Carrot Cake Pancakes
These decadent, fluffy carrot cake pancakes are easy to make. Make them with whole wheat flour (you won't be able to tell) or all-purpose.
Updated by Kathryne Taylor on April 17, 2025
These carrot cake pancakes are a breakfast treat worthy of holidays, like Easter, and leisurely springtime mornings. They’re flavored with tons of tender grated carrots, plus warming spices like cinnamon and ginger. Top with a dollop of softened, sweetened cream cheese, and they really taste like carrot cake.
Nothing makes me giddy like the sight of pancakes, piled high in the morning. I love to use whole wheat flour when I can; then the pancakes hold me over until lunchtime, unlike donuts or pastries. Hold the pastries, pass the pancakes! That said, you can choose whole wheat or all-purpose flour for these cakes.
How to Make the Best Carrot Cake Pancakes
The key is in the carrots! If you think about it, carrot cake bakes in the oven for 45 minutes, which is plenty of time for the carrots to soften. By contrast, pancakes are on the heat for 5 minutes.
To remedy this textural issue, we need finely grated and lightly steamed carrots. Fortunately, I’ve found easy methods to achieve these results.
Finely grating carrots by hand works well, but frankly, it requires too much effort before breakfast. You can save time with a food processor. Roughly chop the carrots and pulse them in the food processor until they’re finely grated but not mushy. This method is super easy and works even better than using the grating attachment, in my experience.
To soften the grated carrots, place them in a microwave-safe bowl. Lightly dampen a paper towel and use it to cover the bowl. Microwave the bowl on high for 2 minutes, then let the carrots cool while you mix the remaining ingredients.
Pancake Tips
Sufficiently preheat your cooking surface. It’s ready when a few drops of water sizzle immediately when they hit. Don’t start too soon, or your pancakes won’t brown and will be difficult to turn.
Start with just one pancake to test the temperature, even if you can fit more than one on your skillet. Better to have one sad pancake before you get the temperature right than multiple botched pancakes.
Griddles are great because you can make more pancakes at once. Electric griddles are nice because the temperature stays constant.
If you’re cooking on the stovetop, you’ll need to reduce the heat over time. Your temperature is too high if the pancakes are becoming too brown on the outside, but they’re still raw on the inside.
Lightly brush your griddle or skillet with oil or melted butter in between batches. Wipe up any excess with a paper towel so it doesn’t burn with time. If your surface is truly non-stick, you may not need to grease it at all.
More Flavorful Pancakes to Try
My pancake collection covers the basics and fun flavors like these:
- 3-Ingredient Banana Pancakes
- Buckwheat Pancakes
- Coconut Pancakes
- Pumpkin Pancakes
- Whole Wheat Banana Pancakes
Please let me know how your pancakes turn out in the comments! I love hearing from you.
Carrot Cake Pancakes
These carrot cake pancakes are decadent and delicious. Make them with whole wheat flour or all-purpose if you prefer. Recipe yields 11 to 12 medium pancakes.
Ingredients
Pancakes
- 2 cups finely grated carrots (about 6 big or 8 smallish carrots)*
- 1 cup (125 grams) whole wheat pastry flour, whole wheat flour or all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon fine salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon ground ginger
- 1 large egg
- 2 tablespoons packed coconut sugar or brown sugar
- 1 cup buttermilk**
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Avocado oil or butter, for cooking
Maple cream cheese topping
- 4 ounces cream cheese, softened
- 2 tablespoons real maple syrup, plus more for serving
- 2 tablespoons milk (more depending on desired consistency)
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- Dash of ground cinnamon
- Optional: Chopped toasted walnuts or pecans, for garnish
Instructions
- To prepare, spoon the cream cheese into a bowl and leave it out at room temperature to soften. Soften the carrots by placing them in a microwave-safe bowl, such as a glass liquid measuring cup. Lightly dampen a paper towel and use it to cover the bowl. Microwave the bowl on high for 2 minutes, then let the carrots cool (be careful; the bowl will be hot). If desired, preheat the oven to 200 degrees Fahrenheit to keep the pancakes warm before serving.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger.
- In a smaller bowl, whisk together the egg, sugar, buttermilk and vanilla. Stir in the cooled carrots, then pour the wet mixture into the dry mixture. Stir just until incorporated. Let the mixture rest for 5 minutes while you make the cream cheese topping and preheat your griddle/skillet.
- Whisk the cream cheese in a small bowl until it is soft and pliable, with no lumps. If your cream cheese is not soft enough to do this, try zapping it in the microwave for just a few seconds at a time. Whisk in the maple syrup, milk, vanilla and cinnamon. Feel free to sweeten with more syrup or further thin it out further with more milk. Set aside.
