Have kids who love carrots at home? Then this easy and healthy Blender carrot pancake recipe might become a staple in your home. Loaded with shredded carrots and fiber rich oats these carrot pancakes will have your family excited for breakfast every time you make it.
Carrot cake is one of my favorite desserts! The warm spices, buttery frosting and sweetness from carrots makes this classic dish so irresistible. I wanted to bring the flavors of the classic cake in a pancake and also make it healthy. And it worked! This carrot pancake is a like a dessert in a bowl, but guilt free and healthy.
What goes inside these carrot pancakes?
I generally like using ingredients that are easily found in my pantry. These carrot pancakes have
Oats –
Oats are great for breakfast. They are fiber rich and contain a lot of essential nutrients. They are gluten free too but make sure you get certified gluten free oats if you cannot tolerate gluten. The high dietary fiber in oats promotes digestion and ensures smooth bowel movements. We include oats regularly in our diet, especially for my children. I love using oats in pancakes, muffins, porridges, smoothies etc.
Carrots –
As the name suggests, carrots are the star ingredient in this recipe. We will be using finely grated carrots. You can do this easily in a food processor or using a grater. Carrots are naturally sweet and like oats contain a high amount of fiber. They are also excellent source of Vitamin A and beta carotene.
We have all grown up hearing our parents and grandparents say how we should eat carrots to have a good eye sight. It’s true. The Vitamin A in carrots helps maintain our eye health. Beta carotene helps in building immunity in our children. Carrots also have a lot of other nutrients like iron, potassium, calcium, vitamin C, K etc.
Carrots are great for babies and toddlers. That’s why I like to sneak them in smoothies, muffins and pancakes whenever I can.
Milk –
Can’t make pancakes without some milk. But feel free to use any milk of your choice. Cow’s milk, almond milk, soy milk, oat milk, coconut milk all work well in the recipe.
Egg, baking powder, applesauce –
Ingredients that will help make the pancakes fluffy and spongy. You can always
Maple syrup or honey –
for some natural sweetness. I try to avoid processed sugar as much as possible.
Spices –
Can’t make carrot cake pancakes without some spices now! Can we?
Ingredient swaps:
Most of the ingredients in the recipe can be easily found in our pantry. But if you can’t use some ingredients for allergy and other reasons, here are some ingredients that you can swap.
- Egg –I have not tried the recipe without egg, but you could substitute with a flax egg. (To make flax egg, mix 1 tbsp ground flax seeds with 3 tbsp water and let it sit for sometime until it becomes gelatinous or slightly thick)
- Milk – Use any milk that would work for you.
- Maple syrup – substitute with honey / coconut sugar / agave etc
- Applesauce – can substitute with ripe mashed banana
- Oats – Substitute with whole wheat flour or all-purpose flour as needed. But you will have to change the proportion of liquid in the batter accordingly.
How to make these carrot pancakes?
These pancakes are ridiculously simple to make. The hardest part would be the shredding of carrots and even that is simplified if you use a food processor. But if you have grated carrots, the recipe gets done in no time.
All you need to do is add all the ingredients except the carrots in a blender and blend until smooth.
When the batter looks smooth, add in the carrots and other top ins if you desire.
Cook them on a well-greased pan until bubbles start appearing on the sides. Then flip and cook the other side.
These carrot pancakes might not look very pretty and they might turn dark fast. But They taste pretty good. To prevent them from turning black very fast, reduce the heat mid-way while cooking.
You can serve this some Greek yogurt, chopped nuts, coconut flakes and a generous drizzle of maple syrup or honey. Since the pancakes themselves are not very sweet, you can drizzle maple syrup as needed.
Make ahead option-
You can make these healthy carrot pancakes ahead and freeze them for later use. To freeze place them in freeze safe containers for upto 2 to 3 months. When you want to use them, simply heat them on the microwave or oven until they become slightly warm.
Add ins to the recipe :
- Chopped walnuts, pecans or almonds ( skip for toddler who can’t handle nuts or have allergies)
- Dried fruits like raisins, cranberries
- Coconut flakes
- Chia seeds
- Choco chips
- Spices and flavorings as per your taste
These carrot pancakes are a fun way to make your kids eat their veggies. I always have a tough time making my youngest eat carrots. My eldest loves carrots raw and will eat them gladly as a snack. But with my youngest he does not like it when it’s cooked or raw and therefore ends up picking it out of his food and setting it aside. Now when grated carrots go inside a pancake batter, it becomes impossible for him to pick the carrots out of the pancakes. Since they are served with maple syrup or honey, he has no trouble finishing it. I would love for him to eat the veggies as is, but until I get there, I will take small wins like this 😊
Let’s see how to do these healthy and kid friendly carrot pancakes –
Toddler Carrot Cake Pancakes Recipe:
Prep time – 15 minutes
Cook time – 15 minutes
Ingredients:
- ¾ cup applesauce
- 1 egg
- 1/3 cup milk
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 3 tbsp maple syrup
- 11/2 cups old fashioned rolled oats
- 11/2 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp cinnamon
- A pinch of nutmeg
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 cup grated carrots
- Butter for cooking
Method:
- Grate the carrots finely using a food processor or a grater. I used approximately 2 big carrots to give me 1 cup of grated carrots.
- Add the oats, baking powder, salt, spice powders, egg, apple sauce, milk, maple syrup, vanilla to a food processor or blender and blend until smooth. You might have to blend it in high speed.
- Remove the batter from the blender and add it a bowl.
- Now mix in the grated carrots and other add ins If adding and mix.
- Heat a griddle with butter and pour the pancake batter on the heated griddle. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes in medium heat until you see the edges starting to brown.
- Gently, use a spatula to flip them on the other side. Don’t wait for lot of bubbles to appear before flipping as the pancakes might become very brown. You can reduce the heat mid-way if they start to brown too quickly.
- Cook on the other side until it becomes golden brown.
- Remove and serve with Greek yogurt, maple syrup and toppings of your choice.
