Applesauce Pancakes

These applesauce pancakes are light and fluffy apple flavored pancakes, with oatmeal and cinnamon tossed in. Perfect for a delicious fall breakfast.

These fluffy applesauce pancakes are perfect for a weekend breakfast! They’re also a great option for a quick breakfast on a busy weekday morning as well, and also reheat great if you want to make a big batch then enjoy them throughout the week.

They’re made with simple ingredients, and are such tasty pancakes, they remind me of apple season, and the flavors of fall. I love eating these delicious pancakes on a cool morning, but really I like them all year long.

Personally, I love topping a pile of these delicious pancakes with some butter, some fresh apple slices, and a big helping of pure maple syrup. But they’d also be delicious with caramel sauce, whipped cream, and a dash of extra cinnamon on top.

Ingredients Needed:

This is a quick overview of the ingredients you’ll need for this Applesauce Pancake Recipe. Specific measurements and full recipe instructions are in the printable recipe card below.

• all purpose flour -for the bulk of the pancake batter.
• quick oats – to add a nice texture and oaty flavor to the pancakes.
• granulated sugar – to add a little sweetness to the pancake batter. This can be swapped for brown sugar too.
• baking powder – to give the pancakes a little lift and keep them from being dense.
• ground cinnamon – because apple + cinnamon is a delicious combination. Leave it out if you don’t like cinnamon.
• salt – to balance the sweetness.
• eggs – to help hold everything together.
• buttermilk – to add moisture to the pancakes.
• unsweetened applesauce – a homemade applesauce or store bought apple sauce will work, I prefer a plain unsweetened applesauce, but sweetened applesauce will work for a sweeter pancake, or cinnamon applesauce will work if you want an extra cinnamony flavor.
• vanilla extract – to add a nice flavor.

How to make Applesauce Pancakes?

1. Add the dry ingredients, flour, oats, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt to a large bowl, and whisk them together. In another bowl, stir together the eggs, buttermilk, applesauce, and vanilla extract.
2. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and whisk them together until just combined. The batter may be slightly lumpy, don’t keep mixing it
3. Heat a frying pan or griddle over medium heat, and coat the pan in butter or nonstick spray. I prefer butter for  nice and crispy edges on the pancakes.
4. Pour batter into the pan using a 1/4 cup measuring cup to measure it out. You can pour multiple pancakes into the pan if there is space in the pan, just leave room to let the pancakes cook with out touching, and for easy flipping.
5. Once the batter on top of the pancakes starts to bubble flip the pancakes. Cook the pancakes until the bottom side is fully cooked and golden brown as well.
6. Top pancakes with butter, syrup, chopped up apples, and whipped cream or whatever your choice of toppings are.

Tips and Tricks:

• Don’t overmix the batter! The pancakes will turn out dense and not fluffy if you do.
• The batter should be thick, but not too thick to pour out into the skillet. If it is too thick add a couple extra Tablespoons of buttermilk, or even water if you don’t have any more buttermilk.
• If your pancake edges are getting too brown too fast and still aren’t cooked in the middle, this means the heat is too high. Lower the temperature slightly, as every stove top is different we can’t know exactly what your stove top needs for this recipe. 
• Try adding chocolate chips to your pancakes too!
• If you don’t have buttermilk you can make your own substitute for this recipe by measuring out 1 1/2 cups milk and adding in 1 TBS of vinegar or lemon juice. Let it sit for about 5 to 10 minutes before using it in the recipe.

Frequently Asked Questions:

Can I use applesauce instead of eggs in pancakes?

This recipe has both applesauce and eggs in the recipe and makes them moist, and fluffy pancakes. But you can use 1/4 cup applesauce to replace 1 egg in pancakes, so raise the applesauce amount by 1/2 cup to replace both eggs and it should work great!

How to store leftover pancakes?

Leftover pancakes can be stored in an airtight container or ziploc bag in the fridge for about 3 to 4 days. Reheat them by microwaving them for about 20 seconds per pancake, or by toasting them in a toaster if you want crispier edges.

The pancakes can also be frozen for up to 3 months. Lay them out on a baking pan lined with parchment paper to flash freeze, then once they are frozen transfer them to a freezer bags or other freezer safe container to freeze.

Can I substitute whole wheat flour for white flour in pancakes?

You can substitute whole wheat flour for the all purpose flour in these pancakes, but whole wheat flour does absorb more of the liquid in the pancakes, so cut the whole wheat to 1 1/2 cups. And you might need to add a little extra milk or applesauce to the pancake batter to keep the pancakes from being too dry. 

You can also substitute half the flour for whole wheat flour, by using 1 cup of white flour, and 3/4 cup of whole wheat flour.

These cinnamon applesauce pancakes are soft, fluffy, and thick with the perfect crispy edges. They’re such a tasty pancake, and perfect for breakfast, brunch, or brinner.

More pancake recipes:

• Banana Pancakes
• Perfect Pancakes
• Cinnamon Roll Pancakes
• Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Pancakes
• Homemade Maple Syrup

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These applesauce pancakes were first posted on March 17, 2014. The photos and text were updated for clarity on September 5, 2022.