Pancakes Meet Apple Pie in Our Favorite Fall Breakfast

Every fall, my family and I drive an hour north from our home to go apple picking in New York’s Hudson Valley. It’s the highlight of the season for me: We spend the day strolling through a beautiful orchard in search of perfectly ripe apples, and after half a dozen doughnuts and a cup of hot cider, we head home with our trunk full of fruit. In the days that follow, I use the apples as quickly as I can. I make and freeze apple pies and galettes, bake muffins, and simmer saucy compotes. I toss fresh apples into my salads and eat the fruit sliced and slathered with nut butter, eager to make the most of our haul before it spoils. 

This year, my Birmingham, Alabama-based test kitchen colleague Tricia Manzanero Stuedeman inspired me to use some of my freshly picked fruit to make a stack of fluffy, tender pancakes that taste just like my favorite fall dessert: apple pie. Packed with grated apples and spiced with a mixture of ground cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, allspice, and cloves, Tricia’s apple pie pancakes are tender and lightly sweet, with bright pomaceous flavor. Her recipe is the result of plenty of trial and error: She whisked together many batches of batter and flipped many, many pancakes until she zeroed in on a formula for a crowd-pleasing breakfast that's truly impressive and pretty easy to make too.

Tricia’s recipe uses a clever technique. Instead of incorporating applesauce or apple chunks into the pancake batter—which can result in dense pancakes that remain wet in the center or apples that remain raw even after the pancake has fully cooked—she grates fresh Golden Delicious apples, tosses them with light brown sugar, and lets the fruit sit for several minutes. This helps soften the apples, ensuring they cook evenly in the batter, and releases some of the fruit’s excess liquid, which Tricia then uses to bring the pancake batter together.

One of Tricia's other tricks for these pancakes is using pumpkin pie spice, a blend of cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, allspice, and cloves, instead of apple pie spice. The latter typically only consists of cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice, and while delicious, lacks the depth of flavor Tricia was looking for. “I personally find pumpkin pie spice tastes more balanced and complex,” Tricia says. A dash of extra cinnamon brings it together, giving the pancakes a warm, spiced kick.

Though the pancakes themselves are superb, it’s the garnishes—a spiced apple compote, toasted pecans, and a maple syrup–sweetened whipped cream—that really take it over the top. Together, the pancakes, compote, and whipped cream evoke the flavors of classic apple pie à la mode—if you want to go 100% à la mode, go ahead and swap the whipped cream for vanilla or butter pecan ice cream. You could certainly skip the accouterments and keep it simple with a drizzle of maple syrup, but take it from me—you probably won’t want to.

Prepare the Pancakes: In a medium bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, baking soda, and pumpkin pie spice to combine. In a separate medium bowl, toss apples with brown sugar to evenly coat; let stand, stirring occasionally, until apples have released some liquid and broken down slightly, 20 to 30 minutes.

For the Apple Topping: While the apples macerate, melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add apples, brown sugar, cinnamon, and pumpkin pie spice and cook, stirring frequently, until apples are tender and can be pierced easily with a knife, 10 to 15 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in maple syrup; set aside, covered, in a warm place.

For the Maple Whipped Cream: In a large bowl, combine heavy cream and maple syrup. Using an electric hand mixer, whip on medium speed until medium peaks form, about 2 minutes.  Cover and refrigerate until ready to use. (Whipped cream can also be prepared in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment.)

Whisk egg, milk, sour cream, melted butter, and vanilla into macerated apple mixture until well combined. Add apple mixture to flour mixture; using a whisk or flexible spatula, stir just until combined. Set a wire rack inside a rimmed baking sheet; set aside.

Heat a large nonstick griddle to medium heat (350°F/175ºC) or large nonstick skillet over medium. Using a 1/3 cup scoop, scoop batter onto griddle or skillet to form pancakes. Spread into 4-inch discs spaced 1/2- to 1-inch apart. Cook until bubbles start to appear on top of batter and bottoms are golden brown, 2 to 4 minutes, adjusting heat as needed to prevent overbrowning. Carefully flip pancakes and cook until bottoms are lightly golden and pancakes are cooked through, 2 to 4 minutes. Transfer to prepared wire rack. Repeat with remaining batter.

Serve pancakes immediately; garnish with apple topping, chopped toasted pecans, maple syrup, and maple whipped cream.

Special Equipment

Electric hand mixer, griddle, wire rack, rimmed baking sheet

Notes

If you’d prefer to mix your own pumpkin pie spice, sift 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon,  1/4 teaspoon ground ginger, 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg, 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice, and 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves into a small bowl. Whisk until well combined. Use immediately or store in an airtight container in a cool, dark place for up to 6 months. Yields about 2 teaspoons spice mix.

Make-Ahead and Storage

The pancakes are best enjoyed fresh.

The apple topping is best eaten the day it’s made. Leftovers can be refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 2 days. Gently reheat in the microwave until warmed through before using.

The maple whipped cream is best enjoyed fresh. Leftovers can be refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 1 day. Whisk to bring back together if needed; whisk in additional heavy cream, 1 tablespoon at a time, to adjust consistency if needed.