It’s officially apple season, baby! And since it’s always and forever pancake season, I decided a few years back to combine my love for both into a cozy, apple pancake that’s fluffy, gluten-free and nutritious.
Are you down, OR ARE YOU DOWN?
I’m not sure if you remember my banana oatmeal pancakes, but it’s one of my favorite recipes to use those spotty ripe bananas that spend a few too many days on the counter. Plus they’re packed with protein and nutritious for the kiddos and even toddlers! So I figured, why not try an apple version out?
And now we’re here with these glorious fluffy healthy apple pancakes.
The best part? The batter is made right in your blender making them a breeze to whip up!
What’s in these apple pancakes?
You’re going to LOVE how simple and delicious these healthy apple pancakes are. Here’s what you’ll need to make them:
- Applesauce: a little unsweetened applesauce gives the pancakes the perfect amount of moisture and apple flavor. If you’re feeling up to it, you can always stir in 1/2 cup of diced apple pieces, but I prefer to reserve those for a sauteed apple topping. See below for deets on the best topping!
- Eggs: you’ll also need two eggs in this recipe.
- Oats: instead of any flour in this pancake recipe you’ll just need some old fashioned rolled oats. Use gluten-free ones to keep the pancakes gluten-free, if you’d like!
- Milk: feel free to use any milk you’d like! I like using unsweetened almond milk.
- Sweetener: these healthy apple pancakes are naturally sweetened with a little pure maple syrup. Don’t forget to save some for drizzling! You’ll also need some vanilla extract. Learn how to make your own vanilla here!
- Baking powder: remember to use baking powder, not soda, so that these pancakes get super fluffy.
- Spices: for the coziest flavor we’re adding cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg and a pinch of salt.
- Olive oil: I find that cooking pancakes in olive oil gives them the best texture. You could also use butter or vegan butter.
How to make healthy apple pancakes in the blender
These apple pancakes couldn’t be easier to make. Remember to check out our best tips & tricks for making pancakes here, too!
- Blend the ingredients. Start by adding all of the ingredients for these pancakes to a blender and blend until smooth (about 1 minute).
- Prep your pan. Add olive oil or coconut oil to a griddle or large nonstick pan and place over medium heat.
- Cook your pancakes. Add pancake batter to the pan 1/3 cup at a time. Cook for about 2-3 minutes or until golden brown and tiny bubbles appear around the edges. Flip and cook 2 minutes more.
- Serve & enjoy! Serve pancakes with sauteed cinnamon apples, pecans and pure maple syrup for a delicious, healthy breakfast.
Don’t forget the dreamy apple topping
Jazz up your apple pancakes with some wonderful sauteed cinnamon apples! Add the following to a saucepan over medium heat:
- 3/4 cup diced apple
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 teaspoon pure maple syrup
- a sprinkle of cinnamon
Once the apples begin to cook down a bit remove them from the heat and top your pancakes. YUM. They’re also delicious with a drizzle of nut butter, chopped or candied pecans and a hearty drizzle of maple syrup.
How to keep pancakes warm
You can absolutely make these apple pancakes ahead of time and keep them warm in the oven. Simply place oven at 200 degrees F, then add pancakes to a platter or oven-safe plate and place in the oven until ready to serve.
Freezer-friendly apple pancakes
If you want to make your healthy apple pancakes ahead of time and serve them at a later date, you can place the pancakes on a baking sheet so they aren’t touching and place in the freezer for 30 minutes, then place them in freezer safe containers and freeze for up to 3 months. Once ready to reheat, simply add pancakes to a plate and microwave for 30-60 seconds or until warm. This is a great option for kids or if you want to have a make-ahead breakfast on hand.
Want to make mini pancakes?
They’re SO cute and great for kiddos! Simply drop just 1-2 tablespoons of batter onto your griddle at a time. You can also try these baby banana pancakes that are smaller and great for toddlers and babies.
Our favorite pancake tools
- Blender
- Square griddle
- Spatula (use the code ‘ambitious’ for 10% off!)
See all of our kitchen essentials here.
More pancake recipes you’ll love
- Whole Wheat Banana Bread Pancakes
- Almond Flour Pancakes
- Chai-Spiced Sweet Potato Pancakes
- Healthy Pumpkin Oatmeal Pancakes
- Sidney’s 4-Ingredient Banana Pancakes
Get all of our delicious pancake recipes here!
I hope you love these healthy apple pancakes! If you try them please leave a comment below and rate the recipe below to let me know how you liked it. You can also tag #ambitiouskitchen on Instagram with your creations!
Ambitious Kitchen
Cookbook
125 Ridiculously Good For You, Sometimes Indulgent, and Absolutely Never Boring Recipes for Every Meal of the Day
Healthy Apple Pancakes (made right in the blender!)
