Carrot Cake Pancakes
Whenever we make carrot juice with our juicer (which is always a fun and messy project that my kids love, and the juice is always surprisingly sweet!), I cringe to throw out the carrot pulp. I dump it into the garden bed to compost, or I find a way to consume it. We love my carrot cake recipe, so one morning I adapted it to be pancakes. I eliminated the sugar since there would by syrup on top, and increased the liquid to make a batter. I’ve made them a few times now and the spices, walnuts, and coconut make them so good!
If you have a juicer–make some carrot juice and save the pulp for up to several days, then make carrot cake pancakes! Grated carrot works just as well–it will take one or two large carrots to get one cup of grated carrot. Crushed pineapple from a can (drained), or well-chopped fresh or frozen, adds juicy bits of natural sweetness, but if you don’t have any on hand they are delish without it, too.
I’m a big fan of carrot cake things. As you can see:
Overnight Carrot Cake Steel Cut Oats
What I did when my husband brought home 25 pounds of carrots
Any ideas of what ELSE I could make carrot-cake-flavored?!
Wholesome, no added sugar, and unique! A great way to use carrot juice pulp if you juice your own carrots.
- 1 cup whole wheat flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 3/4 tsp baking soda
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp ground ginger (use 1/2 tsp if you want noticeable ginger flavor)
- 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1.5 cups plant milk (such as soy or almond)
- 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
- 1 cup grated carrot or carrot juice pulp
- 1/2 cup crushed pineapple, drained (optional)
- 1/4 cup chopped walnuts
- 1/2 cup shredded unsweetened coconut
- pure maple syrup or applesauce, raisins, walnuts, coconut, crushed pineapple
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Whisk the dry ingredients together in a mixing bowl. Add the remaining ingredients and stir until just combined--do not over mix. Batter will be pretty orange with all those carrots.
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Heat a skillet to 350 (med/high). Use 1/4 cup measure to pour batter and flatten them slightly since the batter isn't very runny. Flip when edges are matte and bubbles start to pop up on the surface.
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Serve with pure maple syrup or applesauce, and additional chopped walnuts and coconut if desired.
For nut-free, use sunflower seeds instead of walnuts or skip completely.
For gluten-free, I think GF oat flour would work, but I haven't tried yet.
For sweet pancakes, you can add a few tablespoons of maple syrup or sugar, but the pancakes get much darker brown very fast on the skillet. I like to cut back on sugar and just use maple syrup on top.
If using carrot juice pulp, you can use 1.5 cups since it is drier and less dense.