- Heat a large skillet (stainless steel or nonstick) over medium-low heat (if using an electric griddle, heat it to 350 degrees Fahrenheit). You’re ready to start cooking pancakes once a drop of water sizzles on contact with the hot surface. Lightly oil the cooking surface with a pat of oil or butter, then carefully wipe up the excess with a paper towel (nonstick surfaces likely won’t require any oil).
- Scoop ¼ cup of batter onto the hot skillet, leaving a couple of inches around each pancake for expansion. Cook until the bottom side is lightly golden and firm enough to flip, 2 to 3 minutes.
- Flip the pancakes, then cook for 1 to 2 minutes more, until they are lightly golden on both sides. Repeat the process with the remaining batter, lightly oiling the skillet and dialing down the heat if the pancakes turn dark on the outside before they are cooked through on the inside. If desired, place the pancakes on an ovenproof plate and keep them in the oven while you cook the remaining pancakes.
- To serve, top with maple cream cheese and an optional sprinkle of nuts. Serve with extra maple syrup on the side. Leftover pancakes will keep well in the refrigerator for 4 days or in the freezer for up to 6 months.
Notes
Adapted from the Joy the Baker Cookbook.
*If you have a food processor: Roughly chop the carrots, then pulse them in the processor until they are finely grated but not mush.
**Make your own buttermilk: Combine 1 cup milk with 1 tablespoon lemon juice or vinegar. Let it rest for 5 minutes, then proceed as directed.
Make it dairy free: Substitute plain dairy-free milk like almond milk for the buttermilk option provided above. Use oil instead of butter for greasing the pan. Use dairy-free cream cheese and more dairy-free milk for the topping.
Recipe edits: In 2025, I retested the recipe and tweaked it for clarity. I added more baking powder for loft and steamed the carrots for a nicer texture.
Nutrition
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice. See our full nutrition disclosure here.
I freaking love this idea! My favorite cake into a breakfast food! HELLO!
I’ve had carrot cake pancakes on the brain for awhile now — so interesting about grating the carrots super fine, I wouldn’t have thought of that and I’m sure my first attempt would have been crunchy too :)
I have this sneaking suspicion my boyfriend and I may be having pancakes for breakfast tomorrow morning…
Aaaand we did indeed have them for breakfast, and they were wonderful. :D Even my boyfriend, who’s not always the biggest fan of the idea of healthy alternatives to his favourite foods, wolfed them down. Fantastic recipe :) I loved how light and fluffy they turned out, and the cream cheese made a great topping.
Just wondering – do you think they’d work with fruit rather than with the carrot? I’d be curious to try some different flavour combinations, and I was wondering if you thought this would be an adaptable base recipe.
Hey Bec, so happy you two enjoyed the pancakes! Thanks for commenting to let me know! I am not a baking expert by any means, but I am always searching for those perfect whole grain base recipes. I compared Joy’s recipe for carrot cake pancakes to her recipe for blackberry orange pancakes and the liquid and dry measurements are just the same. Please give some other fruit a try and let us know how your pancakes turn out. I think they will be delicious with almost anything!
These look delicious, I love carrot cake & wouldn’t mind an excuse to eat a form of it for breakfast!
What a great idea! I’ve never tried this but now have it on my list for this weekend. I notice you stipulate the use of real maple syrup for the cream…my own suggestion to kick this up a notch would be to use pure organic maple syrup…the taste is so much better that regular and is healthier. Organic mapke syrup can be tough to find sometimes so if they don’t have it at your grocery store get it online like i do….I get it from http://www.rougemaple.com. I also would drizzle some on top of the pancakes, after all whats pancakes without maple syrup…but Then again I’m a maple syrup fanatic.
I love pancakes too Kathryne, so much! Such a wonderful recipe here from Joy the Baker, and you’ve made them look amazing my lady, it’s 2am-worthy, good looking (starving!) Ps. Are you getting excited for your trip or what? :) Will be in touch soon, yay! xx!
Beautiful, i love carrot muffins and cake, I’ll do the pancakes for sure!
yum, never had carrot cake pancakes, I do love carrot cake though!
I like Joy for the very same reasons you do. Her food is comfort, no fail, and delicious! Did you read her latest post about turning 31? I loved it! Deb’s food is awesome too. So the combination of both techniques from these two should be lovely, right? I always have carrots on hand and would love to try these pancakes soon!
These look fabulous, Kathryne! Thanks for the tip about grating the carrots–makes total sense. And that maple cream cheese topping looks absolutely decadent. I’m getting together with an old pancake-loving friend soon and think I’ll try these out on her. Oh, the things I’ll do for a friendship… :-)
whole wheat carrot cake pancakes.. what a brilliant breakfast idea!! i love delicious whole wheat recipes… will defi try this one!!
