Servings: 4 Prep: 10 mins Cook: 10 mins Total: 20 mins
What we have here is little more than my Vanilla OMM (One Minute Muffin) turned on its head. I’m pretty sure that the base batter for that particular muffiny treat is amongst one of the best little recipes I’ve come up with. It’s such a nice little ratio, it’s easy to pull together and it’s really amazing for just about anything sweet and bakey!
In this case, I’ve used the batter as a pancake, rather than as a muffin. The pancakes are fantastic. While it’s been years since I’ve had a grain based pancake, I confidently say that with this recipe in my life … I may very well never have a grain based pancake, again. I see no need. These are just better!
This particular recipe incorporates some spice and apples. Time and time again, I hear people discuss how low-carb doesn’t allow fruit. “Poppycock!”, I say to that! I mean, I wouldn’t suggest sitting and eating a whole super sweet pineapple, but chopping up an apple and tossing it in a tasty pancake recipe isn’t going to hurt anything. In fact, the fact that you find yourself eating … not just pancakes, but … pancakes with APPLES removes that deep sense of depravity that many feel with a “diet”. People who feel depraved tend to stray … stray hard, and rarely return. Some well placed fruits and a nice collection of tasty diverse recipes will win and keep us all happy and on track … all the time.
Caramelized and Spiced Apple Topped Pancakes
Print RateIngredients
- 1 medium apple (like golden delicious)
- 1/4 cup butter ghee or lard (for sautéing and pan/griddle), divided
- dash cinnamon
- dash nutmeg
- dash salt
- 1/4 cup coconut flour
- 1/4 cup almond flour
- 1 scoop (1/4 cup) sugar-free vanilla whey protein
- 1/4 cup 'Swerve' or other sugar replacement
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 4 large whole eggs
- 1/4 cup almond milk unsweetened
- 1/4 cup butter melted
- 1/4 cup toasted chopped walnuts
Instructions
- Pre-heat a medium sauté pan over medium-high heat.
- While the pan is heating, cut the apples into small 1/4-inch cubes. Peeling is optional.
- Once the pan is hot, some fresh butter and quickly swirl around the pan. It should lightly brown around the edges, but not burn. Quickly add the apple cubes and coat with butter. Turn the heat to medium and evenly distribute them along the bottom of the pan, so that a single layer of apple cubes is formed. Sprinkle a dash of cinnamon, nutmeg and salt onto the apples.
- After about 1 minute, one side of the cubes will take on a nice caramelized color. Toss the apples, so that most have a new side facing down. Allow them to sit for about 1 minute. Continue cooking and tossing until they are nicely browned on the outside, but not overcooked, soft and mushy. The process should be fairly quick, taking about 3 to 4 minutes. Place the browned apple cubes in a plate to cool. Set aside.
- In a medium mixing bowl, sift together coconut flour, almond meal, protein powder, sweetener (if powdered), baking powder and salt.
- Add eggs, almomd milk, melted butter and half of the caramelized apples. If using a liquid sweetener, add it now. Mix until combined. If the batter is still too thick, add a little milk, cream, coconut milk or almond milk to thin.
- Heat a heavy griddle or fry pan which is greased with a little butter or bacon fat on a paper towel. Pour a small amount of batter (approx 1/4 cup) into pan and tip to spread out or spread with spoon. When bubbles appear on surface and begin to break, turn over and cook the other side. Repeat this process until all the batter is gone.
- Garnish the pancakes with more butter, your favorite syrup, toasted walnuts and the remaining caramelized apples!
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* Learn More: More about this recipe and nutrition …
MMM I love Apples! This sounds wonderful I will try to stop eating with just 1 serving 🙂 Chances are my will power will not hold me back……Yes DJ I usually cut your yummies in half when it is more than 1 serving so I don’t have any to keep eating :)Add some bacon to the side and voila perfect breakfast 🙂
Kari, as I’m sure you’ve discovered by now … my "serving size" is larger than most. Let’s hope one will satisfy! 🙂
Yes DJ I am quite satisfied with your serving sizes! I cant wait to get my shopping done so i can try, I finished all my apples 🙁
Let me know what you think, when you try them, Kari! 🙂
Do I understand correctly that one apple equals 4 servings?
Mudclam, yes. Each serving contains a quarter of a diced apple.
what can be used as a substitute for coconut flour?
Hi Erica, really … nothing. The coconut flour is really the backbone of this recipe. That said, you could really use just about any muffin recipe as a pancake batter. Try and look at some of my other muffin recipes. Any of the bases should work to make a nice pancake!
Made these for my husband and I for breakfast today – they were soooo good! We’ve been low carb for 2 months now and craving some pancakes, and these hit the spot. A good substitute for our old favorite Cinnastack from IHOP (a mind blowing 109 carbs per serving). One small change – I didn’t have any protein powder on hand so I just used 1/4 c almond flour in its place; I did have to add a couple splashes of cream. Thanks yet again for a yummy way for us to stay on the LC train!!