Ingredients
- ¾ cup (188g) unsweetened applesauce
- 2 eggs
- ¼ cup (60g) unsweetened almond milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon pure maple syrup
- 1 ½ cups (143g) old fashioned rolled oats, gluten free if desired
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon allspice
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- Olive oil, for cooking
Instructions
- Add all of the ingredients to a blender and blend on high until completely smooth, about 30 seconds to 1 minute. Let the batter sit in your blender while you heat your pan up. If batter is WAY too thick, you may need to add a few extra tablespoons of milk to the blender.
- Lightly coat a griddle with coconut oil, vegan butter or olive oil and place over a medium heat. Once the pan is hot, add about 1/3 cup of the batter to the griddle for each pancake and cook for 2-4 minutes until pancakes slightly puff up and you see a few bubbles along the edges.
- Flip cakes and cook until golden brown on underside. If you find that pancakes are browning too quickly, then you need to lower the heat. I normally start on medium heat, then reduce to medium low later so that my pancakes don't burn. If at any point your griddle starts smoking, it means your pan is too hot. Wipe skillet clean and repeat with more oil and remaining batter. Makes 6 pancakes total. Serves 3, 2 pancakes each.
Recipe Notes
Nutrition
This post was originally published on September 16, 2019, republished on September 26, 2021, republished on September 4th, 2022, and republished on October 1st, 2024.
I may have left a comment before, but these deserve another anyways because they are so good! My 8-year-old, who can always detect if something is ‘healthy,’ will always eat these happily. I always make all the batter, then reheat any leftovers, which make such an easy quick breakfast. If I don’t have applesauce on hand, I just blend up an apple or two in the blender, and it works great! Love this recipe!
Perfect! So glad these are a hit!
Oh, these are good!!! I served mine with a drizzle of maples syrup and a scoop of applesauce on top. Next time I’ll double the recipe. I love all your pancake recipes!!
Perfect breakfast!!
Absolutely delicious, light and delicately flavorful.
Thank you for trying them! So happy you enjoyed 🙂
Delicious recipe. I made it according to the recipe the first time, and have made it a few times since. I now make them into giant pancakes because I’m terrible at flipping them and it still comes out amazing. I especially love the apple topping, it makes breakfast so fancy and fun!
The apple topping is the best part!
I tried these from the 7-day meal plan and thought they were great (my mom did too). My only thought for next time- I may try processing the oatmeal first before adding any wet ingredients, because my oats were still pretty chunky and it resulted in a slightly gritty feel. The flavor was spot-on, though and I was full for hours!
So glad you both enjoyed! Yes, feel free to process them first for a smoother texture 🙂
Amazing recipe like always. Appreciate this is extremely low sugar for pancakes and also less sugar than I put in my kids oatmeal I make from scratch. Love this website
Absolutely! Glad you enjoyed 🙂
Is there anything I could sub for oat flour?
I’ve only made these as is, so I can’t recommend a flour substitution! Feel free to try these pancakes that use all-purpose flour (and mix some apples in!)
Absolutely delicious and super easy! I swapped maple syrup for some banana to make them more infant friendly and added in spinach and they were so tasty. I even made the optional apple topping, which was easy to make while the pancakes were cooking.
Perfect! So glad you enjoyed!
These turned out amazing, and it was a huge hit with my picky eater
So happy to hear that!
Loove these blendercakes! Makes it so fuss free. I skipped the allspice and actually used these as a base for peach pancakes. Topped a few slices on the pancakes before flipping, and served them with a pile of fresh peaches, and chopped pecans, on top. Unbelievable! I’ll be switching back to apples here in a few weeks as it cools down outside, but both versions are so dang good! Definitely recommend folks double the batch, I made the mistake of making the first two on the larger side for my husband, and I got stuck with a wee one. (Don’t worry, I forced him to surrender half of his!)
Perfect pancakes for different seasons! Great tip to double the batch, too 🙂
I have yet to try an AK pancake recipe that wasn’t perfect. These pancakes are so easy to make, have wholesome ingredients, and cooked so nicely.
So good! Glad you enjoyed!
So easy and delicious. My kids were getting tired of banana pancakes so this was a great option. Great flavor.
Perfect swap than the usual banana!
Can I freeze the batter?
Hmm I haven’t tried it but I think it might work!
Can i freeze the batter?
These pancakes are delicious. They fluff up and really soak up syrup. The sauteed apples just make these decadent. The flavours/spices are perfect for fall/apple season. I made these last week and again today at my husband’s request.
I added 2 tbsp ground flax to add some extra goodness (I just added a wee bit more almond milk when the batter became thicker as it sits).
