Caramel sauce tends to start with sugar, butter, and cream. The sauce poured over these apple pancakes uses none of the three. Full-fat coconut milk and maple syrup form the base, while tapioca starch thickens the mixture enough to pour over a stack.
Apple shows up in two other places. Applesauce goes into the pancake batter, and fresh apple slices cook with cinnamon and maple syrup before getting layered between the pancakes.
Coconut Milk Forms the Base of the Caramel Sauce
Two tablespoons of full-fat coconut milk are whisked with a quarter teaspoon of tapioca starch until no lumps remain. A tablespoon of maple syrup, vanilla, and a pinch of salt complete the mixture.
Heat it over low heat until it starts to bubble and thicken. The tapioca starch gives the sauce body, while coconut milk supplies the fat that would come from butter and cream in a standard caramel.
Applesauce Goes Straight Into the Pancake Batter
The pancakes use gluten-free flour with baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, salt, and a tablespoon of coconut palm sugar. In a second bowl, almond milk, an egg, olive oil, and two tablespoons of unsweetened applesauce form the wet mixture.
Combine the two, then cook four-inch pancakes in a nonstick pan for one to two minutes per side. The recipe makes about six to eight pancakes, enough for two stacks.
Cinnamon Apple Slices Fill the Stack
A large apple is sliced thin, then cooked in a pan with olive oil, cinnamon, and half a tablespoon of maple syrup. Add water a tablespoon at a time as the apples cook to loosen anything stuck to the pan.
After six to eight minutes, the slices soften and brown around the edges. Keep them warm while the pancakes cook rather than mixing the fresh fruit into the batter.
Pancakes and Apples Get Layered Before the Sauce Goes On
Divide the pancakes between two plates and tuck the cooked apple slices between the layers. This puts cinnamon apple through the stack instead of leaving all the fruit on top.
Pour half of the warm caramel sauce over each serving. The sauce runs across the pancakes and apples with coconut milk and maple syrup doing the work that butter, cream, and refined white sugar would handle in a classic caramel.
The whole recipe takes about 20 minutes. Three forms of apple flavor end up on the plate: applesauce in the pancakes, cinnamon-coated slices between them, and maple-coconut caramel poured across the finished stack.
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