Carrot "Cake" Flapjacks

My love affair with carrot cake bloomed late in life but better late than never. As previously mentioned, I had very finicky tastes for a long time, I heard carrot cake and I immediately thought: gross. That was until my friend Lindsey made a carrot cake about four years ago and I realized what I had been missing. This was during a time period that we celebrated any little thing for an excuse for her to bake and us to indulge such as "I broke up with a boyfriend" cupcakes, "I love fun-employment before I start new job" cake, "staph infection on the toe keeping me from work" brownies, "I bought a new fabulous purse" cookies... it was glorious. Ever since then, her carrot cake was my favorite.

Now I've also mentioned in past posts that I am not a baker. I am very right-brain driven and do not possess the patience and math/science internal wiring to do everything precisely, I'm much more approximate and enjoy putting my own spin on things. This bodes well for cooking where there is more room for whimsical innovation but no, not baking. However, I came across this recipe in Cooking Light's Quick and Easy Low-Cal Recipes and decided this is something I thought I could make without messing up. I even added a little more brown sugar and cloves, a tiny more vanilla, just because I wanted to. These provide a tasty alternative to the common pancake, featuring warm spices and bright carrot flavor! Before heading out of town for the Fourth of July weekend, I made these for Mr. Max and myself as we began our 4-day vacation.

Nutritional facts per serving (serving size = 2 flapjacks) include: 244 calories, 7.6g fat, 7.7g protein, 35g carb, 2.2g fiber, 2.3g iron, 175mg calcium.

Grocery List:

• 1 1/4 cup flour
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/8 tsp. ground nutmeg
• Dash ground cloves
• Dash ground ginger
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 3/4 cup low-fat buttermilk
• 1 tbsp. canola oil
• 1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 2 cups finely grated carrot

Start by lightly spooning flour into a dry measuring cup and level with a knife. Combine the flour with the next 7 ingredients in a large bowl, stirring with a whisk.

Stir in the brown sugar, buttermilk, canola oil and vanilla extract, stirring until moist. Shred about 2 cups worth of carrot into the mixture and stir it in.

Heat a large nonstick skillet or griddle over medium heat and spray with cooking spray.

Pour about 1/4 cup batter onto the hot skillet and spread evenly to form a circle disk. Cook for about 2 minutes and lightly light with a spatula to flip or until tops are covered with bubbles and edges look cooked - if you have trouble, let it cook a little longer until more firm.

After carefully turning the pancakes over, cook another minute or until the bottoms are lightly browned. Repeat procedure with remaining batter.

 

Keep the finished hotcakes warm in the oven while you prepare the rest.

When your pancakes are finished, add butter and maple syrup if you choose and enjoy, we certainly did!

Served with scrambled eggs and bacon