These Carrot Cake Pancakes are moist and flavorful, a healthy twist, just sweet enough! The Greek maple yogurt topping gets them over the top.
Looking for delicious pancakes that won’t leave you with a sugar crash? Try these Carrot Cake Pancakes! Most carrot cake pancakes make you feel like you’re eating dessert. But these are perfect: sweet enough with a healthy spin! They’re lightly sweetened with maple syrup, tender and chewy with carrots, and perfectly seasoned with cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg. Even better, top them with Greek maple yogurt and the sweet flavor is on magic. It’s like eating a piece of carrot cake… which is fine for breakfast.
What’s in these carrot cake pancakes?
These carrot cake pancakes are packed with ingredients that were already in Alex, my pantry, and my fridge – we didn’t have to travel all that far to make them! We hope you do the same, assuming you store carrots, Greek yogurt, and maple syrup like we do. This recipe is a twist on our Greek Yoghurt Pancakes recipe: the perfect spring breakfast or Easter brunch (we made these for our son Larson for Easter!). Here’s what you need:
- Plain Flour: You can use 100% all-purpose flour or a mixture of all-purpose flour and whole wheat or oat flour
- Spices: You’ll use cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg for this carrot cake vibe
- Greek yogurt: We like to use yogurt in our pancakes to make them perfectly moist
- maple syrup: for a subtle sweetness: no refined sugar!
- Milk, Egg, Baking Powder and Oil: to complement the usual pancake ingredients
- carrots: finely grated in the shredder – that takes the longest!
Greek Maple Yogurt: A healthy take on cream cheese frosting!
The Greek maple yogurt filling tops these carrot cake pancakes! For a healthy breakfast, we used Greek yogurt to create a cream cheese frosting of sorts! Yoghurt flavor is just what you need to add flavor to pancakes. Here’s what you’ll do:
- Leave the Greek yogurt in a colander to thicken while you make the pancakes. This gives it more of a creamy cheese consistency. You can skip this step if you’d like, but the filling will be a little more runny because you’re adding…
- Add maple syrup and vanilla. Once the Greek yogurt has thickened slightly, add the maple syrup and vanilla. Give it a try and you’ll have a healthy cream cheese frosting in an instant!
Types of flour for carrot pancakes
Alex and I like pancakes that are a little more filling than the typical all-purpose flour pancakes. We like to use a 50/50 ratio of all-purpose flour with oatmeal or whole wheat flour (like our sour cream pancakes). The oatmeal in particular makes it thicker and heartier than a traditional pancake. It also gives you the nutrients of oats, like fiber and vitamins. (Fancy a 100% oat pancake? Go for the Oatmeal Banana Pancakes.)
Anyway, the flour mixture also adds complexity to the flavor and helps the texture a bit. But if you only have all-purpose flour, that’s fine too! It’s a customizable recipe and works with what you have on hand.
How to make oatmeal
Did you know you can make your own oatmeal? If you have oatmeal, you can make oatmeal at home! Simply blend the oatmeal in a blender or food processor until ground as finely as possible and the consistency of flour. Alex and I do this all the time. Check out our oatmeal recipes to learn more.
More carrot cake recipes!
Are you a fan of carrot cake flavor? Here are some additional recipes that play on the magic of carrot cake:
This Carrot Cake Pancakes Recipe is…
Vegetarian. For gluten-free, use 50% rolled oats and 50% gluten-free flour 1:1. For vegans, use flax egg and plant-based milk.
The description
These Carrot Cake Pancakes are moist and flavorful, a healthy twist, just sweet enough! The Greek maple yogurt topping gets them over the top.
- ½ cup all purpose flour
- ½ cup whole wheat or oat flour (or more all-purpose flour)
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon Cinammon
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 big egg
- ¾ cup milk
- ½ cup whole greek yogurt
- 1 tbsp maple syrup
- 2 tablespoons neutral oil
- 1 ¼ cup finely grated carrots (approx 5 large carrots)
- Maple Yogurt Filling*: 1 cup Greek yogurt, 2 tablespoons maple syrup, and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Optional: If making the maple yogurt filling: Place 1 cup Greek yogurt in a fine mesh strainer over a bowl and drain while you make the pancakes (this will thicken them and give them a creamy texture).
- In a medium bowl, whisk together whole wheat flour, all-purpose flour, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and kosher salt.
- In another bowl, whisk the egg, then stir in the milk, Greek yogurt, maple syrup, and oil. Then add the grated carrot.
- Add the dry ingredients and stir until combined. Stir in a few tablespoons of milk to achieve a thick but pourable consistency (the consistency of each brand of yogurt is different).
- Lightly butter a pan and wipe off excess fat with a paper towel. Heat pan over medium heat. If the batter has thickened after resting, add a little milk (don’t add too much or the pancakes will be too flat). Use a ¼-cup measuring cup to pour the batter into small circles; If necessary, use the background to smooth out the shape if necessary (carrots can make it difficult to spread). Bake pancakes until bubbles burst on top and bottom is golden brown. Then turn them over and cook until done. Repeat with the rest of the dough.
- When preparing the maple yogurt filling, mix together the thickened Greek yogurt, maple syrup, and vanilla extract. Serve pancakes with maple yogurt and a drizzle of maple syrup. (Add chopped pecans, if desired.)
Remarks
*The maple yoghurt filling is reminiscent of cream cheese fillings, but is a little less rich. The tang with the carrot cake pancake is definitely worth it!
- Category: Breakfast
- Method: Cook
- Kitchen: American
- Diet: vegetarian
Keywords: Carrot Cake Pancakes
