To be more honest -it’s really about eating a hot, crisp sugary treat with a mug of apple cider on a crisp fall day when you’re traipsing about leaf-peeping.

If you do want that flavor, you should use your apple syrup at the end and then roll in sugar/xylitol, otherwise it will most always get overwhelmed by the tang of the buttermilk (also key to the rising/texture). Besides that, the usespices generally associated with apples (cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, etc) go a long way as well -ie, mock apple pie)