Carrot Cake Pancakes

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Carrot cake pancakes are light and fluffy and bring the taste of carrot cake to your breakfast or brunch table. These pancakes are made with staple ingredients that you probably already have in your pantry, plus shredded carrots, coconut, and walnuts. It’s pretty much like having carrot cake for breakfast – can’t beat that!

This carrot cake pancake recipe is moist and soft, just like cake, but it’s made with no butter and no refined sugar. I use plant-based milk, maple syrup, and oil to make the batter. Now you can have your favorite dessert for breakfast!

These pancakes are SO delicious! I will definitely be making them again!! – Wendy Michael

Recipe at a Glance

Cuisine Inspiration: American
Primary Cooking Method: Stovetop
Dietary Info: Vegan
Key Flavor: Sweet
Skill Level: Easy

Summary

• Nutrient-Rich: The carrots, coconut, and walnuts add vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, fiber, and healthy fat to these pancakes. 
• Convenient: These carrot cake pancakes take less than 20 minutes from start to finish, making them a quick, easy, and convenient breakfast any day of the week. 
• Customizable: Like all pancakes, you can customize this recipe with mix-ins like strawberries or chocolate chips to change things up easily. 
• Family-Friendly: These pancakes are naturally sweet and taste almost like dessert for breakfast, making them loved by kids and adults alike.
• Meal Prepping Made Easy: Pancakes freeze very well, making them an excellent breakfast to make ahead of time and prepare when needed. 

Ingredients for Carrot Cake Pancakes

• All-Purpose Flour: As in many batters and doughs, all-purpose flour is the dry base for these pancakes. 
• Baking Powder: Baking powder is a leavening agent that helps your pancakes get light and fluffy. 
• Cinnamon: Cinnamon has a sweet, woody flavor that perfectly compliments the carrot in these pancakes. It also contains antioxidants and has been linked to a variety of health benefits. 
• Sea Salt: A pinch of sea salt helps bring out the other flavors of the pancakes. 
• Oat Milk: Oat milk gives the carrot cake pancake batter its classic, pourable pancake consistency and adds protein, fiber, and calcium. 
• Maple Syrup: Maple syrup adds sweetness without any refined sugar.
• Grapeseed Oil: Grapeseed takes the place of butter in these pancakes, making them vegan and replacing the saturated fat of butter with poly and monounsaturated fats. 
• Vanilla: Vanilla is a classic flavor addition to pancakes, adding an even more natural sweet taste and an aroma that pairs well with the other ingredients found in this recipe. 
• Shredded Carrots and Coconut: Shredded carrots and coconut both add natural sweetness to the pancakes and work together to create a classic carrot cake flavor. 
•  Walnuts: Walnuts are a classic carrot cake ingredient, and they bring their signature crunch and earthy flavor to these pancakes, along with healthy fat, fiber, and protein.   

Popular Substitutions and Additions

• Add whole wheat flour: Use a mixture of whole wheat and all-purpose flour. It’s important to use a mix of flour, not pure whole wheat. Pure whole wheat flour will make the pancakes too dense. 
• Try other natural sweeteners: Honey or agave syrup can be used in place of maple syrup. 
• Add sweet mix-ins: Try adding your favorite berries or chocolate chips to your pancakes for a fun addition the kids will love. 
• Any neutral oil works: Sunflower, avocado, or vegetable oil will work in this recipe.  
• Add more spices to your liking. If you love the taste of cinnamon, add more. Yu can also use other warming spices such as nutmeg, ginger, allspice, and ground cloves.
• Make a whipped cream cheese topping. For a decadent breakfast or brunch, top your pancakes with a simple cream cheese “frosting” made with cream cheese, maple syrup, and plant or dairy milk. Just whisk until smooth and enjoy!

How to make carrot cake pancakes

Start by shredding or grating carrots. There are many ways to do this: a food processor, a blender, a microplane, or a cheese box grater. I prefer the cheese box grater because the consistency is not too crunchy/raw or too soft/wet. It’s the perfect texture, especially considering we’re not cooking the carrots for a long time.

