These healthy carrot cake pancakes are made with whole grain oats and no regular flour for a hearty and delicious breakfast. These fluffy pancakes are gluten-free and dairy-free and a nutritious addition to your table!
Bursting with the warm spices of carrot cake, these oat flour pancakes are almost like having dessert for breakfast. These healthy carrot cake pancakes are perfect for Easter brunch or any day of the week.
They cook up quickly and make for a fun and different breakfast option the whole family and guests will enjoy. For a more indulgent and typical brunch option, I love making this sheet pan french toast made with brown sugar and vanilla. It’s perfect for feeding a crowd – no standing over the stove.
To make this recipe, you can use my buttermilk oatmeal pancake recipe and add lots of spices and carrots to make them a little more special.
Ingredients to gather
Oat flour based pancakes are easy to make. You can buy oat flour but I recommend making your own. It’s cheaper and you only need a blender and oats to make it.
Here’s what you’ll need to make the recipe:
- Old fashioned or rolled oats (or oat flour). Start with rolled oats to get the proper measure and texture. The oats will be the base and you won’t need any regular (wheat) flour at all.
- Non-dairy milk. This recipe works with both dairy-free and regular milk. Using regular milk will provide a higher protein recipe.
- Egg. I haven’t experimented with an egg-free version of this recipe but a liquid plant egg will likely work to make a vegan recipe. The egg adds some protein and helps bind the recipe.
- Vanilla extract. This ingredient adds depth of the flavor to the pancakes and lends that signature dessert element. If you don’t have vanilla extract, you can also use coconut or almond extract. You can also use a vanilla-flavored non-dairy milk for a vanilla flavor.
- Baking Powder. Including baking powder is key to make the fluffiest pancakes possible. This plus letting the batter sit for a few minutes for the oats to fully hydrate.
- Cinnamon, Nutmeg, Ginger. These warm spices are classic and necessary for traditional carrot cake flavors.
- Fresh carrots. Use freshly grated carrots for the best results. If you have leftover whole carrots, this recipe is a great way to use them up. Just be sure to grate them just before starting the recipe. Avoid the shredded carrots in the bag – those tend to be dry and will affect the final texture of the recipe.
Make oat flour from regular oats
To make your own oat flour, you just need some old fashioned oats, a blender and a few seconds. Take care to only blend the oats for a few seconds. If you blend it too fine or leave it too coarse, the pancakes will not be light and fluffy.
For this recipe as written, I took 1 ½ cups of whole, old fashioned oats and put them into the blender to make my own oat flour.
Tips for the best results
- Blend the oats for a few seconds to get a light, flour-like texture. Don’t grind the oat flour too much. When making your own oat flour, it’s easy to make the flour too fine or to take it so far that it becomes gummy.
- Use your favorite milk. To keep this recipe dairy-free, use plain almond or cashew milk but you can use regular milk too.
- Let the mixture sit to thicken for at least 10 minutes. This will produce the big fluffy pancakes in the photos.
- Grate the carrots fresh and small. Using a bag of shredded carrots would be a mistake. They are drier and often quite hard. Freshly grated carrots will add some moisture and a subtle carrot flavor not crunch.
The sugar is optional but does add more flavor and (obvious) sweetness to the pancakes. If you prefer pancakes that are sweet on their own, go for it!
Once you’ve tried this recipe, use up your traditional oats with one of the recipes below. These are all easy ways to remix that bowl of morning oatmeal!
Healthy oatmeal recipes
Carrot Cake Oat Flour Pancakes
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups old fashioned oats (to grind into flour)
- 1 cup almond or cashew milk
- 1 egg, beaten
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- 2 tablespoon brown sugar (optional)
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon or more
- ¼ teaspoon ground ginger
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ cup grated carrots, plus more for garnish
- chopped walnuts (optional)
- oil for the griddle
Instructions
- Place the oats in a clean, dry blender. Blend or pulse for 5-10 seconds – about until the oats turn into the texture of flour. Combine the ground oats with the milk and egg. Let sit 10 minutes to let the mixture thicken.
- Stir in the baking powder, sugar (if using), spices, vanilla extract, and grated carrots.
- Heat a griddle or large skillet over medium, until small drops of water sizzle and evaporate within a few seconds. Swirl butter until it melts but doesn't brown.
- Drop two tablespoons of pancake batter onto the griddle. Cook pancakes – 3 at a time- in the hot pan until small bubbles form on the top. Flip once. The pancakes should be golden brown. Serve warm with butter, maple syrup, extra carrots, and chopped walnuts. Enjoy!
Notes
- Blend the oats for a few seconds to get a light, flour-like texture. Don’t grind the oat flour too much. When making your own oat flour, it’s easy to make the flour too fine or to take it so far that it becomes gummy.
- Let the mixture sit to thicken for at least 10 minutes. This will produce the big fluffy pancakes in the photos.
- Use your favorite milk. To keep this recipe dairy-free, use plain almond or cashew milk but you can use regular milk too.
- Grate the carrots fresh and small. Using a bag of shredded carrots would be a mistake. They are drier and won’t work as well.
Danielle
I made this recipe this morning for Father’s Day as my man is a sucka for carrot cake ANYTHING! This recipe did not disappoint. It was delicious! Thank you for all the F.Y.I instructions!
Marisa
So glad you got to try them! Such a great idea for Father’s Day breakfast!
Malen
Hi I just want to ask–I am a diabetic is this recipe just ok?
Marisa
Hi! I recommended checking with your healthcare provider for any diabetes diet-related questions and advice.
Trish
Great recipe! I’d like to subscribe to your newsletter!
hazel wagner
Perfect recipe. Absolutely delicious!
Beverly
Really not great – not the flavor nor the texture. Sprinkled on top, the shredded (fresh, by hand) carrots did not incorporate. Better just mixed into the batter. But there is no sweetener at all. I prefer very lightly sweet pancakes that I do not need to top with syrup.
Marisa
Thanks for sharing your experience. The recipe works fine with a little sugar added to batter if you’d like.
Bernetta L Hill
Question. Can I use steel cut oats in this recipe, as it is the only oatmeal I eat?
Marisa
Hi Bernetta,
I have not tested that so I can’t say whether it would work. If you do try it, you’ll need to adjust the oat amount since there’s twice the amount of steel cut oats per cup than traditional/old-fashioned. Let me know if you try it!
Ann roberts
These were not good. I threw the recipe away
Marisa
Thanks for your comment. Sorry to hear you didn’t like the pancakes. Feel free to share more details about what didn’t work for you.
Katie
Have you tried letting this sit overnight in the fridge, adding the baking powder the morning of? Just curious if anyone has tried it?
Tiffany
Absolutely looooved these, served them with honey! Will definitely be making them again soon, maybe even double the batch size for the whole family.
Marisa
So happy to hear that Tiffany! Love the honey idea too!
Ali M
Is it 1 1/2 cup of oats ground into oat flour or 1 1/2 cup of oat flour (from 2 cups of oats)?
Marisa
Hi! It’s 1 1/2 cups of old fashioned/traditional oats. Thanks for the question.
Benitta
I made these pancakes for my 14 month old daughter and she loved them! I just made half the recipe and omitted the sugar. Great way to sneak veggies in her diet 🙂
Kathy Clark
I’m sending this recipe to my daughter who is gluten intolerant and her husband who is dairy sensitive. I think it will be a perfect idea for breakfast for them!
I’ll let you know how they like it!
Thank you for sharing