Sour Cream Apple Cinnamon “Apple Pie” Pancakes

Recently I had a craving for apple pie and pancakes and I thought why not have them both together?  So I added an apple filling to my favorite sour cream pancake batter and the apple cinnamon pancakes I made were so good that I had to share the recipe with all of you! Soft, spiced apples, thick and tender pancakes, warm maple syrup. Yum!

Hey, how’s it going?

Around here we’ve all kicked our colds and we’re ramping up for all the December fun. 🙂 The daughter and I are off to see the Rockettes in a couple days, next week she turns 13 (!!!), and then we’re looking down the barrel of our family trip to Bonaire. Which rather throws off all of our usual routines for the season. However, it will be nice to visit there again.

And, of course, I have lots of great recipes coming up, testing holiday foods and comfort foods and some lighter recipes for the turn of the year. Today, though, I am all about these apple cinnamon pancakes. As soon as I tried them, I was scribbling down the recipe in my notebook and planning a photo shoot.

In the summer I adore adding strawberries and blueberries and other summer fruits to my pancakes in the morning. Sometimes I mix them into the batter and other times I macerate the fruit and ladle it over the top.

This time of year, though, those summer fruits are either expensive or just not available. 🙁 But that doesn’t mean I can’t get my fruit fix when I make pancakes! I just need to do a little more work since tossing in raw apple chunks doesn’t quite do it. They need some spicing, a little bourbon, and a bit of sauteing to soften them up.

But it doesn’t take too long. Only a little more work than blueberries! About 10 minutes is all I need to dice an apple and give it a saute. And I can do all that the day before, which is great for a holiday breakfast! I love having things all ready to go when I have a crowd to feed. Don’t you?

Along with the apples, I decided to use my sour cream pancake batter, which I LOVE. Last year, when I shared my sweet potato pancakes, I used a buttermilk batter (also awesome!), so I thought it would be fun to mix it up here. One thing that’s great about the sour cream is how thick the pancakes get. They are so thick and fluffy! Also, while I often have buttermilk in the house, I always have sour cream. 🙂

As for what apples to use, I’ve tried a few different varieties now and I’m going to say that I love Honeycrisp the best. They are firm, crisp, sweet, and flavorful. But any crisp apple you have on hand will be great!

– Happy Eating, Annemarie

Print Recipe

Apple Cinnamon Pancakes

My favorite sour cream pancake batter is mixed with sauteed spiced apples in these apple cinnamon pancakes for the perfect fall and winter breakfast.

Prep Time20 minutes mins

Cook Time10 minutes mins

Total Time30 minutes mins

Course: Breakfast

Cuisine: American

Servings: 12 pancakes

Calories: 100kcal

Author: Just a Little Bit of Bacon

Ingredients

Spiced Apple Pie Filling

• 2 tbsp unsalted butter
• 1 medium apple, peeled, and cut into 1/2 inch dice
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• pinch each allspice and ground cloves
• 1 tbsp granulated sugar
• 1 tbsp bourbon

Sour Cream Pancake Batter

• 1 cup (5 oz) all-purpose flour
• 1 tbsp granulated sugar
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp table salt
• 1/2 cup sour cream, full fat or 2%
• 1/2 cup milk, whole or 2%
• 1 large egg
• 1 tbsp unsalted butter, melted and cooled

Instructions

Spiced Apple Pie Filling

• In a nonstick skillet, melt the butter over medium heat. Once the butter is bubbling, add the rest of the ingredients. Saute the apples until they are soft and tender, 6-8 minutes.
  
• Remove the apples from the heat and let them cool to room temperature. (Can be made the night before.) To cool them quickly, transfer them to a bowl and put them in the refrigerator while you make the batter.
  

Sour Cream Pancake Batter

• Whisk together the flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt. In a large bowl, mix the sour cream, milk, egg, and butter until combined. Add the dry ingredients and, with a large silicone spatula, mix together the wet and dry with a few quick stirs, being careful not to over mix. Add the apple filling and mix that in.
  
• Let the batter rest for 10-15 minutes. While the batter is resting, heat a nonstick griddle to 350F. (Or heat a large nonstick skillet over medium heat.)
  

Cook the Pancakes

• Give your griddle (or skillet) a very light coat of vegetable oil. Ladle out 1/4 cup portions of batter onto the griddle. Cook until the edges are set and bubbles form on the surface of the pancakes. Flip and cook until the other side is browned and you see no raw batter on the sides. Transfer the pancakes to a platter.
  
• Serve the pancakes with warm maple syrup. Pats (or scoops) of salted butter or a dollop of whipped cream are nice additions.
  

Notes

• Cooking the apples: How long you will need to cook the apples is going to depend on what type of apple you chose. A soft apple, like a Macintosh will soften quickly and be done in 4-5 minutes, while a Granny Smith might take over 10 minutes. Test the apples as you cook them and take them off the heat when you can break them up with little resistance.
• Serving Ideas: The recipe is easily doubled for a larger group. Also, I sometimes like to double the apple filling so I have some to top the pancakes and the rest to mix in.
• To keep the pancakes warm while you cook a large batch (or if you are using a skillet), heat your oven to 200F and set up a baking sheet with a rack over it and transfer the pancakes to the rack to keep warm.
• Batter a little too thick? Add another tablespoon or two of milk and stir that in. The batter should be fairly thick, but still flow off the spoon.