Love this! We buy organic carrots in bulk at Costco and I’m always looking for a way to use them.
I have really been meaning to get to making these since I got the Joy cookbook. I love her for a gazillion reasons, most of which you mentioned, and also because she is so sweet in real life! Love it when that happens.
These were absolutely AMAZING. I adjusted the recipe slightly (for one!) and only used: 1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour, 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon, a pinch of ginger and nutmeg, 1 teaspoon of baking powder, 1/2 cup of buttermilk and 2 small grated carrots and it they turned out literally gorgeous! So much so that I was literally eating each one as soon as I flipped it out the skillet! I ended up making 4 thick, medium-sized pancakes, and they definitely fill you up – not that that stopped me!
Yay, so glad to hear you enjoyed the pancakes! Reducing the recipe for one was a smart move. I’m almost always cooking for myself and tend to make big batches of everything… when will I ever learn?!
Made the pancakes for brunch today. Followed the recipe except for using FF whipped cream cheese for the topping and skimmed milk where milk was listed, because it’s what we had. The batter was a little thinner than expected, but made fabulous pancakes just the same. We used an electric griddle. I expect we will be making these again and again! Thank you!
So happy you enjoyed the pancakes, Sue! Thank you for commenting!
I’ve made these 6 times since getting my hands on the recipe – a breakfast celebration indeed!
Nice! I made 3 batches while I was playing around with this recipe, trying to get it just right. I’ve had my fill of carrots and cream cheese for a while!
Those look ah-may-zing! And what are the chances– I have all the ingredients on hand! Looks like it’s going to be a happy Monday morning. Thanks for sharing.
This is one recipe I am going to want to try. Thank you.
I love that you’ve used whole wheat pastry flour. It has fast become my flour of choice. It makes for a lighter texture in baked goods, doesn’t it? I would never have thought to make carrot pancakes, but what a terrific idea!
These look really tasty. I have never been a fan of plain pancakes but might just enjoy these thanks to all the carrots in it.
Wow! I love the idea of using carrots in pancakes! I love my carrots, but usually just eat them raw or juice them.
Mind if I borrow the recipe and make it egg and dairy free (and give you credit for where I saw it first)?
Have a great day!
I saw this in Joy the Baker’s cookbook too and it’s still bookmarked to make. Your version looks absolutely amazing, and it’s really making me want to make this ASAP, maybe even tonight!
I have been dying to try these too! (just like everyone else here…:) )
But your pictures make them look even more appetizing. Looks delicious.
Yes! I love carrot cake. I love pancakes. Three of my favorite bloggers love these carrot cake pancakes so will probably love them too!
YUM! how do you reheat these after freezing? does the toaster work best?
Delicious! I have some ww-fruit pancake batter in the fridge right now. But it’s not carrot cake pancake batter. Which means I must make more pancakes. :D
I reaally like this recipe! And I’m totally enjoying all your other pancake recipes!
I wish I had seen this recipe earlier. I tried out another carrot cake pancake recipe and it was a flop. This one turned out great! I had some walnuts laying around, so I toasted them and added them on top. Thanks for sharing the recipe.
Sorry for the delayed response, Riley, but I’m so happy to hear that you enjoyed the pancakes! Walnuts sound like a terrific addition.
holy pancakes! those look so INCREDIBLE!! pancakes are good for the soul:) thanks for sharing
These sound fantastic. I wonder if I could replace the whole wheat flour with a mixture of buckwheat and gluten-free flour though? I’m going to try…
That’s a great question, Fiona. Please let me know how the pancakes turn out if you try it!
Great idea. We make pancakes almost 3 times a week. This sounds like a delicious variation!!!
Great post! I’ve been eye-balling those pancakes also since I picked up Joy’s cookbook, but I find myself returning over and over to the always simple “Single Lady Pancakes.” Glad to encounter a fellow podcast listener out in the world! Thanks for sharing!
This recipie is one of the best i’ve ever tried. My family and i loved it so much. Thanks for this awesome recipie.
So happy to hear it, Tippiny! Thank you for commenting to let me know.
I love your banana oat pancakes. Could you sub in oat flour for the whole wheat pastry flour?
Sorry Whitney, I haven’t tried! If you give it a try, please let me know how they turn out. I did, however, try substituting carrots for the banana in the banana oat pancakes recipe and they turned out pretty dry. Maybe you could do half bananas and half carrots, or add a little yogurt to make up for the lost moisture of the bananas?
Thank for sharing this AWESOME recipe! They were easy & delish!!!! I didn’t have ginger and I upped it to 2 eggs. They were perfect! Thanks also for the buttermilk substitute. I used unsweetened vanilla milk and skipped the vanilla extract.
