Applesauce pancakes are fluffy pancakes with a hint of cinnamon that are lightly sweetened with applesauce. If you're craving some fall flavor, these dairy-free applesauce pancakes fit the bill.
Made these for my one year old but the adults loved them too. Very fluffy and tasty. ★★★★★ - Corey
Why you'll love this recipe
Flavor: A hint of cinnamon and apple that's perfect for fall.
Texture: This recipe makes fluffy, moist, and thick pancakes!
They're dairy-free. Most pancakes recipes include milk. Today we're using applesauce in its place to make this recipe dairy-free.
Made with simple ingredients. Other than applesauce, all you need are a few pantry staples like flour, egg, sugar, and baking powder.
Serve with: Maple syrup, fresh fruit, or whipped honey butter
Similar to: Buttermilk Pancakes and Blueberry Buttermilk Pancakes
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Ingredients and substitutions
- Applesauce - Homemade or store bought applesauce will work in this recipe. I used unsweetened applesauce, but sweetened applesauce can be used for sweeter pancakes.
- Flour - I've only tested this recipe with all-purpose flour, so I can't say for sure how other flours would work out. Readers have had success using whole wheat flour.
- Egg - Binds the ingredients together and adds stability and moisture to the pancakes.
- Granulated sugar - A small amount of granulated sugar adds sweetness and moisture to the pancakes.
- Baking powder - Necessary to add lift to the pancakes while cooking. Cannot be substituted with baking soda, the two are not interchangeable.
- Vanilla extract - Adds flavor to the pancakes.
- Salt - Enhances the flavor of the pancakes.
- Cinnamon - If you aren't a fan of cinnamon, feel free to omit it from the recipe to make vanilla applesauce pancakes instead.
How to make applesauce pancakes
- Add dry ingredients to a bowl.
- Whisk to combine and remove clumps.
- Add wet ingredients to the bowl.
- Whisk until just incorporated and allow to set while your skillet heats up.
- Add pancake batter to a nonstick skillet. Your pancake is ready to flip when the edges look set and bubbles begin popping through the batter.
- Flip to cook the second side. Your pancakes should look golden brown all across the top.
Tips and tricks
Don't overmix the batter - Once the flour and liquid ingredients have been mixed together, take care not to overmix the batter. Overworking the gluten in the flour will cause pancakes to turn out tough or rubbery. Use a spoon or whisk and use a gentle stirring motion.
Batter thickness - Pancake batter should be thick, but not too thick to pour. Due to differences in applesauce brands (or homemade vs. store bought), your pancake batter may need a splash of water to thin it out slightly.
How to tell when a pancake is ready to flip - The pancake will begin to look dry and 'set' around the edges, and bubbles will begin to pop through all across the pancake. When you see these signs, the pancake is ready to flip.
Pancakes browning too fast/not done in the middle? These are signs that your heat is too high. Every stove is different, but you'll want to cook your pancakes between medium heat to medium-low heat. Adjust as needed to cook your pancakes evenly through to the center.
Storage
Leftover pancakes will keep for 2-3 days in a sealed container in the refrigerator.
Pancakes can also be frozen for 1-2 months in a freezer safe container.
Frequently asked questions
I usually cook with stainless steel cookware. However, there are a few instances when a non-stick skillet comes in handy. Delicate items like pancakes or scrambled eggs are best cooked in a non-stick skillet.
To reheat leftover pancakes, place on a microwave safe plate and cover lightly with a paper towel. Reheat refrigerated pancakes for about 20 seconds per pancake, or about 1 minute for frozen pancakes. I suggest reheating a maximum of 2-3 pancakes at a time for even heating.
Yes! Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit, line a baking sheet with parchment paper, then lay your pancakes out in a single layer. Bake for about 8-10 minutes, or until heated through to your liking.
This happens if your heat is too high. This causes the outsides to brown before the middle has a chance to cook through. Return your pancakes to the skillet and reduce the heat to medium-low to slowly cook the middle without burning the outsides.
Recommended
📖 Recipe
Applesauce Pancakes
Ingredients
- 1 cup (120 g) all purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 large egg
- 1 cup (255 g) unsweetened applesauce
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1-3 tablespoons water, as needed
Instructions
- To a bowl, add the dry ingredients: flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. Whisk to remove clumps.
- Add egg, applesauce, and vanilla to the dry ingredients. Stir until JUST combined. If your batter looks too thick to pour (this depends on your brand of applesauce), add 1-3 tablespoons of water and stir to incorporate.
- Let the finished batter sit for 5 minutes. During this time, heat up a nonstick skillet or griddle over medium-low heat and grease lightly with butter or cooking spray.
- Measure about ⅓ cup of batter into your hot skillet for each pancake. Once you see bubbles across the pancake and the edges look dry, flip the pancake over (this takes about 2 minutes depending on the heat of your skillet). Cook the second side until lightly browned and cooked through in the middle. Repeat with remaining batter.
- Serve pancakes with your favorite maple syrup, whipped cream, or fruit compote.
Equipment Recommendations
Notes
- Pancakes raw in the middle?: This is a sign that your heat is too high. Turn the heat down slightly, return your pancakes to the pan, and heat slowly to cook the middle without burning the outsides.
- Storage: Leftover pancakes will keep for 2-3 days in the refrigerator or frozen for 1-2 months in a freezer-safe container.
I thought this recipe would be great to use up my homemade applesauce but the pancakes were terrible. I followed the recipe exactly, made sure the pan wasn't too hot, they just failed. With the cost of eggs being so high I won't be trying this again
Hi Mar, that's surprising as this recipe has many great reviews. Were any ingredients substituted? What exactly happened that caused them to fail?
I have made this a few times very good recipe... What makes it even BETTER is a dash or of nutmeg...its what sets this over the top...
Great recipe! I used oat flour and maple syrup instead of refined sugar to make it a little healthier. We just found out our 3 year old is lactose intolerant and she really wanted pancakes. These were a hit! My husband even wanted seconds.
I chopped up an apple into very small pieces and added that to the mixture and that really added an apple taste. - This was a sweet apple - Next time I am going to try it with Granny Smith apple and applesauce.
This recipe is fantastic! I came across it a few weeks ago and we've made it every week since then. One time I ran out of baking powder so I did the ratio for substituting baking soda and they still came out perfect. We've also made them with mango puree instead of applesauce - SO good!
Heather, these are great! I made them for the second time today for a leisurely Sunday breakfast with my husband. I added a little sorgum flour for additional texture, and the pancakes came out light and fluffy both times. Thank you for thinking of us who try to stay dairy-free.
Happy to hear you enjoy the recipe!
These turned out so well! They are light and fluffy.. I used oat flour instead of white flour and added walnuts. This will be one of my favorite recipes. Thank you so much for posting.
Made these for my one year old but the adults loved them too. Very fluffy and tasty.
Good, used 3 year old home canned applesauce to get rid of it. Waste not want not.
I enjoyed them. I did alter it slightly based on what I had. Used light brown sugar instead of granulated. My applesauce was cinnamon flavor and I only had 3/4 C so I added 2 tbs of melted butter.
Bland flavor, bad texture. really hard to cook the center. Idk maybe good for a baby but not an adult. Didn't like them😅.
I made these for my 11 month old and only had half a cup of applesauce, so I used half a cup of prune purée too! It turned out so so good! Also used gf flour.
I made these with whole wheat flour. They were so yummy, what a comfort food!
I made these today but used ground oats (or you could buy oat flour) instead of white flour. They turned out great! I’ll definitely make these again.
This is an excellent recipe. The taste is gentle, not overwhelming. Good comfort food. We loved the smell while cooking.
Made these this morning. My grandson said don't just make one batch make two. So I tripled it. I will make this again. Smelled really good while it took. Make a syrup to go with it.
Very tasty!! We added cinnamon chips per my son's request. I will be adding this to my favorites!! 💖
Delicious! Wondering if I could make these into waffles though.
Technically you can, but your waffles will have the soft, cakey texture of a pancake. Waffle batter contains a different ratio of ingredients (more eggs and fats/butter) to make them crispy on the outside. So the batters are not interchangeable if you want a crispy, airy waffle texture.
I followed the recipe exactly and was disappointed. It tasted flat without any salt. They were also gummy and too think even though I used regular flour and didn’t replace any ingredients.
Hi Willow, a dash of salt would be a great addition to your pancake batter, I'd suggest 1/4 teaspoon. As for the gummy texture, this usually happens if the batter is mixed too much, which will overwork the gluten and give your pancakes a gummy/rubbery texture. The thickness of the pancakes depends entirely on how much water you choose to add in step 2 (and the moisture content of your applesauce).
Thanks Heather. I didn’t think I mixed it too much, but I did add a tablespoon of water at a time since it said 1-3 tablespoons, and ended up adding 4. So that must have resulted in overmixing..
Added bananas and used flax egg...turned out delicious!!!
Delicious, but I did feel like it was missing some salt. Probably would add 1/2 teaspoon next time. Otherwise, they were very tasty!
These were great! I did half whole wheat and half white flour (with about 1/4 cup of almond protein powder as well) so I had to up the liquid content. I used soy milk instead of water and added probably half a cup. I also doubled the amount of cinnamon. Delish! Perfect for my toddler, and all the adults were grabbing some to snack on as well.
My son loves these! I’ve tried many different recipes and this is his favourite - any idea how to substitute the flour for almond flour?
Hi Michelle, I'm not very familiar with gluten-free baking, but this recipe may work for you. It uses almond flour and includes applesauce:
https://fitfoodiefinds.com/grain-free-applesauce-pancakes/
You could replace all the flour in this with oat flour (you can blend up regular oats in a high power blender if you can’t find oat flour at the store).
I love this recipe! However now im putting myself on a diet, and counting my calories, can you tell me how many calories it is per serving and how much a serving is?
Hi Dana! I'm so glad you enjoy the recipe. This recipe makes 6 pancakes, and each pancake is about 123 calories (not including toppings you might add). You can find the nutrition estimate at the bottom of the recipe card. I highly recommend adding your exact ingredients to a nutrition calculator to be 100% sure.
BEST EVER!!! I come from a long, proud, line of pancake makers and I'm just in love with this recipe. Thank you for sharing this with us!
So glad you enjoyed the pancakes!
Yum! 5 stars. We loved it 🙂
Thank you, so glad to hear it!
Could I make these without any egg?
I would not recommend making these without egg. Egg adds moisture, binds the ingredients together, and helps the pancakes rise. Otherwise the pancakes would have a biscuit-like texture.