Name: Carrot Cake Pancakes
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 15 min
Ingredients: ½ cup apple (grated); ½ cup carrot (grated); 1 tsp vanilla; 1 cup buttermilk; 1 large egg; 1 Tbsp vegetable oil; 1 ⅓ cup all-purpose flour; 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice; ½ tsp baking soda; 1 tsp baking powder; ½ tsp kosher salt

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We’re all hanging out at home (or we should be… unless you’re providing a necessary service, in which case, thank you so much for keeping our country running) and that means getting a little bit creative with recipes. That reminded me of this recipe I developed a few years ago for Carrot Cake Pancakes.

At the time, it was just a matter of needing to satiate my sweet tooth without going out for groceries. Using the remnants of what was in my pantry, I made a small batch of carrot cake pancakes. They turned out surprisingly healthy because I used egg whites and left out the sugar.

Peter Rabbit's Easter Breakfast: Carrot Cake Pancakes

How Did I Even Come Up with Carrot Cake Pancakes?

So, one morning, after standing with the fridge door open for too long, I pulled out a sad-looking apple that has been in my fridge for longer than a week, the last few baby carrots, and greek yogurt. I chopped the apple into very small pieces and grated the carrots.

A trip to the pantry gave me the idea to make carrot cake oatmeal… but another trip to the fridge reminded me how badly I wanted cake. I had a dozen beautiful red velvet cupcakes in there. Enter the flour and leavening agents.

Without those and the buttermilk, I had the ingredients for proats (Protein Oats… in other words, oatmeal made with egg whites to increase the protein value).

So, then, basically following my dad’s kind-of-secret recipe for pancakes, I ended up with a small batch of these gorgeous cakes.

Dig into a short stack of carrot cake pancakes!

Revising the Original Recipe

Upon reflection, though, these pancakes could use a little revision for those not on a diet. I originally dumped in oats, chia seeds, left out the sugar, and swapped the egg for egg white. It turned out just fine, delicious even.

However, I think for these to stand up to the scrutiny of my toddler and her father these days, I need to add back just a little sweetness, leave out the seeds, and use a whole egg.

So, these pancakes do not need sugar, but if you leave it out, I recommend serving them with maple syrup. If you’re fine with the flavor as is, spoon some greek yogurt on top and dig in! That’s certainly the healthiest way.

And, this time, I also had to leave out the oats. Originally, there was a 1/3 cup of quick oats for extra fiber and protein. In my pantry, now, there are only old fashioned oats. Since we’ve been asked by the governor to stay home until further notice, there’s no running to the store.

Basically, the revision of this recipe was to update a recipe that had used ingredients present in my sparse fridge back then to a recipe using the ingredients in my sparse fridge now.

So, that’s why I’m leaving the buttermilk in the recipe. If you have it, use it. I, however, did not have any. That’s why I want to talk about substitutions.

Buttermilk Substitutions

So, if you’re without buttermilk, here’s what you do. Take a glass measuring cup. Add in 1 Tablespoon of apple cider vinegar, white vinegar, or lemon juice (whatever you have on hand). Then pour in enough milk of your choice to get to the 3/4 mark. Let it sit for 5 minutes.

I’ve done this with almond milk, soy milk, and every kind of cow’s milk. It works every time. This is nice because if you’re dairy-free, you don’t have to worry about how to get that tangy buttermilk flavor.

The Secret to Cooking Pancakes

Have you ever made pancakes and wondered how you were ever supposed to know when to flip? Well, there’s a little secret to cooking pancakes perfectly.

First off, preheat your griddle to 375ºF. You may have a little light on the temperature knob that turns on or off when the temperature is right. However, I have found that the best way to test if it’s hot enough is to splatter a little water. If it immediately sizzles and dries up, you’re ready.

Then you will spoon out the portions for each cake quickly and efficiently. Take note of which pancake went down first. That will be the first you want to flip.

Watch the surface of the batter. Bubbles will rise and pop and then fill back in with the batter. You’ll start to see the edges go from glossy to matte. Then, the bubbles will pop but not fill back in with more batter. At this point, you should flip.

The crust should be a nice golden brown. If it’s darker, your temperature is too high, and it can be turned down for the next batch. At this point, let the pancakes finish cooking on their second side for 2 to 3 minutes.

Sneak some fruits and veggies into you kids' breakfast with these carrot cake pancakes.

Why are Carrot Cake Pancakes So Good?

These are dense, yet cakey. The carrot and apple are present but don’t distract from the expected pancake texture. There is a nice, natural flavor in these that you don’t even miss the sugary sweetness of real carrot cake.

This ended up making 8 pancakes for me. We found that 2 pancakes were more than enough to fill us up. Our toddler, who can pack away some pancakes, only ate one. I found that I was hoping she’d eat more just to say she’d had fruits and veggies.

While we’re trying to cut our portion sizes down, nutritious food that will fill us up on less is key. So, on top of being yummy, nutritious, and filling, the recipe is easy to multiply for meal prep.

Carrot Cake Pancakes for Meal Prep

These are just great to freeze. To reheat, microwave for 20 seconds to get the chill off, and then pop them in the toaster for a bit. This gives the crust a bit of crunch. And I prefer that to the wrinkly-skinned texture of just microwave reheating.

So, if you feel like using this recipe to make up some meal prep for the week, you’ll want to multiply the recipe for a bigger batch. Feel free to message me if you need help with that.

What About Easter?

Well, if you’re like me, you’re probably wondering how long we need to be self-distancing. You may be starting to think about how your family will do Easter at home. Well, I do have a nice recipe for a Carrot Cake.

However, I imagine that you may not have enough time to put a nice layered cake together with your kids out of school and the inability to ask someone to come over and help.

What I suggest is this: start the morning out with Carrot Cake Pancakes. Have the kids help you with measuring out the ingredients (a lesson in fractions) and stirring things together (a lesson in chemistry).

While that’s going on, the Easter Bunny gets a little extra time to go hide some eggs. After your nice breakfast, let the kids hunt eggs while you sip coffee.

Do Not Stress Yourself Out

Take it easy on yourself for dinner. It seems like a common tradition to have “dinner” around noon. Calm down, y’all. Don’t set yourselves up to stress on a holiday. If you have to make egg salad sandwiches for lunch so that you can have dinner at a normal hour, do that!

Just remember, fellow parents. Right now, our kids may not totally realize how nuts things are. So, the memories you’re making have an opportunity to be extra special if you loosen up on traditions and just BE with your family.

Truly, these pancakes are not hard to make, but they do taste amazing. Your kids will love them. You’ll get a little bit of traditional carrot cake for Easter. But most importantly, you can save yourself the time of making an elaborate dessert so you can enjoy the day with your kids.

So, I hope you’re all doing alright at home now. If you need someone to talk to, if you need to vent to a stranger about how much things suck, or if you have any questions about my blog, send me a message. You can make friends in the comments section, too!

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