* unsweetened vanilla Almond milk. We also left off the icing and put a tablespoon or so on them. Yummy!!!
*tablespoon of syrup.
Thanks, Kyna! Glad you enjoyed the recipe.
These were great! I have a son with a lot of allergies so I modified by using mashed bananas as a substitute for egg and I used almond milk instead of buttermilk. I also substituted oconut oil to cook them. I added in some shredded zucchini too just to beaf up the veggies and nutritional value. :) I try to sneak veggies in wherever I can!
You are a savior!! Trying to find a breakfast for Mother’s Day and stumbled upon this recipe. I danced for joy when I realized we had all the ingredients (much to my brother’s amusement). Made for a delicious morning wonderful morning! Thank you so much Kate!!
Lauren, thank you for commenting! So glad your family enjoyed the pancakes on Mother’s Day.
always looking for good breakfast ideas to feed guys at the firehouse! we have a lot of good cooks so it’s always a competition and this recipe will get me on top ! at least this week :)
Greg
Thanks, Greg! I hope you guys love the pancakes!
These were a hit with our fam! I have tons of carrots from our CSA share. Appreciated the grating tips – using the two step process with the food processor worked perfectly. The batter looked so carroty, I was skeptical that the pancakes would form well, but they were perfect. I used lime juice to curdle 2% milk, and used white whole wheat flour and some extra ginger powder. I also sprinkled walnuts on my maple cream cheese & it was divine.
Thanks, Mik! Glad you all enjoyed the pancakes!
Would I have to adjust the ratio if using whole wheat all purpose flour instead of pastry flour?
Sorry for the double post I hadn’t realized the first one went through. I used whole wheat flour, this recipe is delicious!
Can I use all purpose whole wheat flour instead of pastry flour?
Yes, that should be fine!
I made these for myself and my 1.5 year old – they were so tasty and she gobbled them up :) I actually did not have enough carrots so I subbed a small oven-roasted beet (finely grated) for 1/2 cup of carrot and they still tasted (and looked) lovely (pink)! I didn’t have cream cheese so I subbed sour cream and a squeeze of lemon for the milk and cc in the topping – also delish. Thanks for posting!
Pink pancakes! Great idea! Thank you for sharing, Julia. Glad you both enjoyed the pancakes!
Brilliant idea! My little sister hates vegetables but pancake is one of her favorites. No matter what my mom does, she refuses to eat vegetables. Now I have an idea how to get her to eat at least carrots. Will tell mom about this.
Perfect, hope the carrot pancakes change her mind on carrots! Crossing my fingers!
We just made these for breakfast. Delicious! We didn’t have cream cheese so we altered the syrup recipe to include a touch more butter ;) and we loved it! The cake itself was a great density, but not too thick and a nice balance of savory/sweet. Thank you, Kate. You have two new fans in South Dakota.
Awesome! Thank you, Kelcy and Drew. Hope you enjoy my other recipes as well!
Hey There, no carrot cake or muffins recipes on your blog? Searched and searched but did not find any
No, I’m sorry! I’ll add those to my list!
Big hit. Followed recipe and came out great. I will try to reduce the sugar content somehow in this weeks batch. Maybe with some banana or blue berries not sure yet. I love the beet incorporation idea since beets have such a strong taste the carrots can help water that down a bit. Finally I wanted to ask if any tips for baking pancakes. I freeze usually half a batch of batter (btw still came out great) or freeze cooked pancakes. But my problem is that making pancakes takes so long for me and I get easily distracted and end up burning some or just sweating up a storm on the stove. Can I perhaps grease a baking sheet and plop the batter. Or make then in a muffin tin and a bit thicker.
Thank you, Clara! A baking sheet won’t work unless you get it really hot first (pancakes need to be poured onto a hot surface). Not sure about muffins. I invested in an electric griddle and now I can cook about six pancakes at once!
I made these this morning and they turned out great! Thanks for the tip on using the food processor which made making these much easier. Keep up the good work!
Thank you so much for sharing in the way you did. I was in search of a way to use my carrot pulp from juicing carrots and I can’t wait to incorporate it with this recipe!!
This is my basic whole wheat pancake recipe so I have so much confidence going forward. Blessings to you and K!
My husband bought some carrots to make chicken stock and then never got around to it, so I was stuck with 2 pounds of carrots in addition to the 1 pound of baby carrots for snacking. As a result, I’ve been scouring Pinterest to find recipes for carrots. These were amazing. I topped with raisins, and my husband and daughter said it was better than carrot cake. I prepared the carrots the night before, which made it easy to throw everything together in the morning.
These were fabulous- thank you! My 1 and 3 year old gobbled them up without syrup or anything else added.