Carrot Cake Pancakes (with a maple cream cheese topping!)

Carrot Cake Pancakes (with a maple cream cheese topping!)

2 Comments

Ever wanted to have cake for breakfast? Well now you can with these Carrot Cake Pancakes! They’re soft, cakey, full of delicious spices and topped with whipped cream cheese! A delicious way to start your day.

pancake stack

The idea for these pancakes came about one day when I was talking to a friend, and ever since I couldn’t shake the thought that it’d be such a good combination! Carrot cake is one of my absolute favourite cakes (check out my recipe here), so to have it for breakfast in pancake form?! It just seemed like a no-brainer to me.

These are also a great way to get kids to eat some veggies, by tricking them into thinking they’re having a treat breakfast! ๐Ÿ˜‰ Don’t get me wrong though, these pancakes aren’t healthy per se, but some extra veg always helps!

Ingredients You’ll Need

  • Milk & Lemon Juice – This is to create buttermilk! You can buy your own buttermilk. but I much prefer homemade and you’re much more likely to already have milk and lemon in the house, than buttermilk.
  • Plain Flour & Baking Powder – I always prefer to use plain flour over self-raising, so I have more control.
  • Caster Sugar – We only need a small amount of sugar, but just enough to give the pancakes some sweetness.
  • Egg – Only one egg is needed, to help bind our pancake mixture together.
  • Butter – As always, I use unsalted in all my baking. This butter will be melted, so it doesn’t have to be at room temperature.
  • Carrots – Of course you’ll need carrots!! These will be grated into the mixture. I used 2 medium sized carrots.
  • Cinnamon – I like my carrot cake to have a little bit of spice, so the pancake version was no exception!
  • Cream Cheese & Icing Sugar – Everyone knows carrot cake is always paired with a cream cheese frosting, so I wanted to add some to the pancake recipe too, as an optional topping!
  • Maple Syrup – I LOVE maple syrup on pancakes, and as my regular carrot cake recipe uses maple syrup in the batter I knew it would be a great combination.
  • Pecans – This is optional to add as a topping, but I really like the crunchy texture this adds to the soft pancakes.
flatlay breakfast spread

How to make carrot cake pancakes:

These pancakes come together so quickly, but depending on the size of pan you have you may need to cook them in batches! Keep the made pancakes in a baking tray in the oven, so that all your pancakes are warm and ready to serve at the same time.

Making the cream cheese topping

As you want to serve the pancakes warm as soon as they’re made, its easiest to make the cream cheese topping first. This is totally optional, as you could just top the pancakes with maple syrup or any topping you like really! But I do love how the cream cheese combines so well with the carrots and cinnamon spice in the pancakes.

So all you need to do, is combine the icing sugar and cream cheese in a medium bowl until smooth. You can do this with an electric hand-whisk if you want, but its just as easy by hand too. Then set aside while you make the pancakes.

carrot cake pancakes
carrot cake pancakes

Making the carrot cake pancake batter

First up, you need to make your buttermilk. This is as easy as combining the milk and lemon juice in a jug and leaving it to sit for 5-10 minutes. The milk will turn a little lumpy, and you’re ready to go!

While the milk is curdling you can melt your butter, and combine all your dry ingredients in a large bowl.

The melted butter and egg can then be added to the buttermilk, and whisked together till combined. This can then be poured into the dry mixture, and again whisked together until combined. Your final step is to add the grated carrots, and then you’re ready to cook! So so simple!!

How to cook carrot cake pancakes

When it comes to cooking pancakes, its all about keeping the right temperature in your pan and making sure to use an even amount of batter in each pancake. The first pancake will always be a little too brown or a strange shape while you’re finding your groove. But after that it’ll be much easier.

I use a little dash of vegetable oil in the pan, and once that’s hot, add enough batter for two pancakes at a time. I like roughly three tablespoons of batter per pancake. Make sure to give them a lot of space, as they will expand while cooking. And its so much easier to flip pancakes if they’re not bunched up together!

Once your batter is in and has begun cooking, I wait until I can see bubbles on the surface of the pancakes and then I flip over using a fish slice. I like to press the pancakes down a little at this point, and then leave them to cook for 2/3 minutes more, until I’m happy with the colour on both sides.

Don’t try and flip your pancakes too much when they’re still wet. If you’re worried about them burning, just turn the heat down a little.

Once all your pancakes have been cooked, you can serve with the cream cheese, a dash of maple syrup and a sprinkling of pecans.

pancake stack

Tips & Tricks

Can you make carrot cake pancakes in advance?

You can fry the pancakes and then keep them in the oven until ready to serve, but I wouldn’t make them too far in advance as they will get a little soggy.

Are carrot cake pancakes healthy?

Though there are carrots in these pancakes, they do still include sugar and butter! So no they are not healthy, but perhaps healthier than a regular pancake, from the addition of the carrots.

Can you use oat/soy/lacto-free milk to make these pancakes?

Yes! I have personally tried these pancakes with lacto-free milk in the past and honestly couldn’t taste the difference!

carrot cake pancakes

I really hope you love this different take on the classic pancake, and enjoy having your cake for breakfast!! Let me know if there’s any other pancake variations you’d love me to try and create. And if you do love these carrot cake pancakes, leaving a rating and review would mean SO much to me! And help others to find my recipe ๐Ÿ™‚

You may also like:

carrot cake pancakes

Carrot Cake Pancakes (with a maple cream cheese topping!)

Aimee Field
Ever wanted to have cake for breakfast? Well now you can with these Carrot Cake Pancakes! They're soft, cakey, full of delicious spices and topped with whipped cream cheese! A delicious way to start your day.
5 from 1 vote
Prep Time 25 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 40 minutes
Course Breakfast
Cuisine British
Servings 8 pancakes

Ingredients
  

Cream Cheese Topping

  • 200 g cream cheese
  • 50 g icing sugar

Pancakes

  • 225 ml milk whole or semi-skimmed
  • 1 tbsp lemon juice
  • 30 g unsalted butter
  • 225 g plain flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 30 g caster sugar
  • 1 pinch of salt
  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1 large egg
  • 150 g grated carrot approx. 2 medium carrots

Optional toppings

  • maple syrup
  • pecans

Instructions
 

  • For the cream cheese topping: In a medium bowl, beat together the cream cheese and icing sugar. Then set aside.
  • For the pancakes: Firstly make the buttermilk, by mixing the milk and lemon juice together in a jug. Leave to sit for 5-10 minutes until slightly lumpy. Meanwhile, melt the butter and set aside.
  • Then in a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Then crack the egg into the buttermilk, and pour in the melted butter. Whisk to combine, and then pour into the dry mixture and whisk again to combine. Finally add the grated carrot, and stir to combine.
  • Turn the oven onto your lowest setting, and get a baking tray ready. Then heat some oil in a large frying pan, over a medium-low heat and spoon batter for two pancakes (roughly 3tbsp each) into the pan, well spaced apart. Leave to cook until air bubbles have popped onto the surface, then carefully flip over and cook for 2-3 minutes further until nicely browned on both sides. Place the cooked pancakes into the baking tray and place into the oven to keep warm. Repeat the process with the remaining batter, making 8 pancakes in total.
  • Once all pancakes are cooked, serve with the cream cheese topping along with maple syrup and pecans.

Notes

Best served same day, still warm.ย 
Keyword brunch, carrot cake, pancakes


2 thoughts on “Carrot Cake Pancakes (with a maple cream cheese topping!)”

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating