Carrot Cake Pancakes

So, apparently, yesterday was National Pancake Day.
How do these things go by without me knowing about them?
I don't know. Oh, well.

We actually had these pancakes a couple of weeks ago.
The recipe stuck out to me, when I was flipping through a copy of Cooking Light and I really loved the whole idea of these pancakes.
Anytime you can get vegetables in, the recipe has the word cake in it, and it is considered breakfast food- you can bet I will give it a try.

My family wasn't so sure though. They had me whip up a batch of Buttermilk Pancakes too, just in case they didn't like the Carrot Cake ones.
I didn't care, because if they didn't like them, that just meant there would be more leftovers for me to enjoy on another day.

This recipe was a even split. Half of my family liked it and half of them didn't. Everyone still ate at least one, but a few family members didn't appreciate all the "stuff" they had packed inside.
I don't mind pancakes with "stuff", so I just put the leftover pancakes in a baggie, placed them in the freezer and we warmed them in the toaster later that week.

I don't want you to think that these are light and fluffy pancakes. They aren't. But, keep in mind they aren't meant to be light and fluffy. They have a similar texture to actual carrot cake, which is usually more dense than light.
I used pecans instead of walnuts and I didn't make the honey butter. We just drizzled these with honey.

The great thing about these pancakes is that they are tasty enough to be eaten without any syrup or honey, which makes for a quick breakfast on the go or snack, if you make them and freeze some for later.

Recipe for Carrot Cake Pancakes

I also made these Basic Buttermilk Pancakes

Cookie Carnival-Inside Out Carrot Cake Cookies and the best dish you can make with spaghetti squash or quinoa, (again)!

I have a younger brother who attends a university about 45 minutes away from where I live. Every week my parents make a trip to that city and every week they meet up with my brother for lunch. On many occasions, I send treats, cakes, snacks, or whatever I have made recently with my parents to my brother.
Well, I guess he has come to expect these goodies. This past week he called me and said, "So, what are you making me this week? a cake or something?" I had to laugh for a minute because I really didn't have anything planned, that would be ready for him. I didn't want to disappoint him, so I looked through my need-to-make/want-to-make dessert recipe stack and found this month's recipe for the Cookie Carnival- Inside Out Carrot Cake Cookies. It was fast, it was easy, and it just so happens that my brothers' favorite thing in the whole, wide world is- Carrot Cake!
Can I say that this worked out perfectly to my advantage? Yes.
I have made him carrot cake before-(HERE and HERE) and so I knew these little cookies would be just the right thing. The only difficult part was actually having some left to send to him. These little guys were good. I had to put some in a plastic container and hide them in the fridge.
The cookie batter is super easy and the frosting is just a little cream cheese (I used neufchatel- 1/3 less fat) and honey. Yummy.
His review the next day was that these cookies definitely passed the test.

And I just wanted to add, that if you can get your hands on a spaghetti squash, you should definitely try one of my favorite dishes ever-Spaghetti Squash and Quinoa Bake, which I found on Artsy-Foodie a couple of months ago. Check out Alexa's post about it HERE or my post HERE, when I made it previously.
Phew- that was a mouthful.

Inside Out Carrot Cake Cookies

Coming Next- Tilapia with Quinoa and Black Beans

Bill's Big Carrot Cake Shines Again

I was going to wait a couple of days to post the next few cakes that I made yesterday and today, but I am so excited about them, that I couldn't wait. It is really kinda funny how it happened. Me and my two friends, who happen to be sisters, went to the drive in movie. In the movie, there was a cake. I can't remember who said it, but somehow it came up that I could make a cake like that. My friend said, can you make one for my mom's birthday? I said sure, when is it? She said, in 6 days.

So, that is how this cake was born. I made Bill's Big Carrot Cake in 2 8 by 8-inch cake pans and frosted the middle heavily with the cream cheese frosting and then did a thin layer before I did the fondant. I am happy with the results. I had a little cake leftover so I decided to do a cake for my brother who loooovveesss carrot cake.