Saute the apples: Pour the water into a medium skillet and add the diced apples, brown sugar, maple syrup, cinnamon, and vanilla extract. Stir to combine.

Bring to a simmer and reduce heat to low. Simmer, stirring from time to time, until apples have reached desired tenderness, 20 to 30 minutes.

Make the syrup: Stir together the sugar and water to dissolve the sugar, then add the star anise, cinnamon stick, and orange slices.

Bring to a boil for 30 seconds, then turn off the heat. Let cool to room temperature (the syrup will thicken). Strain out the spices and orange peel before serving. Store in an air-tight container in the refrigerator.

Make the pancakes: Mix the dry ingredients together. Add about a cup of buttermilk, the egg, and then the oil or butter (if you melted the butter, make sure to add the buttermilk first, so it doesn't cook the egg!).

Gently stir the ingredients together, almost folding the dry ingredients on the bottom into the wet ingredients.  Add enough additional buttermilk until it’s the right consistency---you want it to pour/fall off the spoon easily enough but not be runny.

Heat a griddle or pan (cast iron griddles are awesome, and I've used stainless steel as well) to medium heat, add a bit of oil or butter, and cook the pancakes for a couple minutes on each side (flip when bubbles start to form in the batter). 

Serve fresh, topped with the sauteed apples and drizzled with the orange star anise syrup. I added a dollop of greek yogurt, but you could make an orange zest whipped cream and use that---it would be delicious!