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Pancake Fridays: Peanut Butter Carrot Pancakes

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Okay so when I say “carrot” and “peanut butter” in the same sentence as “pancake,” I want you to not freak out.

Instead, I want you to put your hands together. You don’t have to clap for me, just for the tufts of grated carrot tucked into an impossibly fluffy and tender wheat blanket that we’re calling a pancake.

I’m trying to eat more vegetables. I’ve achieved this goal by incorporating carrots into one of my many daily work snacks.

Some of my fav work snacks include:

  • a banana with peanut butter
  • an apple with a few tablespoons of almonds
  • 1/3 cup plain greek yogurt with 1/4 cup homemade granola (packed in separate tupperwares)
  • leftover pancakes (of course!)

But of course, leftover pancakes every day is not the way to healthy-land. So lately I’ve been swapping out my daily carb-y snack for baby carrots. And I recently discovered that baby carrots are made about 23049820395x more awesome when you dip them in peanut butter.

So, of course, I figured carrot pancakes would be even better with peanut butter. Although, let’s be real: Smitten Kitchen recipes never need to be modified. If you read her post on her barely adapted spin on Joy the Baker’s carrot cake pancakes, they sound like the epitome of health. Whole grains. No added fat. Minimal sugar.

That is all well and perfectly good. But if you don’t mind a twist with your otherwise straight-up carrot cake, give these a try. They are soooooo incredibly light. It’s like eating a cloud. A substantial cloud. A substantial cloud that’s super tasty. Super tasty because they’re jammed packed full of shredded sweet carrots and nutty peanut butter and honey and spice. Guys, these might be my favorite “healthyish” pancakes to date.

Notes

Yes, I added fat to these, which is wholly unnecessary, but also protein! Peanut butter is a good fat. And it makes these soooo incredibly light. Plus, I deemed the cream cheese frosting totally unnecessary on these. So really, you’re saving in the calorie bank there.

These pancakes are pretty straightforward. I put the carrots in my food processor and simply shredded them using a standard blade (mine only comes with one). You want them the size of slightly shredded pencil shavings. Too chunky, and they won’t cook well in the pancakes, but you also don’t want carrot puree. I used 1.5 cups of carrots because that’s the amount I ended up grating, but Deb suggests 2 cups and I’m sure you couldn’t go wrong with that.

Deb notes that cooking the pancakes in 2 tablespoon increments worked well, and I agree. This batter wasn’t particularly watery, but larger pancakes might not cook through as well, and 2 tablespoons made for a cute size.

Peanut Butter Carrot Pancakes
Adapted from Smitten Kitchen, from Joy the Baker

Yield: about 10 small pancakes

1 cup white whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon table salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 large egg
1 tablespoon packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons honey
1 cup buttermilk (I used almond breeze + 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1.5-2 cups finely grated carrots (do NOT use packaged baby carrots)
3 tablespoons peanut butter

Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. 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. Let rest for five minutes and preheat a lightly greased pan or skillet over medium  heat.

Spoon batter 2 tablespoons at a time into the preheated pan. Cook for about two minutes on each side, until pancakes are golden on both sides.

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  2. girlinafoodfrenzy

    I shall have to think of a way I can incorporate these into the breakfast repertoire(without the boyfriend) getting too suspicious! Anything that screams ‘different’ makes him slightly concerned but for me (as a carrot cake lover) I’ve seen these about and they must taste amazing (cause) everyone’s getting in the carrot pancake (and peanut butter) bandwagon 🙂

    Reply

  3. gottagetbaked

    Erika, I would’ve never put carrots and peanut butter together but reading your words and the delicious description of your pancakes makes the think they are the most natural pairing. And again, girl, I’m always in awe of how perfectly fluffy your pancakes are.

    Reply

    • erika

      Haha is “interesting” code for “interesting but I’d never try it”? I’d never considered the combo either until I was eating carrots and pb and thinking about my next pancake flavor! I think it’ll surprise you 🙂

      Reply

    • erika

      !! Good to know someone else likes carrots and pb together! Haha <3 let me know how you like them if you try them!! I hope they live up to your snack enjoyment 🙂

      Reply

    • erika

      Haha, Bam I wasn’t even thinking about Halloween when I made these, but you’re right! And the carrots do add a lot of nice moisture, but the peanut butter somehow dries them out a tiny bit and makes them soooo fluffy!

      Reply

      • The Healthy Flavor

        It’s my own recipe. I use coconut cream, peanut butter, a mix of regular and dark cocoa…and they are the yummiest pancakes I’ve ever had!! The coconut cream adds such a dimension of flavor and texture that I SWEAR I don’t even add syrup. They are THAT good…and I’m normally obsessed with syrup because pancakes are kind of dry or plain. I’ll be posting the recipe later ths week. 🙂