Carrot Cake Pancakes

So a couple weeks ago I bought some baby carrots wholeheartedly believing I'd enjoy them dipped in hummus as a healthy snack.  (I was so wrong).  So rather than admit that I was wrong to my husband who questioned my purchase of three pounds of baby carrots, I set out to use them up.

Carrot Cake Pancakes- a sweet idea for Easter breakfast!

These pancakes we had for dinner (I'm a huge advocate for breakfast at dinner...or breakfast for breakfast...you know, whenever I make the time to make breakfast...) were inspired by a menu item I saw at work. (I think we're in for a lot of food inspiration now that I work at a food service company...you know, in addition to living on a produce farm.  All I think about is food now.  It's fun!).  I pulled the recipe from here.  These pancakes are not very sweet so I'd definitely serve them with the cream cheese mixture and consider adding the raisins to the batter in the future as well.

I loved the carrot shredding tip from Cookie + Kate's version of this recipe.  I'll never again dread making carrot cake because this was so easy.  And yes, I'd much rather wash the food processor than shred carrots (along with my fingers) on a box grater.

Grate carrots using the shredder plate.

Then switch to the normal blade.

Ta-da! Finely grated carrots!

Wet ingredients, dry ingredients, and carrots.

Add the dry ingredients to the wet, then mix.  Do not mix thoroughly.  Some flour showing is okay.
Then add the carrots.

Let rest for five minutes.

Thankful for my griddle which has saved many pancakes from burning.

Carrot Cake Pancakes

Makes about 15 small pancakes

Pancakes

Ingredients:

1 cup flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

pinch of ginger

freshly grated nutmeg

1/4 cup chopped walnuts (optional, I used this)

raisins (optional, I did not use them, but would if I made it again to add some sweetness)

1 large egg

2 tablespoons packed brown sugar

1 cup buttermilk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups shredded carrots (about 1 pound of carrots)

Directions:

In a bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, walnuts (if using) and raisins (if using).

In a separate bowl, mix the egg, brown sugar, buttermilk, and vanilla extract together.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry and combine.  Add the carrots and mix to combine.  Let sit for five minutes.

While batter is resting, preheat a griddle (or a cast iron pan).  Grease with butter or oil and spoon small pancakes onto the preheated surface.  These take a little longer to cook than traditional pancakes and there is less sugar in them than a normal pancake so they won't burn so quickly either.  I let mine sit for probably 3-4 minutes on each side, but it will vary if you're using a different surface or temperature.

Cream Cheese Filling
Ingredients:

8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
2 tablespoons (1 ounce) butter, room temperature
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla
2 tablespoons milk

Directions:

Beat the cream cheese and butter together.  Add powdered sugar and beat until smooth.  Add vanilla and milk and beat.