Healthy Carrot Cake Pancakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

Give your morning a tasty start with Healthy Carrot Cake Pancakes, a delicious breakfast meal featuring carrots, bananas, maple syrup, and even rolled oats!

The most delicious pancakes... with veggies snuck in!

If you know me, you probably know that I love a good sweet tooth-fulfilling breakfast. Any type of sweet that passes as a breakfast food, and I'm sold! Well, I must say that these healthy carrot cake pancakes with cream cheese frosting do the trick.

They're thick, fluffy, and perfectly sweet, all without being overly indulgent. Plus, the ingredients are healthier than what you usually get with pancakes!

So load up on ingredients, and add these to your Erin Lives Whole pancake archive, which already features the delicious Oatmeal Blender Pancakes and Fluffly Paleo Pancakes. Let's dive in!

Ingredients in carrot cake pancakes

Healthy carrot cake pancakes feature so many yummy ingredients. We'll begin with a protein-boosting portion of rolled oats, followed by other delicious items like bananas, almond milk, maple syrup, and cinnamon! Then, we'll create the perfect frosting with cream cheese.

Pancakes

• Rolled oats: Start with 2 heaping cups of rolled oats. You can use a gluten free version if preferred.
• Banana: Next, you'll need 1 small ripe banana.
• Egg: 1 egg will help the dry and wet ingredients bind together.
• Almond milk: Include 1 cup of almond milk to achieve the correct consistency.
• Maple syrup: 1 tablespoon of maple syrup tastes delicious as a sweetener.
• Vanilla: Include 1 teaspoon of vanilla. Though the flavor is subtle, it is a must!
• Baking powder: 1 teaspoon of baking powder will help the pancakes fluff up.
• Baking soda: Likewise, throw in ½ teaspoon of baking soda.
• Salt: Include ¼ teaspoon of salt.
• Cinnamon: 1 teaspoon of cinnamon will taste great with the carrots and cream cheese!
• Nutmeg: The same goes for ½ teaspoon of nutmeg.
• Dried ginger: Finish off the spices with ¼ teaspoon of dried ginger.
• Carrots: You will need 1.5 cups of shredded carrots.
• Raisins: Include ½ cup of raisins to add texture and a bit of sweet flavor.

Cream Cheese Frosting

• Cream cheese: To create the frosting, you will need ½ block of softened cream cheese.
• Almond milk: Use 3 tablespoon of almond milk to break down the ingredients.
• Maple syrup: 2 teaspoon of maple syrup will add a delicious sweet taste.
• Vanilla: Last but not least, include 1 teaspoon of vanilla.

Tools needed to make healthy carrot pancakes

To make your own healthy carrot cake pancakes, you will need a blender, spatula or spoon, skillet, nonstick spray (or butter), mixing bowl, and whisk. You will also need the following measuring cups: ¼ tsp, ½ tsp, 1 tsp, 1 tbsp, ⅓ cup, ½ cup, and 1 cup.

How to make healthy carrot cake pancakes with cream cheese frosting

If you've ever made a batch of pancakes from scratch, these are quite similar! We will simply mix all of the ingredients before cooking the batter on a skillet, part by part. Then, we'll finish things off with an easy-to-make cream cheese frosting.

To begin, use a high speed blender to grind the oats until they reach a flour-like consistency.

Add the banana, egg, almond milk, maple syrup, vanilla, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger.

Blend until everything is well combined but not over-blended. Stop to scrape down the sides if needed.

Next, stir in the shredded carrots and raisins.

Let the batter rest for about 5 minutes to thicken up (you want it to be pretty thick).

Grease a skillet with butter or nonstick spray and set over medium-low heat. Pour ⅓ cup of the batter into the skillet.

Let cook until bubbles have formed and the bottom is golden brown, and then flip.

Repeat until all of the pancakes are made.

To make the cream cheese frosting, whisk together the cream cheese, almond milk, maple syrup, and vanilla.

Add to the top of the pancakes while they're warm.

Missing an ingredient or two? Here are some items that can be easily swapped with other pantry staples. Many of these are what make this carrot cake pancakes recipe a healthy option, so I recommend keeping swaps to a minimum.

• Rolled oats: Out of oats? You can use regular all-purpose flour. 1 cup should do the trick.
• Egg: You can use ¼ cup of applesauce instead of the egg.
• Almond milk: Almond milk can be swapped with your preferred type of milk at a 1:1 ratio.
• Maple syrup: You can replace maple syrup with similar liquid sweeteners like molasses or honey.
• Baking soda: If you're out of baking soda, you can use extra baking powder to replace it. Use 1.5 teaspoon of powder to replace the soda in these pancakes.

Want to add some chocolatey flavor? Use mini M&Ms! These add both flavor and color to the pancakes and make them that much more fun, especially for kiddos.

What makes these pancakes healthier?

On my mission to make a healthy carrot cake pancake, I stuck to my favorite ingredient swaps and was able to omit many of the items that contribute empty calories to standard recipes, like full fat milk, white sugar, all-purpose flour, and even heavy cream.

Rolled oats
To add extra protein and nutrients, I used rolled oats in place of all-purpose flour. This easy swap tastes fantastic, works well to form a thick batter, and is way more nutrient-rich than all-purpose flour.

Almond milk
Almond milk is my go-to and works so well in both the pancakes and the frosting!

Maple syrup
Maple syrup makes the perfect all-natural swap for granulated sugar. It's perfectly sweet and tastes delicious!

If you liked this recipe, you'll want to try these!

Treat yourself to some more sweet breakfast meals with these delicious recipes! All use healthier ingredients than usual and are great options to kickstart your day.

• Banana Bread Baked Oatmeal
• Best Ever Cinnamon Rolls
• Healthy Peanut Butter Banana Bread
• Cake Batter Overnight Oats