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Thursday, January 28, 2010

Carrot Cake Pancakes

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Dessert for breakfast? I'm not complaining! And actually, these have some healthy elements...carrots, whole wheat flour,...I guess the healthiness ends there when you top them with cream cheese & maple syrup :) We enjoyed these for Sunday brunch last weekend, amongst lots of chatter and story-telling with two of my truest friends. Everyone was in agreement that they would've been even better with the addition of some chopped nuts. I had intended to include those, but it completely slipped my mind! Next time, I'll add nuts and perhaps some crushed pineapple to even more closely resemble carrot cake.

I found this recipe on the blog Closet Cooking, which has a lot of creative recipes and beautiful photography. The original recipe is listed below, but I recommend doubling if you're serving more than 3 people. Also, Kevin's adaptation had more of a thick cream cheese spread, whereas we added a lot more syrup to make more of a syrupy cream cheese topping. I'm guessing either way is equally delicious-the cream cheese topping is a must!

Carrot Cake Pancakes
as seen on Closet Cooking

Ingredients:
-1/2 cup whole wheat flour
-1/2 cup all purpose flour
-1 tsp baking powder
-1 tsp cinnamon
-1/4 tsp ginger
-1/8 tsp nutmeg
-1 cup milk (or buttermilk)
-1 egg
-1/4 cup brown sugar
-1 cup carrot (grated)
-4 oz. cream cheese (room temperature)
-3 tablespoons maple syrup
-powdered sugar to taste (I omitted this, which may explain why my cream cheese mixture was so thin?)

Directions:
1. Mix the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg in a large bowl.
2. Mix the milk, egg, sugar, and carrot in another bowl. (I microwaved the grated carrot for a minute to soften)
3. Mix the wet and dry ingredients. Do not overmix.
4. Grease and heat a skillet. Pour 1/4 cup of the batter into the pan at a time, flipping when the surface bubbles and the bottom is golden brown (2-3 minutes).
5. Cook the other side until the bottom is golden brown.
6. Mix the cream cheese and maple syrup, adding powdered sugar if desired to sweeten.
7. Top pancakes with cream cheese mixture.