Apple Maple Sauce Topped Oatmeal Pancakes

Ingredients

• Apple-Maple Sauce:
• 3 apples, cored and diced
• ½ cup water
• 1 orange, juiced
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon, or more to taste
• ½ cup maple syrup
• Pancakes:
• 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
• ½ cup quick-cooking oats
• ½ cup milk
• 1 egg
• 2 tablespoons coconut oil
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 packet sucralose sugar substitute (such as Splenda®)
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon salt

Step 1

Combin the apples, water, and orange juice in a small pot. Bring it to a boil, then lower the heat to medium-low. Add the vanilla extract and cinnamon, and let everything simmer, stirring often, until the apples turn a light golden color and most of the liquid has cooked off—this should take about 20 to 25 minutes. Once the apples are nicely softened, stir in the maple syrup and keep the sauce warm over low heat.

Step 2

Meanwhile, in a bowl, mix together the flour, oats, milk, egg, coconut oil, vanilla extract, sucralose, baking powder, and salt. Stir just until everything is combined; don’t overmix.

Step 3

Heat a lightly oiled griddle or nonstick pan over medium-low heat. Spoon large dollops of the batter onto the surface, cooking until bubbles start to form on top and the edges look set, about 3 to 5 minutes. Flip the pancakes and cook for another 3 to 4 minutes, until golden brown on the other side. Keep going until you’ve used up all the batter.

Step 4

Serve the pancakes warm, piled high with the hot apple-maple sauce spooned over the top. Enjoy!