Brighten up the morning of your loved ones by making this carrot cake pancake Christmas tree. This simple recipe turns into a show stopping morning meal thanks to the addition of cream cheese whipped cream and a little creative arranging in the plate. Feel free to serve these all year round, just skip the tree shaped serving suggestion and prepare them like regular pancakes.
Carrot Cake Pancake Stack
Ingredients
For the cream cheese whipped cream:
- 4 oz. 113g cream cheese, softened
- 1 tbsp. pure maple syrup
- 1 cup whipping cream
- ¼ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
For the Carrot Cake Pancakes:
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons packed brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon ground ginger
- 2 cups buttermilk
- 2 large eggs
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter melted and cooled
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup finely grated peeled carrots
- ½ cup finely chopped pecan halves
- ¼ cup raisins roughly chopped
- Vegetable oil as needed for cooking
- Optional: fruit of choice for serving
To serve:
- Pure maple syrup as needed for topping
Instructions
- Start by making the cream cheese whipped cream. Place the cream cheese and maple syrup in a large bowl. Beat until completely smooth. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Pour ½ cup of the cream into the cream cheese mixture. Beat until completely smooth. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Repeat 3 more times until all of the whipping cream has been added. Pour in the vanilla and beat until smooth. Chill in the refrigerator until the pancakes are ready. Give it a good whisk before serving.
- To make the pancakes: combine the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger in a large bowl. In a second bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, eggs, butter, and vanilla until smooth. Stir in the carrots, pecans and raisins.
- Gently stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. It’s okay if the batter is lumpy. Let the batter rest for 5 minutes.
- Heat a large 12-inch non-stick skillet over medium heat. Add 1 teaspoon of vegetable oil, use a paper towel to wipe a thin layer of oil over the surface.
- To make varying sizes of pancakes, scoop different amounts of batter (start with ¼ cup and adjust depending on the desired size of each layer) into the pan and cook for 2 to 4 minutes, until the tops are bubbly and the edges look dry. Flip and cook until done, 1 to 3 minutes, depending on the size of the pancake. Repeat the process with any remaining batter, greasing the pan as needed. Cook as many pancakes at once as your pan will allow.
- To make the Christmas tree, place the largest pancake on a serving plate. Top with a dollop of the cream cheese whipped cream and spread evenly over the pancake. Cover with the second largest pancake. Add another dollop of cream cheese whipped cream and spread it evenly over the pancake.
- Repeat using the remaining pancakes (and whipped cream), stacking them from largest to smallest. After the last pancake is placed on the stack, drop a large, oversized dollop of the whipped cream on top to finish off the “tree”.
- Serve at once with maple syrup, fresh fruit and any leftover whipped cream cheese.
