In 2019, I visited an amazing restaurant in Montréal, and I was blown away by how good the food was. Although I’m not a big sweets person in the morning, I couldn’t get over how delicious their carrot cake pancakes were. I made it my mission then and there to create my own version. I knew that I wanted a version that had all the carrot cake taste without shredded carrot in the batter, which meant roasting the carrots and then pureeing them with a few spices to infuse the pancakes with carrot flavor. Roasting the carrots seems like an extra step, but trust me—DO IT! The result is a spiced carrot flavour that blends right into the batter rather than having shredded raw carrots in the pancakes.

Ingredients

The ingredient list may look a little long, but that's only because you'll need to make the roasted carrot purée first. This can be made in advance and then just added to the batter when you whisk it up.

Here's everything you'll need to make these healthy carrot cake pancakes.

• carrots
• coconut oil
• unsweetened oat milk (or other dairy-free milk of choice)
• maple syrup
• fresh ginger
• ground cinnamon
• coconut cream 
• raw honey (or maple syrup, to sweeten the coconut whipped cream)
• spelt flour
• oat flour 
• baking powder and baking soda
• 3 large eggs
• raw apple cider vinegar

How to Make the Carrot Purée

Making these spelt and oat flour pancakes is fairly easy, once you have the carrot purée ready. My suggestion would be to make it ahead of time and then you can just add it to the batter for some quick and healthy pancakes.

First, let's make the carrot purée.

Preheat the oven to 425°F and line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.

Toss the chopped carrots with the coconut oil and place on the prepared baking sheet. Roast for 25 minutes, until the carrots are soft and cooked through.

Next, put the roasted carrots, oat milk, maple syrup, ginger, and cinnamon in a blender or food processor.

Blend until completely smooth. Add more milk if needed to thin it. I find using a high powered blender the easiest way to make this.

You'll have leftover carrot purée, this will be used to dollop on top of the carrot cake pancakes when you're ready to eat. This adds even more carrot flavour.

How to Make the Coconut Whipped Cream

To make the coconut whipped cream, I find using coconut cream the best option. I love Cha's whipping cream for this.

If you want the coconut whipped cream to stay pure white, I recommend using some honey as the sweetener. Maple syrup may change the colour slightly. Any liquid or granulated sugar will work, taste and adjust to get the sweetness you want.

Add this to a large bowl along with the sweetener (honey or maple syrup) to it. Use a hand held mixer (or stand mixer) to whip and blend until fluffy. This should take about 1 to 2 minutes total.

How to Make Healthy Carrot Cake Pancakes

In a large bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients. In a medium-sized bowl, mix the wet ingredients until well combined. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir until just combined; do not over mix. 

Heat a bit of coconut oil in a medium skillet over medium heat. Working in batches, use a ladle to pour about ¼ cup of the batter into the pan for each pancake. Cook until small bubbles form on the tops of the pancakes, three to four minutes, then flip and cook for an additional two to three minutes, until cooked through. Repeat with the remaining batter, adding more coconut oil to the pan as needed.

This recipe yields about 8 pancakes.

Divide the healthy carrot cake pancakes on plates and top with a dollop of coconut whipped cream and extra carrot purée. Drizzle with maple syrup. Enjoy!

Tips to Make Fluffy Spelt Pancakes

Spelt flour is one of my personal favourite flours to use as it's close to all purpose flour, but it has more flavour.

It's one of the more common and easy to find ancient grain flours plus it's relatively affordable too.

Spelt flour is not gluten-free. If you're looking for a gluten-free pancake recipe, be sure to check out my buckwheat pancakes with peaches and mascarpone.

Here's how to make sure your pancakes are fluffy and delicious.

• Don't over mix the batter. You want to stir the batter until just combined.
• Make sure your skillet is warmed so the pancakes cook quickly and evenly. I'd recommend using a good nonstick skillet or a very well seasoned cast iron pan.
• Once the skillet is warmed through and you've cooked a few pancakes, reduce the heat to medium-low to avoid the pancakes cooking and browning too quickly.
• Let the batter rest for about five minutes after mixing.
• If using melted coconut oil, be sure your other ingredients are room temperature to avoid the coconut oil hardening when mixing the batter.

Substitutions

• Spelt flour: use all purpose flour (I haven't tried this recipe using gluten-free all purpose flour).
• Coconut oil: use avocado oil instead.
• Fresh ginger: use ground ginger, about 1/4 to 1/2 tsp depending on your preference.

Make Ahead & Storage Instructions

• Keep your carrot cake pancakes in the oven at a low temperature (about 200°F) on a baking sheet.
• Make the carrot purée ahead of time. You can make it up to three days in advance and keep it in a sealed container in the fridge.
• Store leftover pancakes in the fridge in a sealed container for up to three days, or freeze for longer.

Other breakfast recipes to check out:

• Green Smoothie Muffins
• Savoury Miso Butter Oatmeal with Mushrooms
• Cheese and Bacon Muffins with Jalapeño & Bacon
• Sweet Potato Hash with Eggs
• Blended Baked Oats (Two Ways!)
• Crispy Mexican style potato nests with eggs
• Vegan and gluten-free breakfast cookies
• Gluten-free buckwheat pancakes with peaches
• Instant Pot chocolate steel cut oats (vegan)
• Savoury oatmeal muffins
• Baked oatmeal cups with blueberries (vegan)

If you make these healthy carrot cake pancakes, please share with me, by tagging me on Instagram or leave a comment and/or review below. I truly love seeing and hearing form you!

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