Special Friday Pancakes

I've been off work all week, but this morning I decided to make Lance breakfast. Joy the Baker asked that we make ourselves breakfast on her behalf--and provided many tasty recipes. So I decided to pretend that today was the weekend (since Lance will be gone tomorrow anyway, and maybe part of Sunday too), and I made him breakfast.

I'm a huge fan of the pancake. You have infinite variations with toppings, with flavors, with whatever you like. Don't like syrup? (I don't). Use applesauce, cream cheese and honey, jelly, cream cheese and jelly instead! Done!

So looking over Joy's list of breakfast treats, I was drawn to her Carrot Cake Pancakes. Ahh, I thought to myself, this would be the ones that I will make for Lance--no syrup, but a cream cheese topping that will make you almost feel a little bad for eating it for breakfast.

Of course I would have to modify it slightly. I decided that from her comments that the carrot was almost a little overpowering, so I grated half an apple to make up for about 3/4 cup of grated carrot. I also used 1/2 cup of oat flour to not make them a little healthier (though these pancakes are not about being healthy--they do have carrots in them, though! That's a vegetable!), added more nuts, and reduced the sugar by a smidgen, since apples are pretty sweet. I added a bit more spice, because I love ginger and cinnamon. What came out was delightful.

Smothered in a slightly sweet cinnamon cream cheese topping, these pancakes were quite tasty. I could see myself making them again, for sure. Enjoy!


Carrot Apple Pancakes
(adapted from Joy the Baker who adapted them from the Food Network)

Makes 8-10 pancakes

• 3/4 cup all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup oat flour*
• 1/4 cup pecans, chopped
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1-1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp ginger
• dash nutmeg
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 1 cup milk
• 1-1/4 cup finely grated carrot
• 1/2 large apple, grated (about 3/4 cup)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 recipe Cream Cheese Spread (found on Joy's original post)
  

In large bowl, mix together flours, nuts, baking powder, spices, and sugar. In a smaller bowl, combine the egg, milk, carrot and apple, and vanilla.

Get a skillet heating. Put a splash of oil in the bottom to make sure your pancakes won't stick. Add the wet ingredients to the dry, mixing well with a spoon to make sure you get all the flour off the bottom (always a problem with me). I always use one of my dirty measuring cups (the 1/4 cup works fantastically) to measure out the batter onto the skillet--I like smaller pancakes because they're easier to flip. And cuter.

Try not to cook the pancakes too hot, or your carrots will be very raw. I have a gas stove, so a nice medium-low flame works great. Let the pancakes cool for a minute, then stack 'em and slather the layers with the cream cheese spread. Enjoy!

*You can use whole wheat pastry, or just all purpose, if that's what you've got.