They say that you should dress for the job you want. Well, today I'm cooking for the season I want. I think most of us could all use a little more warm weather and sunshine. Come on spring, hurry up! Despite the slow crawl it seems to be moving at, I found myself inspired to make breakfast a bit more 'springesque'. And so, I made carrot cake pancakes.
I love carrot cake. So combining it with breakfast feels like a big win to me. These carrot cake pancakes are fluffy and soft. I drizzled the them in the dreamiest cream cheese glaze. And a bit of pure maple syrup and edible petals took them to the next level.
Cream Cheese Glaze
I recommend making the glaze before starting on the pancakes. It's really quite easy. Cream the room temperature butter and cream cheese together with a mixer until they are light and fluffy. Next, blend in the milk and vanilla and beat until it is completely smooth. Finally, mix in the icing sugar and blend until the glaze is smooth once again. Store any unused glaze covered in the fridge up to a few days.
Important Note
A crucial part of making carrot cake pancakes is that the carrots have to be grated quite finely. They will only be cooked for a short amount of time, so the carrot bits have to be small enough to actually cook through.
It's best to do this with a fine grater by hand. If you don't feel like putting in that effort first thing in the morning, you could prep them the evening before.
How to make carrot cake pancakes
Preheat your griddle (or a large, non-stick skillet) to medium heat (375°), shred the carrots, and chop the walnuts before progressing to the following steps. If you use a skillet instead of a griddle, preheat it shortly before cooking pancakes.
Use either of these:
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Mixing
Let's start by combining all of the dry ingredients in a medium bowl: flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and brown sugar. Mix them together until they are well blended; then set them aside.
In a large bowl, add and mix together the buttermilk, vanilla, egg, and vegetable oil. Then mix in your prepared grated carrots and chopped walnut pieces.
Next, stir in the dry ingredients. It is very important that you don't over mix at this point. Doing so would ruin the delicate texture of the pancakes.
Only stir until the dry ingredients are just incorporated. It would be better to have a few bits of dry flour than to over mix the batter.
Cooking
Grease your preheated griddle or skillet with a bit of butter. Using a one-third cup scoop, pour the batter onto the griddle. Use the bottom of the scoop to flatten out the batter into about a five-inch circle, and shape the edges to give it a nice, clean, circular shape. Leave ample space in between pancakes in the pan.
Let them cook for a few minutes until you notice tiny bubbles starting to come through the center and burst, and the edges and bottom will turn a golden brown.
If you are using a griddle with a temperature set at 375° you will be fine. However, if you are using a skillet on a stove top you may have to adjust the heat. If your pancakes are becoming dark before the bubbles form you should reduce the heat. If you are getting bubbles but not achieving a darker colour, decrease the heat.
Flip the pancakes and let the other side cook for another three to four minutes. The middle should be nice and fluffy. Remove the finished pancakes and re-grease before continuing with the remaining batter.
Plating
To plate the carrot cake pancakes, make a little stack of two per plate. Drizzle them with a generous amount of cream cheese glaze, some pure maple syrup, and garnish with some edible petals to make them even more extra. If you love nuts you can sprinkle more of those on top too.
I had to get a close up shot of the inside of these pancakes to show you how amazing they are. So tender and perfectly spiced throughout.
I used these:
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Do these pancakes have you in the mood for more carrot cake? Try my Carrot Cake Cupcakes! They are one of my favourite cupcakes that I make often. And you can make them with or without the adorable strawberry "carrots" on top.
Carrot Cake Pancakes with Cream Cheese Glaze
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings (2 pancakes per serving) 1x
- Category: Breakfast
- Cuisine: American
Description
These fluffy carrot cake pancakes make the perfect spring or Easter breakfast. And they are drizzled with the dreamiest cream cheese glaze.
Ingredients
Cream Cheese Glaze:
4 ounces (113 g) cream cheese, room temperature
2 tbsp (28 g) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 tbsp milk
½ tsp pure vanilla extract
¾ cup (96 g) icing sugar
Carrot Cake Pancakes:
1 ¼ cups (187 g) all purpose flour
1 ½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
⅓ cup (70 g) brown sugar, lightly packed
1 tsp cinnamon
⅛ tsp nutmeg
⅛ tsp ground ginger
1 ¼ cup (296 ml) buttermilk
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 large egg
2 tbsp vegetable oil
2 cups (180 g) carrots, finely grated *
¼ cup (37.5 g) chopped walnuts
Optional Additional Toppings:
maple syrup
edible petals
walnut pieces
Instructions
Cream Cheese Glaze:
Using a mixer, cream the cream cheese and butter together until light and fluffy. Add in the milk and vanilla, and beat until completely smooth. Add the icing sugar and continue mixing until smooth once again.
Carrot Cake Pancakes:
Preheat griddle to medium heat (375°). You can use a large, non-stick skillet instead. If you do, preheat it shortly before cooking pancakes.
In a medium bowl, mix together dry ingredients: flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and brown sugar. Set aside.
In a large bowl, stir together buttermilk, vanilla, egg, and vegetable oil. Next, mix in the carrots and walnuts.
Mix in the dry ingredients. Be very careful not to over mix. This would ruin the texture of the pancakes. Stir until dry ingredients are just incorporated.
Grease the preheated griddle or skillet with a bit of butter. Using a ⅓ cup scoop, pour the batter onto the griddle. Use the bottom of the scoop to flatten the batter and shape it into about 5" diameter circles. Don't crowd them in the pan - leave ample room between them. Let the pancakes cook for about 3-4 minutes. Watch for tiny bubbles to form in the middle. When the bubbles begin to burst and the edges and bottom of the pancake are a golden brown, it is time to flip it. Cook the other side for another 3-4 minutes. Re-grease the griddle with more butter before continuing with the remaining batter.
Drizzle pancakes with cream cheese glaze and maple syrup. You can optionally top them with edible petals or additional walnut pieces.
Notes
* Because pancakes have a relatively short cook time, carrots must be quite finely grated in order for them to cook fast enough. It's best to do this with a fine grater by hand. If you know you won't feel like doing this in the morning before breakfast, you could always prep the carrots the evening before.
Keywords: carrot cake panakes
Would give this recipe ten stars if I could. I love, love, love these and the cream cheese glaze could not be
a better fit. Mouthwatering to the max.
Awesome, thank you so much 😀 I love these pancakes too
Great recipe. Thanks!
Thanks Christie!
CRAVEtastic!!!
Thank you <3
Most delicious pancakes I ever made.
Thank you so much ❤️
Delightful. Cannot get enough.
Thanks!
I had been craving carrot cake. These pancakes are the next best thing. Delicious and easy to make.
Thanks so much 🙂
These are so good. I thought I died and went to heaven. Seriously. I want these every weekend.Thank you. Thank you for this recipe. (Can you tell I love carrot cake lol.)
I'm with you on that! 🙂 Thanks for the kind words
These pancakes are so good especially with the glaze. Love them.
Thanks so much 🙂
Oh wow. I was craving carrot cake then came across this recipe.
Heavenly.
Thanks so much. Happy to cure your craving 🙂
Carrot cake being one of my favorite things - I had to try this recipe.
Definitely a keeper.
My boyfriend and I made these pancakes for breakfast. We both loved them.
Thank you, that's great! Glad you enjoyed them