If you are a lover of carrot cake, you are going to love the pancake version! These Healthy Carrot Cake Pancakes are simple to make and have the best carrot cake flavor.
What Makes These Pancakes So Good?
Well, it is a meal made of pancakes+carrot cake. Can it really be wrong?
The flavor of these pancakes is delicious. You have the warm flavors of the spices of traditional carrot cake against the backdrop of a great pancake. It is the perfect combination.
The texture is also really great in these pancakes. They are whole wheat, but still are light and fluffy!! You are going to love this.
It is a healthy breakfast. This is a great option if you are wanting to move to more whole foods and away from refined. The whole wheat flour in this recipe makes it really good!
Ingredients
- Carrots- Fresh carrots are a must. You can either grate them or throw them in the food processor.
- Crushed pineapple- I know some people make carrot cake without the crushed pineapple, in our house that is blaspheme. It is a must in this recipe!
- Eggs- These are used for flavor, but also as a binder.
- Milk- You can use any milk you like. I have used almond milk and cow's milk. Both worked really well.
- Melted Butter- This adds flavor, but also you need the fat for the exture in this recipe.
- Whole Wheat Pastry Flour- you really can use any whole wheat flour you like, but let me recommend whole wheat pastry flour. It is a lower protein flour and gives the pancakes the best light, fluffy texture. Flours that are higher in protein will weigh the pancakes down a little bit.
- Baking Powder- You need a leavener for your pancakes to be light and fluffy. In this recipe it is baking powder.
- Salt- It only take a small amount, but don't skip it.
- Brown Sugar- I love the flavor of brown sugar in this recipe. You can also use maple syrup if you prefer, but I like brown sugar best.
- Cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger- The trio of essential spices for awesome carrot cake flavor.
- Vanilla- I don't normally add vanilla to my pancakes, but in this recipe, it works!
- Pecans- This is optional, but highly recommended!
How To Make The Recipe
Start by combing all your dry ingredients in a small bowl. Mix them well and set them aside.
Next, grate your carrot. Mix all your wet ingredients well, then add in the carrots and mix again.
Combine the dry and wet. Now, this is a vital step for light fluffy pancakes. Make sure NOT to over mix. You only want to mix until they are barely combined, a few small lumps are okay too! Just don't overdo it.
Now, heat your griddle or pan. If you are cooking on an electric griddle as I did, I set my temp to 375 degrees.
Grease your griddle generously with butter. Then drop your pancake batter on. The size of pancakes is a personal thing. I generally like our pancakes a decent size, so we use about ½ cup of batter.
Cook until it the pancakes are bubbly on the edges. Flip and cook for several minutes on the other side as well.
That is it!! See, they are really simple to make. Now, top as you like and enjoy. I can highly recommend a good amount of butter and plenty of maple syrup.
Notes
If you have never used whole wheat pastry flour, you might be wondering what the big deal is. Every whole wheat flour has different protein levels, it is the same in refined flours- think bread flour, party flour, cake flour, etc.
Each type of flour works best in certain dishes. In this recipe, I prefer the whole wheat pastry. It is a low protein flour, which makes the pancakes very tender.
As mentioned above, make sure you do not over mix. This is important with any pancake recipe, but extra important with recipes using whole wheat. The pancakes cake can get tough really quick if you aren't mindful of this.
You will want to make sure your griddle or pan is preheated before adding the batter. I like to preheat my griddle for several minutes before adding the pancake batter. If it isn't hot, the pancakes will spread and be really ugly.
These are best served right away. I mean, you can cook them and hold them in a warm oven, but they will get a little soggy. Fresh is best.
FAQ Carrot Cake Pancakes
As noted above, I really think these are best eaten fresh, but there are other options. If you are using these for meal prep, you can make these ahead of time. I like to lay them single layer on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Freeze them then remove and store them in a large ziplock bag. You can reheat in the microwave or even on a griddle once they are thawed slightly.
You can! The beauty of this recipe is you can also use all-purpose flour if you prefer. You can also use a combination of both.
Yes! I love walnuts and hazelnuts if you aren't into walnuts.
Other Breakfast Recipe Ideas
- Farro breakfast with eggs and roasted vegetables
- Cream cheese stuffed french toast
- Baked breakfast peaches
- Strawberries and cream porridge
- Homemade instapot yogurt
- Whole wheat waffles
This post is featured by Twinkl in their ‘Pancake Day 2022’ blog
Healthy carrot cake pancakes
Ingredients
- 1 ⅔ cup whole wheat pastry flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon if you really like cinnamon, add more
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg this is a variable also. If you like more, add it.
- ⅛ teaspoon dry ginger
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 1 ¼ cup milk of choice
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- ½ cup grated carrots
- ½ cup crushed pineapple
- 1 egg
- 1 tablespoon melted butter plus extra for greasing the griddle or pan
- ½ cup chopped pecans Optional, but really good!
Instructions
- Mix flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and brown sugar in a small bowl and set aside. In another larger bowl, mix milk and egg. Add to it melted butter, carrots, pineapple, and vanilla.Combine wet and dry. Don't overmix. It's easy to get tough pancakes if you do. The only mix to combine,it will be a tiny bit lumpy.Heat griddle. I had mine on 350 degrees. I realize each griddle is different. If this is too cool or hot, increase or decrease heat. Grease Heated griddle well. Drop pancakes onto the griddle. I use a portion scoop. Cook on the first side for several minutes until pancakes begin to bubble. Flip and continue to cook until pancakes are done, mine took about 3 minutes per side. This will depend on your griddle.I served mine just with maple syrup. I have also had them with ricotta sweetened with brown sugar. Buttermilk syrup is always perfect as well.Now, sit back and enjoy. You deserve it!