My whole family loves pancakes (who doesn’t?!) and could eat them every day – especially if yummy toppings and sauces are involved. As our weekdays are kind of hectic I only make pancakes on very special slow & lazy weekend mornings. One special pancake Sunday is soon here: we celebrate Father’s Day in Finland next Sunday. I can’t think of a better way to celebrate than with a stack of warm Caramel Apple Pancakes with a festive sticky caramel & nut crumble covered apple on top.
The secret to this simple pancake recipe is leftovers! If you have leftover porridge and some cooked pumpkin (or sweet potato) you already have the vital ingredients to make these yummy treats. I actually created this recipe over a year ago and after that I’ve never had any problems using up leftover porridge. In my original recipe I used a creamy quinoa-oatmeal but any kind of porridge will do. And if you don’t have either pumpkin or sweet potato, a ripe banana will work too. All tested and approved by a demanding audience (the Berry family 🙂 ).
Not only is the recipe an old one, also these photos have lingered in my archives for a year. I posted similar photos on Instagram a year ago but saved these better ones for my blog. I’m still very proud of these photos as they reveal my food photography journey, how my (ever evolving) style has changed in one year and what I’ve learned technique wise. I’ve practiced photography A LOT, at least 3-4 times a week. Lately I’ve been playing with light: creating more shadows and capturing the “perfect” light which highlights only a small part of the food.
I’m only at the beginning of my food photography and food blogging journey as there is so much to learn. I’m also very eager to do so when we establish some kind of a rhythm in our baby bubble. When my son was a baby I dedicated almost all his naptimes to either creative vegan cooking, Instagram (iPhone snaps) and/or studies (I’m a IIN health coach 🙂 ). Now when my newborn baby girl has been napping I’ve been mostly resting, but I can’t wait to get back to CREATING as it gives me such an amazing powerful feeling. I definitely feel more in tune with myself when I’m creating; I’m happier, more relaxed and all in all a nicer person when I have a moment alone with my food, camera and Lightroom 😉
If you want to read more about food photography, my friend Janine from nutsandblueberries.com wrote a lovely post on the subject.
And if you have a lot of leftover pumpkin, here’s my friend Lynn’s recipe for yummy Healthy Pumpkin Muffins.
But now, let’s hop on over to the star of the post – PANCAKES 🙂 If you make these and post them on Instagram, don’t forget to tag #myberryforest so I can see your wonderful creations!
- Caramel Apple Pancakes
- Wet ingredients
- ⅓ cup leftover oatmeal / porridge (I used a creamy quinoa-oatmeal)
- ⅓ cup pumpkin or sweet potato puree (a small ripe mashed banana will do also)
- ⅓ cup apple sauce / apple pumpkin butter (you can use any kind of apple sauce, but homemade is always best - here's a good recipe 🙂 )
- ⅓ cup (or more if needed) plant-based milk (I use almond milk or oat milk)
- 1-3 tbsp maple syrup (depending on how sweet the apple sauce is)
- + 2 tbsp chia seeds
- Dry ingredients
- ½ cup oat flour (or other gluten-free flour of choice)
- ½ tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp Ceylon cinnamon
- ½ tsp ground cardamom
- ½ tsp turmeric powder
- ¼ tsp vanilla bean powder
- ¼ tsp nutmeg
- pinch of salt
- + 1-2 tbsp coconut oil for the pan
- Caramel Apple
- 2-4 apples
- Caramel sauce
- 5 pitted dates
- 2 tbsp apple sauce
- 2 tbsp plant-based milk
- ¼ tsp Ceylon cinnamon
- pinch of salt
- Nut crumble
- ⅓ cup chopped nuts (e.g.pecans, cashews)
- Caramel apple pancakes: mix all wet ingredients + chia seeds and let set for about 5 minutes (while you mix the dry ingredients).
- Whisk all dry ingredients in a separate bowl.
- Combine dry ingredients to wet ingredients little by little and mix gently. There might be a few lumps in the batter, no need to be completely smooth. Add more plant milk if batter looks too thick/dry. Let the batter rest for a few minutes while you warm up the pan.
- Warm ~1 tsp coconut oil in a pan (medium heat).
- Scoop three - four equal size big spoonfuls of batter onto the pan and cook for about 3 minutes until the edges become dry.
- Flip pancakes and cook for another 2 minutes (reduce heat if necessary).
- Repeat the process until batter is finished. Remember to add coconut oil before each round.
- Caramel sauce: mix all caramel sauce ingredients in a food processor / blender until smooth.
- Nut crumble: toast chopped nuts in a dry pan for a few minutes until golden brown. Be careful not to burn the nuts. Spread toasted nuts evenly on a large plate.
- Caramel apples: spread caramel sauce onto the apples and roll the apples in the nut crumble.
- Serve warm pancakes stacked with a caramel apple on top 🙂
Forget maple syrup, a cute little caramel covered apple has to be the best pancake topping I’ve ever seen! Mmm I love caramel apples and I love pancakes and i love that everything is so spiced and fruity–this sounds like the best breakfast. That is very clever to use leftover porridge in the pancakes, I’ve never seen that before. And you know I love your photography! Lighting–the ever tricky and changing challenger. But it is so much fun to experiment with, that’s one of my favorite parts of the whole creation process 🙂
Thank you sooo much Nathalie for your lovely comment 🙂 This really is one of the best brekkies we’ve had, it is o fruity and the caramel makes it super sweet. I do know you love date caramel too! Hmm there are probably a zillion versions of date caramel 🙂 I’d love to taste them all hehe. Hope you’ve been well! I really need to take some time to visit your amazing creations on your blog SOON 🙂 HUGS <3
These sound delicious and your photography is just brilliant! Thanks for sharing 🙂
Kathryn | nimblenote.blogspot.com
Thank you so much for your comment! Wishing you a happy new year 🙂