Carrot Cake Pancakes with Cream Cheese Glaze and toasted walnuts make a decadent Spring breakfast. They’d be perfect for an Easter brunch. If you’re a fan of carrot cake, these orange-hued pancakes have your name written all over them. I love them every bit as much as this Carrot Coffee Cake.
The base for these Carrot Cake Pancakes is a buttermilk pancake batter with grated carrots and toasted walnuts added to it plus all the spices you would find in a carrot cake- cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves. On top, a thick and creamy cream cheese glaze made from softened cream cheese, powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla extract.
You could add a drizzle of maple syrup to these pancakes but I think the cream cheese glaze makes them decadent enough.
Pancakes are my absolute favorite breakfast. It’s hard to go wrong with classic Buttermilk pancakes, but I also like to make fun, over-the-top pancakes that are more like dessert then breakfast. Like Double Stuffed Oreo Pancakes, Cake Batter Pancakes and Banana Pudding Pancakes. Or this pancake version of Carrot Cake.
It’s a springtime favorite.
HOW TO MAKE CARROT CAKE PANCAKES:
- Combine the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves and salt in a large bowl.
- In a second bowl, combine the brown sugar, buttermilk, vegetable oil, vanilla, and eggs. Mix well and add to the flour mixture. Mix just until there are no clumps of flour.
- Fold in the carrots and walnuts.
- Cook pancakes on a hot griddle or skillet using 1/4 cup of batter for each. Flip them over when bubbles form on the tops.
- To make the glaze, beat the cream cheese, milk, vanilla, and powdered sugar until smooth.
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Carrot Cake Pancakes
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
- 3/4 cup buttermilk
- 1 tablespoon Vegetable oil
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 eggs, lightly beaten
- 1 1/2 cups finely grated carrots
- 1/4 cup toasted chopped walnuts, plus extra for serving
- 4 ounces cream cheese, softened
- 2 tablespoons milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar
Instructions
- Combine flour, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, ground cloves, and salt in a large bowl. Stir together with a whisk.
- Combine brown sugar, buttermilk, vegetable oil, vanilla extract, and eggs. Mix together and then add to the flour mixture.
- Mix until there are no large clumps of flour.
- Fold in the carrots and walnuts.
- Heat a nonstick pan over medium heat. Coat with cooking spray.
- Pour about 1/4 cup of batter onto pan for each pancake.
- Cook for about 2 minutes, flip over and continue to cook until the pancakes are set in the middle.
- To make glaze, use an electric mixer to beat cream cheese, milk, vanilla extract and powdered sugar together until smooth.
Notes
Nutrition
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Added chopped raisins or dates. Great recipe!
This recipe is absolutely wonderful! Flawless from start to finish. I used it in my high school nutrition & wellness class and they LOVED IT!
So I just thought I would let you know…I modified your recipe in a few places to make it more or less vegan and with as little fat as possible, as my husband does not do well with a lot of fat and the vegan recipe I looked at looked way to complicated… My husband was giving me a bad time about the modifications (the dough looked a little funny) but everybody loved them and my husband ended up cooking them all for me! They stuck to the pan a bit and were slightly gooey in the middle with some of them (due to heating issues, I’m guessing) though I didn’t mind that myself. Just thought I’d let you know it’s an adaptable recipe and we loved it! Thanks for giving me a less complicated option that tasted delicious! I will certainly recommend the recipe with or without modifications!
These pancakes are amazing! I especially love the crunch of the walnuts!