Carrot Cake Pancakes (Joy!)

Desperately hungry around dinnertime, and craving something sweet, I finally got around to making something from my new Joy the Baker cookbook. I'd been eyeing several recipes, but this one for Carrot Cake Pancakes stood out- I think largely because I believe adding two cups of shredded carrot totally justifies this as a healthy dinner... right? I poured myself a glass of wine and got to it. 

By far, one of the most delicious pancake recipes I've EVER made. They were super-flavorful, had a great fluffy texture despite the moist carrots, and the cream cheese spread was a perfect topping. They tasted *just* like carrot cake, but were much less heavy and weren't overly sweet. (Do you like how in the picture above you can see our fire hydrant? I'm so terrible at taking pictures: Nathan encouraged me to go outside to get better light and while the light was, indeed, better, I captured this awesome background view.) 

I say- 2 cups of veggies? In a pancake? Totally healthy dinner. And I actually made some modifications to make these light, fluffy, spicy pancakes a tad bit (but only a tad) more nutritious. 

Carrot Cake Pancakes

(adapted from the Joy the Baker cookbook)

dry:

1/2 cup all purpose flour

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

1 t baking powder

1/2 t baking soda

pinch salt

1/2 t each cinnamon and nutmeg and ginger

1/4 c chopped walnuts

1/4 cup raisins

wet:

1 egg

2 T brown sugar

1 cup buttermilk

1 1/2 t vanilla extract

2 cups finely grated carrots

Mix dry ingredients in one bowl, mix wet in another. Add wet to dry all at once, mix to combine, but don't overmix. Cook the pancakes using your favorite method (mine involves butter and a non-stick pan). 

Top with a cream cheese topping. (Let's call it what it is: frosting.) 

4 oz cream cheese

1/4 cup powdered sugar

2 T milk

1 t vanilla extract

pinch salt

pinch cinnamon

Tell me if they are NOT amazing! I'll be making these pancakes again!

And if Luke can ever figure out how to eat... he'll love them too.