Chocolate Apple Pancakes (Vegan, Dark Chocolate Apple Rings)

Chocolate apple pancakes are made by dipping apple rings in melted dark chocolate, leaving them to set, then coating each ring in a vegan pancake batter and frying until golden. The chocolate melts back into a soft layer between the apple and the pancake, so it's less a topping and more a filling. About 25 minutes start to finish, and roughly 660 kcal and 30g protein a serving, which I logged in Yazio Pro to check.

I make a lot of apple pancakes in autumn, but this is the one people always ask about. Most recipes stir grated apple into the batter, or caramelise the rings first the way my spiced apple pancakes do. Here the apple rings get chocolate coated and set firm before they go anywhere near the pan, which means you get a clean disc of dark chocolate running through the middle of every pancake instead of it smearing through the batter.

It's also a good one to make with kids, since the dipping and setting stage is the fun part and it can be done ahead.

• Dark chocolate dipped apple rings in a fluffy batter, no eggs and no butter
• 30g of protein a serving from a full scoop per serving in the batter
• About 25 minutes, and the chocolate coating can be done the night before
• Vegan as written, and easy to make gluten free with GF self-raising flour

Key ingredients

Apples want to be firm and sweet so the rings hold their shape in the pan. Gala, Pink Lady or Braeburn are all good, and Bramley or other cooking apples aren't, they collapse into mush. Cut the rings about 5mm thick, thinner and they cook away, thicker and the batter is golden before the apple has softened.

Dark chocolate is what makes these chocolate pancakes rather than apple pancakes with a drizzle. You need to melt about 100g to get a pool deep enough to dip both apples, but only around 60g of it ends up on the apples, the rest stays in the bowl, so that's what the nutrition below is based on. Use dairy free dark chocolate to keep them vegan, and 70% or above if you want the bitterness to balance the sweet apple.

Self-raising flour means no extra baking powder to measure, the raising agent is already in it. Swap in gluten free self-raising flour for gluten free apple pancakes, or plain flour with 2 teaspoons of baking powder.

Vanilla protein powder is a full scoop per serving here, which brings the batch to around 60g of protein, about 30g a serving. I use The Protein Works Vegan Protein 360 in Vanilla Crème, and any vanilla protein works, though a whey one will need a little less milk. Plant protein drinks up liquid, so if the batter looks thick after mixing, loosen it with a splash more until it drops off the spoon.

Almond milk and apple cider vinegar make a quick vegan buttermilk. The vinegar reacts with the raising agent in the flour, and that's what gives you a fluffy pancake with no eggs. Oat, soy or dairy milk all work the same way.

Nutrition & tracking

One serving works out at roughly 660 kcal, 30g of protein and 9g of fibre, which is half the batch, so one apple's worth of pancakes. Those are estimates worked out from the ingredients rather than label-confirmed figures, and they'll shift with your protein powder and how much of the melted chocolate actually sticks to the apples.

How I work out the numbers

If you want the exact figures for your own version, rather than mine, this is the bit where an app earns its keep. Swap the protein powder, use milk chocolate, make it with a bigger apple, and the numbers move. Yazio Pro is what I use to check mine.

The Voice Tracker Tool is the reason I've actually kept it up. You say what you ate out loud, like "two chocolate apple pancakes with dark chocolate", and it logs it for you to check, so it takes seconds rather than hunting through a database mid-breakfast. For a recipe like this one, where the chocolate is the variable, that's the difference between logging it and guessing.

Like any tracker the numbers are estimates, so treat them as a guide rather than gospel. If you want to try it, Yazio Pro is 60% off here.

A coaching note

Keep the pan on a medium heat, and resist turning it up. The chocolate is already set when the ring goes into the batter, and a hot pan scorches it before the pancake is cooked through, which turns the whole thing bitter. Medium heat and a little patience gives you a golden pancake and chocolate that's just melted.

Worth being honest about the nutrition too: a full scoop of protein per serving puts these at around 30g a serving, which is a proper amount for a sweet breakfast without pretending this is anything other than a treat. The apple and the dark chocolate between them bring about 9g of fibre a serving, and that combination of protein and fibre is what stops a pancake breakfast leaving you hungry an hour later.

Don't waste the chocolate left in the bowl either. Spoon it over the cooked pancakes, or dip a few extra apple slices and keep them in the fridge for later.

If you'd rather have the apples caramelised than chocolate coated, my Spiced Apple Pancakes are the version to make, and for another fruit and dark chocolate pairing there's my One-Pot Strawberry & Dark Chocolate Pancakes. There are plenty more in my high protein recipes collection.

Alex :)