Gluten-Free Carrot Cake Pancakes

Recipe by Dianne Dillman, Shuttle Contributor, Food Writer, Professional Chef, and Weavers Way working member

Ingredients

  • 1 cup oats, not steel cut (or substitute ⅞ cup oat flour)
  • 2 large carrots, unpeeled and washed
  • 1 cup almond flour
  • 1 tbsp. coconut sugar, maple syrup, brown sugar, or date sugar
  • 2 tsp. baking powder
  • ½ tsp. sea salt
  • 2 tsp. ground cinnamon
  • ¼ tsp. ground nutmeg
  • ½ tsp. ground ginger
  • 1 pinch ground cloves
  • 1-½ cups non-dairy milk (I used a cashew, hemp, and almond combo)
  • 1 large egg
  • ½ tsp. vanilla extract
  • ½ cup raisins (optional)
  • ½ cup chopped walnuts or pecans (optional)
  • Coconut oil, avocado oil, or butter for the pan

Other optional additions: sliced banana, maple syrup, caramelized nuts

Makes nine 5-inch pancakes

This smashingly good breakfast was inspired by a recipe in a soon-to-be-published gluten-free cookbook. Unfortunately, those pancakes were dreadful: gummy, flat, and inappropriately spiced. My remake will bring joy to your Sunday morning. Prep the ingredients except for the carrots the night before to have these ready for the starving and impatient.

Directions

  1. Grind the oats in a food processor or a blender until flour forms. Dump in a medium- sized mixing bowl.
  2. Grate the carrots in a food processor with a medium coarse blade or on a box grater using the medium coarse holes. Set aside.
  3. Add to the oat flour the almond flour, coconut sugar, baking powder, sea salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, cloves, and sea salt. Whisk to combine thoroughly.
  4. Whisk the non-dairy milk, vanilla, and egg until well combined. Pour over the oat flour mix and stir, adding the grated carrots, raisins, and nuts (if using) before the mixture is fully combined. It should be a little loose, between spreading and running consistency. If it’s too stiff, add a little more milk; gluten-free flours are thirsty.
  5. Heat a heavy-bottomed pan or cast-iron griddle over medium heat until hot but not smoking. Working swiftly, oil the pan lightly and dollop out spoonfuls of batter, leaving space between for spreading. Spread out the batter with the spoon if necessary. Let bake until evenly browned on the bottom and starting to firm around the edges. Flip to cook through on the other side.
  6. Serve with sliced bananas, maple syrup, and a few caramelized nuts.