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, 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 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, these Banana Bread Pancakes, or keep it simple with my tried and true ‘famous’ Angel Cakes!
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
Oh so cute !! Little Charlie !! and so clever Tori – I’m a little bit like Charlie and vegetables – will have to give this recipe a try !! Thanks !!????
Do you have a Pinterest account? Would love to follow you 🙂
It’s just under my personal account right now Tori Wesszer – I will let you know when I create one for Fraiche!
Thanks!
Hi, What type of apple did you use? Thanks!
I used Gala apples but a MacIntosh or the like would work too!
I made these and they were delicious! Who would have thought to put carrot in pancakes.
Would love love love a vegan version of this recipe. I’ve been trying to experiment with subs on my own but it just isn’t turning out quite right 🙁
Hey Tori!
For the Carrot Waffles, can you use all carrots instead of the apples?
So cute!
Stacey
Hi Stacey you bet! They may be less sweet but that should be fine! Happy cooking:) Tori
Hey Tori
I am sure we have some – carrots – in our store of limited food during Covid 19 – but – EASTER? THANK YOU for your recipe.
Not the season for the bunny is it ?? It makes me sad that you are ignoring the ELEPHANT in the room.
We will just be coming out of self- isolation after returning from Edinburgh Scotland – so we will be celebrating the TRUE meaning of Easter and is has nothing to do with the EASTER BUNNY.
Aren’t you a hoot. The bunny forgives you 😉
Haha thanks Jill 🙂
Hey, by any chance would you be able to share your favorite whipped cream topping recipe? (Or do you just use yogurt?)
Thanks for all the recipes they are always delicious.
Hi Emma! I actually just use yogurt! If you want to make whipped cream simply take whipping cream, beat until thick, add a bit of sugar or icing sugar and a tiny bit of vanilla, and finish beating until stiff!
Wow…these are amazing!!
Thanks much Helen!
Hi Tori – I’ve got everything to make this recipe except the apples, and unfortunately I don’t have enough carrots to double them. I do have applesauce though… thoughts on using that as a sub for the apples? And if you think that will work, how much applesauce do you think I should use? Thanks so much!
Hi Darcy, I would probably just leave the apples out, use whatever carrot you have and reduce the flour by 1/2 cup.
Excellent!
Thank you Leanne!!!
Hello Tori
I made this recipe and the pancakes were delicious – moist and healthy.
I will try to freeze them – to share with our grandsons – once we get back to “normal”.
Thank you for the inspiration you give us ! It is good for my soul to be busy in the kitchen creating wholesome recipes for my family.
I love getting your recipes in my inbox and apologize for my earlier comments – April 1 st.
You are doing us such a service and I truly appreciate all the work you do. We are all in this together and you are a ray of sunshine – truly.
God bless you and your family and thank you for sharing your talents.
Take care
Wilma
Hi Wilma thank you so much for your note and truly no problem. These are emotional times and we are in this together! Sending warm wishes to you and your family and thank you again for your kind comments. xo Tori
Hi Tori,
We loved these, however, if I wanted to make them a bit less fluffy, would I just reduce the baking powder?
Hi Autumn! I haven’t tried that before but I think it should work? Would love to hear how it goes if you give it a try!
Made these this morning. SO delicious 😋😋😋
So happy you liked them!
Due to food sensitivities can you substitute equal parts of gluten free flour and margarine instead of butter?
Thanks
Hi Jas, I haven’t tried it before but in theory I think it should work? I’d love to hear how it goes if you give it a try!
I make these waffles every weekend now. We can’t get enough of them. I can’t get over how light and fluffy they are!
So happy you like them Krista!
Made these for my one year old this morning and she gobbled them up (mom and dad did too:))
Thanks for the awesome recipe!
These were so delicious! Carrots and apple in the batter make for a tasty fall breakfast as well! My daughter and I made these on Remembrance Day morning as waffles, before we had our minute of silence. We will definitely make this recipe again. (May I add that I did attempt this recipe last week substituting coconut flour, which resulted in a fail😂 – lesson learned…the recipe as written with white flour is the way to go!)
My family loves these so much. I made a batch for breakfast a while back, and even my mother-in-law (who is not a waffle fan) LOVED these. Will be making these tomorrow for our New Years brunch, along with the Citrus Kiwi Fruit Salad! Thank you for the bomb recipe Tori!
Delicious and fluffy! I didn’t have Baking Soda so I subbed it for extra baking powder 🙂
Hey Melissa! So happy to hear you enjoyed!! Tori
These look delicious! Going to give them a try this weekend. We’ve got the same waffle maker (and you’re right, it’s fantastic!) what setting are you using for these?
Thanks Mike! I use the classic setting!
Oh my goodness, so delicious! Thank you for this receipe Tori.
These tasty waffles complement a curry chicken dish I made. Yummy!
Made these for Easter Morning. *Chef’s Kiss*
Yay! Thanks Elizabeth, I am so happy you enjoyed. xx Tori
I made these pancakes – along with “plain” pancakes for my picky son – for Easter morning. Needless to say, I had a stack of “plain” pancakes leftover. These were a major hit with the whole family! Thanks for another awesome recipe!
Ah love that! Thank you so much for taking the time to write a review I really appreciate it!
A family favourite and I even throw in 1/2-1 cup pureed red lentils which are undetectable.
Also was out of apple so did frozen pineapple, also a huge hit
Hey Erin! I love the lentil addition! Thanks for the review, I really appreciate it!
xx Tori