Carrot Cake Pancakes — The House of Carbs

Carb lovers — apologies for the long hiatus here. I started a new job and couldn’t keep up with my 100 days of anti-racist actions, so I just hid my head in shame until a friend pointed out that I could shift to 100 anti-racist actions over a number of days vs. getting stuck.

I’ve updated my spreadsheet and you can keep following along here. I’m still making progress, albeit more slowly and mostly on weekends. Ideas and feedback as I continue on the journey are welcome.

Speaking of weekends, one treat that Mudit and I have been enjoying are these Carrot Cake Pancakes. We’ve made them a few times, and they are elaborate enough to be a treat and easy enough to be repeatable. They come from Smitten Kitchen, who proudly pointed out that the #1 ingredient in these pancakes is carrots. It’s basically like drinking V8 juice for breakfast. Except the V8 juice is blended with flour and sugar, and then smothered in cream cheese infused with powdered sugar. No matter. It’s still probably good for your vision and good for your soul.

RECIPE - from Smitten Kitchen, who adapted from Joy the Baker. Makes 12 to 16 3- to 4-inch pancakes.

INGREDIENTS

Pancakes

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon table salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground ginger
2 tablespoons chopped walnuts (optional, I use them)
2 tablespoons raisins (optional, ditto)
1 large egg
2 tablespoons packed brown sugar
1/2 cup buttermilk or regular milk (both work)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 cups finely grated carrots (from about a 3/4 pound bundle whole carrots)
3 tablespoons butter, for griddle

Cream cheese topping

4 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
1/4 cup powdered sugar
2 tablespoons milk
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Dash of ground cinnamon

RECIPE

Grate your carrots. This will be perhaps the most time intensive part of the recipe, but it will also be an opportunity to vent your Quarenrage. If you have a Cuisinart, you can use it to accelerate this process (and keep your rage inside). I have no such thing, so to the hand grater (or to Mudit for sous chef support) I go.

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and, if using, nuts and raisins. In a small bowl, whisk together the egg, brown sugar, buttermilk and vanilla. Stir in carrots. Stir carrot mixture into dry ingredients, stirring until just incorporated. Alternatively, if you want to minimize the number of bowls you use, mix all the dry ingredients first, add the carrot + wet ingredients and then stir until just incorporated. Let rest for five minutes while you make the cream cheese topping.

For your first time making the recipe, I recommend “two bowl” approach since it is more fail proof. Once you know what the batter should look like, you can replicate it in one bowl.

To make the cream cheese topping: beat the cream cheese in a small bowl until fluffy and lump-free. Perhaps because I use whipped cream cheese, there are always a few small lumps, but no matter. It is still delicious. Whisk in powdered sugar, two tablespoons milk, vanilla and cinnamon.

“Not good lookin’, just good cookin’” may apply to your topping, and that’s ok.

Over medium heat, melt 1 tablespoon butter in a cast-iron skillet or griddle pan. Spoon 2 to 3 tablespoons batter into the hot pan per pancake. The pancakes initially seemed too small to be efficient / tasty, but after experimenting with larger pancakes, I advise you to listen to stick to “silver dollar” sized pancakes. For this recipe, bigger is not better. Flip pancakes until golden on both sides, about 2 minutes per side.

Little pancakes > Big pancakes (the irony)

Transfer finished pancakes to a serving dish or tray in the oven, to keep warm while you repeat the process with the remaining batter, adding more butter as needed.

Serve warm with cream cheese topping.