Love it! Perfect breakfast for fall 🙂
Excellent recipe! I didn’t have applesauce but I did have a jar of rhubarb jam (homemade) – 6 oz. so I used that instead. It turned out delicious! I topped the two pancakes with sliced bananas, walnut halves and maple syrup.
Perfect! That sounds delicious 🙂
Just like the Healthy Banana Pancakes, this recipe is fantastic! Although, I think these are even better than the banana ones. That could be because it’s a cold day and the warm apples and spices were exactly what I needed.
When I am overrun with apples, I make my own applesauce (easy peazy), so that is what I used when I made the pancakes. I also made the apple topping – first toasting some chopped raw pecans, removing them from the pan, and then cooking the apples. The apples I used were organic sweet tangos. I weighed my oats because they were thick cut, high protein oats that are much heavier than old-fashioned rolled oats. I have also found that With my pan and stove, I need to cook these on low from the start.
Bottom line: these are delicious, warming, and a great comfort food!
That all sounds amazing! So glad you found this recipe!
These pancakes were so delicious. My 1 year old LOVED them and my husband and I did too. My husband doesn’t really care for pancakes either! I doubled the recipe (put leftovers in the freezer) and only used 3 eggs total which worked out. Super happy with these and we’re going to make more when our parents are in town. Topped these with almond butter and maple syrup. Might try adding a little cardamom next time. Thanks so much for the recipe!
Amazing! So glad these were a hit with the whole family. Great idea to freeze some for later, too!
Awesome! I was food prepping and looking for a quick wheat-free pancake recipe. Used yours to make waffles in my mini waffle maker. Threw some walnuts on top and voila! Perfect! Thanks.
Yay! I am so glad this recipe worked out great for you, Linda. Love that you made these in the mini waffle maker, so fun!
These were a perfect fall treat and will definitely keep on the rotation. As always your recipes are amazing!
Yay! Happy to hear these turns out great of you ❤️🍎
I’m very skeptical of blender pancakes as I’ve yet to have a good one. These are actually really good! Definietely let them sit like it says to but if you’re over excited like me and use it instantly it still works haha! I just used apple pie spice instead of all the individual spices and it worked perfectly.
With a toddler and a six month old it was great to throw the ingredients in and then just be able to cook the pancakes on the griddle, makes my toddlers request for pancakes less daunting.
If you can tolerate butter or even vegan butter highly reccomend a generous serving on top it just gives you all the warm cozy fall feels. I bet if I had made the apple topping it would be even more cozy! Next time!
AMAZING! Glad to hear everyone is loving these pancakes and they turned out great for you 🍎
My two grandchildren were delighted to wake up to this pancake breakfast. Gluten free, sugar free and tasty. Its going on the rotation.
Yay! So glad these were a hit, Helene ❤️
These were AMAZING!! I added more almond milk to thin them out and they cooked up perfectly. My kids LOVED them.
Ahh YAY! I am so glad you’re loving these pancakes and they turned out great for you. Always a bonus when the kiddos love them too!
Do you think this recipe would still work well if I added protein powder to the mix?
Hi Meghan – Possibly, depending on the protein powder it could change the texture. You might also need to add more liquid because some protein powders absorb more liquid than others. Hope that helps.
I normally make my kids your banana oatmeal pancakes but I think we may have found a new favorite! These are delicious and so easy to make. Thanks for making our weekend mornings yummy and healthy!
just made these as my daughter was dropping past late morning and she as I couldn’t stop saying how delicious they were!! thankyou for a yummy and healthy recipe.
I made these today on an unexpected day off from school. Simple ingredients that I had on hand, They were easy to make and a quick clean up afterward, I loved that all the ingredients went right into the blender. They were more flavorful than I expected and incredibly tender. We all loved them and in fact laying in bed almost asleep, my 4 year old said, “Breakfast today was amazing!”. Thanks for another awesome recipe!
Easy and quick to make. We enjoyed them, but nothing too special (I think I’ve been spoiled by all your recipes and expect them all to be jaw-dropping hahaha)
We put apple sauce on the top/side as a syrup.
Ah this sounds delicious! So glad you are loving this recipe as well as others. Thank you for your comment, I appreciate it ❤️
Hi Monique … saludos from Mexico City
Quick question
If I omit all spice will that change the taste as it’s not easily available here
Please do lemme know
Many thanks
Hi! I would say that it will make them more bland, but it would still work, enjoy!
Hi Monique … saludos from Mexico City
Quick question
If I omit all spice will that change the taste as it’s not easily available here
Please do lemme know
Many thanks
This are so amazing especially with my coffee! My little one loves these! Cooking in olive oil definitely made a difference in texture! 🙂 thanks for sharing