes!
Oh, I love pancakes. This would make them even better! I can’t wait to try this.
i just made this recipe and I don’t see where the melted butter fits in???
Sorry about that Valerie! I’ll correct the instructions now. It goes in with the wet ingredients (milk, egg, vanilla). Thank you for letting me know!
OMG! This looks absolutely delicious! Yes, pancakes are in and I really want to start making them and I would love to try this recipe. Thanks so much for sharing 🙂
Yay! Thank you for solving my dilemma of what to make for Easter brunch. This will be perfect!
Hi! Just tried this recipe, everyone around the table went silent while eating, so I guess I did something right! The mapple-apple topping was excellent! I just added a bit of sugar in the pancake mix because between the salt and the baking powder, it tasted a bit salty. Otherwise, it was great!
This looks so yummy! I need to serve a large group of people. Can you make the topping ahead of time?
Hey Amanda! Yes, you can make the topping ahead of time. It can be stored in a sealed container in the refrigerator for 4-5 days. You can find some tips on that here: http://www.kingarthurflour.com/blog/2014/11/23/make-ahead-apple-pie-filling/
I absolutely love this recipe! So much so I added it to my ultimate apple recipe roundup…I hope you will come by and take a look! Have a great week xo http://dreamingofleaving.com/2015/09/21/worlds-best-apple-recipe-roundup/
I’d love to try this one but it’s hard to find maple syrup in my area- can I subtitude with something else? Thanks 🙂
Hey Eka! I was checking around, and you could make your own syrup using jam or juice. Have you tried that before? There’s a few quick tutorials on it here: http://www.epicurious.com/expert-advice/5-pancake-toppings-that-arent-maple-syrup-article
Hi Chrisy,
Can I substitute maple syrup with golden syrup?
Hey Sajeela! I haven’t had experience with golden syrup myself, but as long as the consistency is similar, you should be fine 🙂 If the golden syrup is a little thicker, try adding 1-2 tablespoons of water while cooking the apples.
Just tried and tasted amazing but I don’t really get the melted butter part? |feeling:confused|
Hey Gabriela! Sorry for my tardy response, but glad to hear you liked the pancakes 😀 The melted butter is more of a cooking choice – some cooks will say it makes a difference in texture, others say not really. I like to experiment with it every now and then. The only trick with melted butter is that you have to make sure it cools enough so it doesn’t prematurely cook the egg. Hope that helps!
These pancakes are sooooooooooooooooooo good ???? I’m currently making them right now and can’t stop eating them as I cook them.
Hi,I wanted to know if the topping can be stored away and used when desired?
Hey there! Yes, you can totally store the topping 😀 I’d recommend no more than 3 days in a sealed container in the fridge.
I made these this morning, I have a dairy allergy and substituted So Delicious original coconut milk for the milk and Earth Balance Soy-Free (red box) for butter. It came out well, though I do feel like the pancakes could do with about 1/2 the salt. The apple topping was great!
Made these today and they were fabulous. Will be making again.
Tried this today, and it’s just perfection!
I did use less maple syrup because I didn’t like it when it’s too sweet.
Other than that, it tasted sooo good. Will surely make more x
Thank you!
Just came across this recipe yesterday and was curious about the “old fashioned”. The first time I prepared pancakes myself and, to my surprise, reminded me of my grandmother when she still did hers. Than you so much, I will definetely do them more often. Regards from Brazil!
I forgot to post a little tip: we don’t have maple syrup in Brazil (of course we can buy imported ones at high end groceries in large cities, but they are very expensive here). I used “melado de cana” and the pancakes turned out exactly like in the picture.
Great recipe! Delicious!
My apple syrup mixture was quite thin – do you think halfing the recipe affected this?
Other than that, this recipe was great and I love the basic ingredients that I had on hand already! Great way to start the day.