It’s no secret our family loves pancakes, and these Carrot Cake Pancakes (or waffles – your choice) are perfect for Easter snuggled up at home with your loved ones … which is already this weekend!
The kitchen is my happy place… especially these days! As I work away in my kitchen I’m finding that I’m leaning on creating recipes that use ingredients that are usually on hand in your pantries (and mine lol).
I had some leftover grated carrots and apple the other day, and was scratching my head over what to do with them. I already had a freezer full of Sneaky Mommy Muffins [1], and wanted to make something that was healthy but could also be frozen for those future mornings when I wasn’t quite as ambitious!
This recipe started out as a pancake recipe but I realized that it also makes AMAZING waffles. I think I actually prefer them as waffles but hey, to each his (or her) own. Toaster waffles are a thing in our home. The kids can just reheat them in the toaster for a DIY breakfast and they taste just as good as when I made them! You can reheat the pancakes the same way.
How to Freeze Pancakes or Waffles
To freeze either the pancakes or waffles simply layer the cooked waffles or pancakes in a resealable bag or container with a little sheet of parchment paper in between them to keep them from sticking. When ready to reheat just pop them in the toaster on low until they are crispy!
To make them in a waffle iron just follow the instructions on your waffle maker. This is the one I have [2] and it’s outstanding – I highly recommend it! You could even make these into ice cream sandwiches by sandwiching a bit of ice cream in between mini waffles… just saying;)
You can use whatever ratio of flours you have on hand if you want to make them with all or part whole wheat or spelt flour, and you can sub the eggs for flax eggs if you wish (I gave the sub below, but ground chia seeds also works). I also provided a quick hack for making your own buttermilk!
If you only have apple or carrot just sub one for the other (same total volume) – we need to work with what we have right now! You could even sub the carrot for zucchini if you wanted or the apple for pear. You can also use coconut oil instead of the butter.
For more pancake recipes try these delicious Lemon Ricotta Pancakes [3], these Banana Bread Pancakes [4], or keep it simple with my tried and true ‘famous’ Angel Cakes [5]!
Carrot Cake Pancakes or Waffles
Carrot Cake Pancakes or Waffles
Perfect for Easter, these Carrot Cake pancakes can easily be made into waffles (our fav to be honest) and are filled with health ingredients! Hop to it!
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups flour (can use all or part spelt or whole wheat flour)
- ¼ cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon allspice
- 2 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 eggs (or flax eggs**)
- 3 tablespoons melted butter, cooled (or vegan butter)
- 2 cups buttermilk*
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 cup grated carrot (peeled)
- 1 cup grated apple (peeled or unpeeled)
Instructions
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In a large bowl, mix together all of the dry ingredients.
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In a separate bowl, beat the eggs with a fork and add the buttermilk, vanilla and cooled melted butter.
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Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir just until mixed: do not over mix! It will still look lumpy. Fold in the carrot and apple and stir to combine.
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Heat a griddle or pan (or waffle iron) with a small amount of vegetable oil on medium heat, pour into pancake shapes of your choice, and flip when the bubbles appear on the top and the bottom is golden brown.
Recipe Notes
*to make buttermilk simply mix 1 cup of any milk (almond, cow's milk, oat etc) with 1 tablespoon of lemon juice or white vinegar; let it sit for 10-15 minutes before using in your recipe. You need to double this quantity here (ie: you need 2 cups of milk)
**to make flax eggs combine 1 tablespoon of ground flax with 3 tablespoons of water for each egg; stir and let it sit for 5 minutes before using