Carrot Cake Pancakes

Now that Will is finally here and I can't stuff my face with every fattening food in sight, I'm making a conscious effort to eat healthier. That means having turkey sandwiches for lunch instead of Velveeta shells and cheese, and eating apples and peanut butter for snacks instead of potato chips and Drumsticks. Being pregnant definitely has its advantages, food-wise, I cannot lie.

That's part of the reason I was attracted to this recipe in January's issue of Cooking Light. Carrot cake pancakes! They sound so decadent, but then you look at the ingredients and realize, hey, these are actually pretty healthy. I felt like I was having dessert for dinner, but I was actually eating something that wasn't really all that bad for me. I loved the honey butter topping, but if you're being less diet-conscious than I am right now, I think the cream topping from these banana nut pancakes would be delicious here. It would really make these pancakes taste like carrot cake.

Because I was being so healthy, I thought it would be okay to indulge in a couple of slices of bacon with dinner. I just can't quit bacon. We all really liked these pancakes; they're flavorful and yummy and will definitely be repeated in our house!

Carrot Cake Pancakes
source: Cooking Light January 2010; recipe also found here

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup chopped walnuts, toasted (I used pecans)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
Dash of ground cloves
Dash of ground ginger
1/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup low-fat buttermilk
1 tablespoon canola oil
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
2 cups finely grated carrot (about 1 pound)
Cooking spray
3 tablespoons butter, softened
2 tablespoons honey

1. Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups, and level with a knife. Combine flour and next 7 ingredients (through ginger) in a large bowl, stirring with a whisk. Combine 1/4 cup brown sugar and next 4 ingredients (through eggs); add sugar mixture to flour mixture, stirring just until moist. Fold in 2 cups carrot.

2. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Spoon 4 (1/4 cup) batter mounds onto pan, spreading with a spatula. Cook for 2 minutes or until tops are covered with bubbles and edges look cooked. Carefully turn pancakes over; cook 1 minute or until bottoms are lightly browned. Repeat procedure twice with remaining batter. Combine butter and honey in a small bowl; serve with pancakes.