April 16, 2012

Carrot cake pancakes

Cutting into a stack of carrot cake pancakes.

Do you remember at the end of 2011 when I promised myself I'd make more pancakes in 2012? 

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I've been toying around with the idea of creating a carrot pancake that has the flavors of carrot cake. Then I decided to search the net and I realized that I'm far from the first person to ever think of doing this. There are a lot of carrot cake pancake recipes floating around out there. 

This recipe turned out pretty great. I really liked that they were packed full of carrots, too. There are more carrots than flour in this recipe, which makes me feel better about eating a stack of them for breakfast.

The topping for these pancakes are what make them extra special and really reminded me of carrot cake. So don't skimp on making the cream cheese topping - it's easy and it's delicious! This recipe will serve three to four people. 

Plate of carrot cake pancakes.

Carrot cake pancakes
1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/3 cup chopped walnuts, lightly toasted
1 large egg
1 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 tablespoons brown sugar, packed
2 cups grated carrots
butter, for cooking 

topping:
3 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature
3-4 tablespoons real maple syrup
dash of ground cinnamon

In a large bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients (flour through walnuts). In a medium bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients (egg through vanilla) and brown sugar. Stir in the carrots. Stir the wet mixture into the dry mixture until just combined. Let sit for about five minutes.

In the meantime, whisk together the cream cheese and 3 tablespoons of the maple syrup in a small saucepan until combined (there may be some chunks, but they will melt when heated). If you want it thinner and/or sweeter, add more syrup. Warm over low heat and whisk often until combined.

Heat the griddle. Lightly coat with butter and begin cooking your pancakes. Use about 1/4 cup of batter per pancake. Flip when they begin to bubble and are golden. Cook until the other side is golden. Repeat until all the batter is used.

Serve with warm topping and a dash of cinnamon.

Carrot cake pancakes on a serving plate.

28 comments:

  1. Sweet of you to not lose sight of your commitments. I try not to commit when it comes to blogging for fear something will get in the way.
    Any extra flavor as well as healthy improvement on pancakes always gets my vote! Incorporating carrots and walnuts make for a delicious blend. They do look tempting. Creative and delicious-glad I did not miss these. Have a great evening!

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  2. These sound so delicious! Carrot cake pancakes….very interesting! Thanks for visiting my blog…so glad to meet you!

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  3. Yum! I love carrot cake. I think it's so underrated. Putting all those flavors in a pancake is brilliant!

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  4. Your pancake sound delicious. I would have never thought of carrots in pancakes.

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  5. This is like sneaking dessert into breakfast. Very sneaky!

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  6. These pancaks look great. I'll have to try these. I use Smitten Kitchen for a lot of my recipes, too. She's great!

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  7. I love carrots in pancakes! These look so soft and fluffy.

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  8. Never prepared this pan cakes. .. yours look lovely.
    maha

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  9. Oh my goodness - carrot cake pancakes - what a brilliant idea. It is fun to mix it up with pancake flavors and this is a beauty.

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  10. Yum! Carrot cake in pancakes? Nothing better.

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  11. Like the idea of carrots in the pancake and the cream cheese topping...great for a Sunday brunch :)
    Thanks for the recipe Amy and hope you are having a wonderful week!

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  12. Wonderful idea! I've tried a couple of your especially the coconut pancake! I'm so gonna try this new pancake recipe of yours! Thanks for sharing! Have a nice day! :)

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    1. I'm so glad that you tried them and liked them, too! That's always so wonderful to hear. Thanks!!

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  13. As soon as I see "carrot cake" I was thinking "I am so there"
    This looks delicious!

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  14. Ooh, I saw this recipe on SK and thought it looked really good. Glad to have your endorsement too!

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  15. These are so delectable! I could eat them for dessert right now! Love the topping too.

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  16. Thanks for stopping by my blog and leaving a comment!

    I am up for anything with cream cheese & maple syrup and these pancakes look really delicious! They are on the list for a nice weekend morning soon.

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  17. If you're going to get back on the pancake-making bandwagon, then these definitely sound like the way to do it. AMAZING.

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  18. What interesting pancakes. Breakfast and dessert in one dish. (I've never had dessert after breakfast but I think it's a trend we should consider.)

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  19. I have seen carrot pancakes all over the blogs, they look tasty and dare I say.. healthy?? :)

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  20. Oh my goodness these look amazing!! This is a recipe that I really look forward to trying!

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  21. I dislike pancakes for the most part but LOVE carrot cake so I think I'd really enjoy these!

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  22. how nice! carrot pancakes! Love the idea!

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  23. I happen to love carrot cake. So I think this is an amazing idea - yum! :)

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  24. I love carrot cake so I am sure I would love these pancakes too! Perfect way to start your day!

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  25. I LOVE this idea for breakfast!!!

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  26. I definitely need carrot cake pancakes in my life! Thanks for sharing with us at Celebrate365!

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  27. Mmmmm I never thought of making carrot cake pancakes--so yummy! Thanks for sharing.

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