You’ll need about ½ a cup of shredded carrots. If you end up grating more, throw it on top of the carrot pancakes for serving to bring out that extra carrot flavor, throw it in soups, in a smoothie or even in one-pot rice dishes.

Once you grate the carrots, it’s time to put the batter together.

1. Start by measuring out the dry ingredients: whole wheat white flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt.
2. Whisk those together until fully combined. You want to make sure you don’t see any globs of cinnamon in there.
3. Measure out the wet ingredients in another bowl: milk, maple syrup, oil, and vanilla extract.
4. Whisk those together until combined as much as possible. It won’t be fully homogenous, and that’s totally fine.
5. Combine the wet and dry ingredients together. Then throw in the add-ins, which include the grated carrots, chopped walnuts, and shredded coconut.
6. Now the batter is ready for you to cook the carrot cake pancakes on a skillet.

YUM! Love these! I made a lot of mods to make them even healthier, though. I used oat flour, skipped the oil completely, added 1 TB chia seeds + 1 TB ground flax, and approx 1 TB of fresh ginger. DELISH!!! – Caroline G

Tips for Making the Best Carrot Cake Pancakes

1. Use fresh carrots for the best taste. Since baby carrots and pre-cut carrots are treated with chlorine to preserve them, the taste is not as prominent when shredded as compared to whole carrots. I also found that the pre-shredded store-bought carrots are too long and thick to work well in this batter. Be sure to chop them finely if you want to use them.
2. Shred the carrots; don’t grate the carrots. If you use a microplane to grate the carrots, they end up releasing too much moisture which affects the consistency of the batter and will need to be patted dry before use. It’s best to shred them finely.
3. Don’t overmix your batter. Just like any other pancake batter, this one should be mixed until everything is just combined. Overmixing creates excess gluten, resulting in dense, chewy pancakes. 
4. Let your batter rest. This ties closely in with avoiding overmixing. Letting your batter rest for a few minutes allows any gluten that has formed during the mixing process to relax, helping keep your pancakes light and fluffy. 
5. Flip once and only once. Flip your pancakes when the edges firm up, and that’s it. Let them cook through from the other side and enjoy. This cooks your pancakes to perfection and preserves their wonderful texture.

What to Serve with Carrot Cake Pancakes

Topped simply with maple syrup or yogurt, these delicious pancakes are a better-for-you sweet treat that makes a full meal to start your day. However, you can pair them with other breakfast staples to create a larger breakfast with even more flavor and interest. 

• Sheet Pan Eggs 
• Breakfast Egg Cups 
• Baked Eggs in Avocado 
• Avocado Toast

How to Store and Reheat Vegan Carrot Cake Pancakes

For maximum freshness, transfer your pancakes to an air-tight container and refrigerate them as soon as they’ve cooled. When stored properly, they should last for about a week. 

To reheat these pancakes, spray them with a bit of water and cook them for a minute or two per side in a covered pan over medium heat. This heats them through without drying them out. 

How long will vegan carrot cake pancakes last in the fridge? 

These pancakes will last for up to a week when stored in an air-tight container. 

Can I freeze these healthy carrot cake pancakes? 

These pancakes freeze well and will last for up to two months when stored properly. Place the pancakes in single layers separated by wax paper in an air-tight, freezer-safe container, seal, and freeze. Defrost the pancakes in the refrigerator overnight before reheating them.

Frequently Asked Questions

These carrot cake pancakes make for a decadent, delicious weekend breakfast when you want something a little more special. They are also great for Easter brunch with their fresh bright flavor. If you’re a carrot cake fan, you don’t want to miss these vegan carrot cake pancakes!

More pancake recipes:

• High Protein Pancakes
• Sweet Potato Pancakes
• Oat Flour Pancakes
• Healthy Pumpkin Pancakes
• Lemon Ricotta Pancakes
• Flourless Strawberry Pancakes
• Banana Pancake Dippers

If you’ve tried this healthy-ish feel good Carrot Cake Pancakes recipe or any other recipe on FeelGoodFoodie, then don’t forget to rate the recipe and leave me a comment below! I would love to hear about your experience making it. And if you snapped some shots of it, share it with me on Instagram so I can repost on my stories!