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These Apple Chai Pancakes combine two of my favorite fall flavors: apples and chai! They’re hearty, filling and a fun twist on classic pancakes. Easily made gluten-free if desired!

Are you sick of peach recipes yet? Honestly I wish peaches were in season all year round because I cannot get enough! What do I love more than peaches though? Fall. I am so inspired by fall cooking and baking. I don’t know if it’s the fresh produce I prefer or the cooler temps but I am here. for. it. 

Pancakes might be my favorite breakfast food so naturally I needed to create a recipe that involved two of my favorite flavors: chai and apples. These pancakes are hearty, slightly sweet, earthy (in a good way!)… basically fall in a recipe. 

Here’s What You Need:

  • Apple – any kind works!
  • Oat flour – you can make your own by grinding up oats. 
  • Coconut flour
  • Applesauce – make sure you grab unsweetened!
  • Chai tea – a tea bag or loose leaf tea bags both work. 
  • Egg whites
  • Vanilla extract
  • Baking powder and baking soda
  • Spices – cinnamon, ginger, cardamom and salt.

How to Make Apple Chai Pancakes

These apple chai pancakes are super easy to make! Ditch the pre-made stuff and try this fall-flavored version of pancakes instead.

STEP 1: Make your chai tea by boiling water and steeping the tea for at least 10 minutes. 

STEP 2: Add 1/2 tbsp coconut oil to a skillet over medium heat. Add chopped apple and cook for 2-3 minutes or until softened and lightly browned.

STEP 3: Combine flour, baking powder and spices and mix well. Set dry ingredient mixture aside. In a separate bowl, mix the wet ingredients – the applesauce, chai tea and egg whites. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir until well combined. Stir in the softened apples.

STEP 4: Spray a pan or pancake griddle with coconut oil and heat to medium heat. Add your pancake batter and cook for about 3 minutes on one side and 1.5 minutes on the other. You know your pancakes are ready to be flipped when all the bubbles have popped at the outer rim is golden brown. Top with maple syrup, nut butter and/or more apple slices!

How to Cook Perfect Pancakes

I have four main tips to perfect pancakes. The common thread through these tips is patience!

  1. Preheat the griddle. If you start with a griddle that isn’t hot enough it will mess up your cooking time so be patient and wait for your griddle to be hot.
  2. Use oil to grease the pan. No one wants to scrape their pancakes off the pan!
  3. Be patient but attentive when cooking side one. Bubbles will start to form on the top of the batter. When the bubbles pop and the edges are browning and/or look cooked, your pancakes are ready to flip! 

Cook your pancakes about half as long on side two. Cook your pancakes longer on side one for a more seamless flip. If your pancakes aren’t cooked enough, you’ll end up with a doughy, messy flip. Side two only needs half as long! The end result will be fluffy, delicious pancakes.

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Apple Chai Pancakes

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These Apple Chai Pancakes combine two of my favorite fall flavors: apples and chai! They’re hearty, filling and a fun twist on classic pancakes. Easily made gluten-free if desired!

  • Author: Davida Lederle
  • Prep Time: 5 mins
  • Cook Time: 20 minutes
  • Total Time: 25 minutes
  • Yield: 6-8 pancakes 1x
  • Category: Breakfast
  • Method: Cook
  • Cuisine: American

Ingredients

Scale
  • 1 cup chopped apple (any kind)
  • 1/2 tbsp coconut oil + more for greasing
  • 1 cup white flour (or gluten-free flour)
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/4 tsp ginger
  • 1/4 tsp cardamom
  • pinch of salt
  • 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
  • 3/4 cup of chai tea (1 cup of water with TWO chai tea bags or loose-leaf tea)
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 large egg

Instructions

  1. Boil water and steep tea for at least 10 minutes.
  2. Add 1/2 tbsp coconut oil to a skillet over medium heat. Add chopped apple and cook for 2-3 minutes or until softened and lightly browned.
  3. Combine dry ingredients and mix well.
  4. Add wet ingredients to dry and stir until well combined.
  5. Stir in apple.
  6. If batter is too thick, add in a bit more tea or non-dairy milk.
  7. Add a tsp of coconut oil to your skillet. Add a 1/4 cup of batter to skillet per pancake.
  8. Over medium heat cook pancakes for about 3 minutes on one side and about 1 min on the other side. Pancakes will be ready to be flipped once all bubbles have popped and the outer rim looks cooked.
  9. Top with maple syrup, nut butter, extra apple or preserves. Or a combination of all three!

Like these apple chai pancakes? Here are some other apple recipes you might enjoy:

Meet the Maven

Hi! I'm Davida and welcome to my corner of the internet. I'm a wellness blogger, yoga teacher, certified herbalist, and green beauty lover.

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72 Comments

  1. I still haven’t mastered the art of the pancake flip let alone the art of the pancake pour. Mine always turn out oblong and weird, but still delish 😉 Luckily my main pancake man, my brother, doesn’t care what shape their in as long as they’re still pancakes! I think the idea of using tea in recipes is so cool, I have to do that sometime soon.

    1. Trust me, the shape does not matter to me because it all ends up in the same place anyway. Stupid blog getting in the way of my pancakes eating. I’m shutting this thing down just so I can eat my pancakes in peace! Jusssst kidding. I love you more than pancakes. Yeah, I said it!

  2. I haven’t mastered the our-and-shoot picture either haha! I’ve heard that you should really invest in a tripod for that one ;).

    These look fantastic!

    1. I have a tripod and it’s still impossible for me! I think I need a remote, but I seriously need to stop spending money on camera gear!

      Thanks so much C 🙂

  3. Breakfast is definitely the best meal of the day… which is usually why I eat it more than once a day, haha! These look super yummy. And now I want pancakes. Drowned in maple syrup (Canadian, of course). And chai. And green apples.

    …I might have a problem.

    1. That problem can easily be solved with a hop, skip and jump across the border…just sayin’ 😉

  4. These look amazing! I’m a pretty good pancake flipper, but it’s really hard to wait until they’re ready. The temptation to go quickly is so strong!

  5. Lol…I cannot flip pancakes. My pancakes turn into a “pancake scramble” once I’m done, and they are usually a bit burnt.
    (I’m not the best chef out there hahah)

    1. You don’t even want to know what my eggs look like. Unless we’re talking about scrambled….there’s a reason I don’t post many egg recipes haha

  6. I can see why these pancakes would be so hard to photograph— I would probably inhale them before whipping out the camera 😉 I mean, making pancakes takes long enough, so waiting to take a picture of them just prolongs the time! I totally appreciate you waiting all that time to get us some gorgeous, drool-worthy pictures.

    1. Hahaha thanks girl! It was kind of torturous and I may or may not have been eating one on the side with my hands…no shame.

  7. These look SO good. I absolutely love pancakes and actually eat one every morning but I can’t photograph them for the life of me!

    1. I’ve decided the only thing worse to photograph are smoothies! Thankfully it’s too cold here for me to worry about that problem right now!

  8. I think I’m a decent pancake flipper. I mean, I’m sure there’s some people out there who are better than me at it, but my skills are acceptable. I’m actually making pancakes for dinner tonight 😉 Not apple chai though, now I kind of wish I had apples…or chai tea…

    1. I’ll take acceptable. Want to move in with me and C and be our in-house pancake flipper??

  9. The flipping part is the reason why I gave up eating pancakes after I moved out from home — too stressful! Well, that and I’ve found that making pancakes for breakfast just takes too much effort. I do love ’em for dinner, though 😀