Glad to hear it, Andrea! Yep, these are TAAAAY-STY! Glad to hear I’m not alone! 😉
You said ‘depravity’. Did you not mean ‘deprivation’? Although I admit I have sometimes felt a little depraved on a diet!!!
Kim … yep! You got it. I meant "deprivation". I need an editor! :-/
Please change "depravity" to "deprivation."
And also please change "depraved" to "deprived." Thanks.
Wow! It’s funny to me that this is such a hot spot. It’s little more than a typo. They’re ALL OVER my site. I’m just one guy … without an editor. They happen. It’s funny that this one gets so much play. Some day I might fix it, but it’s not super easy to do. Remind me! 😉
Aaaand now I don’t need to wait for the cookbook. Super excited about these! (and still excited about the cookbook 🙂 )
—Reply posted by DJ on 1/5/2015
YAY!!! Yep, this recipe is the same as the pancakes recipe in the book. The big difference being the apples. Aaaaand … now back to my book! 😉
Can someone tell me about how many pancakes are in each serving? I know it depends on how much you pour. How many 1/4 of a cup pancakes are in each serving? Does it say somewhere?
—Reply posted by DJ on 5/28/2015
Hi Meg. It’s a bit difficult to gauge a lot of this, because it’s liquid combined with powders and an apple. Depending on the size of the apple, the way you cut it, how you measure the powders, how densely packed they are, etc. it’s going to vary. In any event, I provide the math for the whole recipe, as well as each serving, assuming you divide the recipe into 4 even portions. So, the entire recipe is about 35 net carbs. If you split the recipe in half, then the recipe will be about 17 1/2 net carbs. If you ate the whole half, then it’s 17 1/2 net carbs. However, if you split the half recipe with your husband, than you each ate just under 9 net carbs. Does this make sense?
—Reply posted by Meg on 5/28/2015
I am so sorry but I am as confused as Meagan. We cut the recipe in half and ended up with approx 3/4 of batter. It made 3 pancakes, they were absolutely amazing, but I am having a hard time figuring out the carb count for three pancakes. I’m still new to this WOE and my husband isn’t doing low carb, but he does the cooking. Did I just blow my carbs for the day? My husband feels we were within the carb range stated but I’m terrified, I know I’m a pain, but I’m a diabetic and have been sick for a while and it’s thrown my BG levels off so I decided to try this WOE and it has been helping tremendously. I want to share your recipe with a group I’m in but want to make sure that I can do you justice. Please help!!! Thank you.
—Reply posted by DJ on 1/26/2015
Hi Meagan … it “kind of” says how many are per serving but would require a little bit of addition. Basically, if you add up the ingredients for the pancake batter (including the 1 apple), it adds up to about 2 3/4 cups worth of batter. The recipe is calculated for 4 servings. So, this suggests that each serving is just over 1/3 cup of batter. You asked about 1/4 of a cup pancakes … so the answer would be “two 1/4 cup servings, plus a large silver dollar” … Something along those lines. Basically, each person gets a little more than a third of a cup of batter, plus some extra caramelized apples and walnuts. I hope this helps! 🙂
I used your recipe to make an apfelpfannkuchen. It turned out great! I did it all in an enameled cast iron Dutch oven, like a one-pot apple pancake wonder. Your omms are genius. Thanks!
—Reply posted by DJ on 2/13/2015
Gesundheit! 😉 That’s a new one for me. Sounds delicious … like a perfect winter treat … all up in the mountains, snow lazily drifting by the windows … cold feet in wool socks shuffling around the floor … Apfelpfannkuchen to the rescue! 🙂 Thanks for the new idea!
these are wonderful! I have just recently discovered oat fiber. Do you think it would work out okay if I substituted half of the coconut flour with oat fiber? It’s such an expensive ingredient I don’t want to waste it if there’s not a possibility of it working! 🙂
Thanks!
—Reply posted by DJ on 7/10/2017
Hi Jennifer, I’m honestly not sure! Coconut flour is a pretty specific ingredient and behavior. I very rarely use grains, so I don’t believe I’ve ever used oat fiber. My suspicion is … if you used 2 to 3 times as much fiber and maybe a little water or almond milk … and omitted the coconut flour, you’d get something tasty. It may not be perfect, but it’s likely to be tasty and worth the experiment. I’m not 100% certain this will work, but if I had it … I’d make a very small experiment to test the waters …
It could very work!
Hi DJ,
Can’t wait to try the recipe. Would you please share your preferred brand of maple syrup? Just curious. I try to stay away from those containing malitol.
Hi Linnylamb! I tend to teeter between Walden Farms which is zero carb, but basically a crazy concoction of chemicals and thickeners. I typically avoid Walden Farms as most of their products (that I’ve tried) are not delicious. Their pancake syrup is one that passes muster. However, when I feel like spending a few carbs, I go for Nature’s Hollow Maple Flavored Syrup. It’s far closer to nature and has a better texture, but it’s also got about 9 net carbs per serving (being a xylitol based syrup, I count about 50% of the carbs). I own both. Frankly, sometimes I even mix them …
Enjoy the pancakes! 😀