It has been a tradition, for as long as I remember, that I have carrot cake for my birthday. I’ve never easily been swayed one way or another towards vanilla or chocolate, though I will take vanilla ice cream and chocolate chip cookies without argument. Carrot cake- practically a vegetable- has the perfect combination of textures, sweet cream cheese frosting, and nutty sprinkle (if you’re doing it right) to make my taste buds dance.
What better way to celebrate my favorite vegetable, and my favorite vegetable cake, than to put it into a sweet breakfast pancake?
I can’t be bothered to make a cake these days- as that is far too dangerous of an item to hang out around my place. But pancakes? Totally different story. I love making pancakes on weekend mornings, giving me time to shake off my drowsiness while I set up the stovetop espresso machine (it’s Stumptown coffee… so good).
These carrot cake pancakes are perfectly fluffy, carrot-packed, and lightly sweetened. I hope you give these a try: carrots for breakfast are pretty nutritious.
- 1 cup flour
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- Pinch of salt
- 1 egg
- ¾ cup milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ cup finely shredded carrot
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- Optional: pecans or walnuts, cream cheese, maple syrup
- In a bowl, combine dry ingredients.
- In a 1-cup measuring cup, whisk an egg and add ¾ cup of milk on top. Add it to the dry ingredients, along with the vanilla, shredded carrot, and cinnamon. Mix well and let the batter sit for 5 minutes while your pan preheats on a medium-low flame on the stove.
- Measure a little under ¼ cup of batter out per pancake to get 3-4 small pancakes per person. Cook the pancakes on a lightly greased pan on medium-low for about 90 seconds before flipping and cooking for another 1-2 minutes. You may have to adjust the heat and time depending on your stove.
- Separate the stack onto two plates, smearing a bit of cream cheese between each pancake if you'd like.
- Top with pecans or walnuts and a drizzle of maple syrup, as the pancakes themselves are just barely sweet.
Enjoy! And if you’re a carrot cake lover, be sure to check out my Spiced Carrot Steel-Cut Oatmeal as well.
Marisa
Heather @ Sweet Precision says
I love the idea of a healthy carrot cake makeover in the form of pancakes! An entire cake sitting around my apartment would be a dangerous thing as well 😉
Marisa says
Yes, too dangerous! These pancakes are perfectly indulgent without putting you on a sugar overload.
Jessi Even says
So you’re telling me I could make these with almond flour, almond milk and cut out the sugar…. ? :):)
Marisa says
Absolutely! I used unsweetened soy milk for this recipe so I think it would work just the same. They may cook differently so try playing around. I think you probably want a bit of sweetener if you can do honey or something similar- otherwise they’re almost savory carrot pancakes.
Erin @ The Almond Eater says
Oh my goodness these look and sound delicious!! Carrot cake has become a recent favorite of mine. I mean, I didddd have a carrot cake Luna bar today…. 😉 Totally the same thing.
Marisa says
Thanks Erin! This was my first time trying to make the pancakes turn out pretty for the blog. I got lucky after my first ugly batch! I love those carrot cake Luna bars! Such a good portable snack with great flavor.
Leigha @ Minougirl says
Oh man, these look SO yummy!! I LOVE carrot cake, but I haven’t tried them in pancake form yet! Also – when did you redo your blog?! I love it!! I’ve been thinking about getting the foodie theme for a while now! How do you like it? It looks great! 🙂
Marisa says
Hi Leigha! I’m glad to hear you’re a fan of the flavors of carrot cake too! I have been on the theme since January- unfortunately I have also seen MANY blogs on the theme since, so I might not have switched had I known it was as popular as it is.
Lauren @ Me and the Mountains says
I’m going to do the lazy version on this recipe and used FlapJacked mix. And YUM- these look SO SO SO good!!!
Maybe I’m late to the party- but your blog looks GORGEOUS!! I love the layout and design… everything!!
Marisa says
I bet they will still turn out awesome! Let me know what proportions you use so I can try out the higher protein version 🙂 Thanks for the compliments- it was fun to switch over and I love playing around with all the side widgets now!
Marian says
I also try to have carrot cake for each birthday! I am going to try these pancakes as my birthday is coming up soon! Also originally from Oregon!