With all the sad news going around right now and all the unforeseen circumstances beyond our control, I’ve given myself some time to finally grieve this week. Grieve for the those who have died, grieve for those who don’t have any income coming in and are starving, for those who are truly living alone with limited resources or no access to all the essentials that we take for granted.
My natural tendency during tough times is to ‘be tough’ and push through whatever challenges come my way, to stay positive, stay busy and productive. But this past week, my walls came tumbling down. The news got the best of me and I didn’t realize how much I missed my family and friends until my nephew came by this morning to drop off an Easter basket for baby Willow. I was in tears after his quick visit (we kept 6ft apart the whole time), because it triggered all kinds of emotions – so much happiness, love and sadness.
But I soon realized that to get out of this feeling of sadness, expressing appreciation, love and gratitude helps to steer me away from the downward spiral of emotions. What also helps is to focus on things that make me happy. So of course, I’ve been doing lots and lots of cooking and baking. And in case you haven’t noticed, the whole world is baking and cooking a lot more these days, and I’m loving it!
Which leads me to these beautiful, Easter-appropriate carrot cake pancakes. To kick-off the weekend, I think it’s a good idea to make yourself a comforting plate of pancakes. Carrot cake pancakes. With cream cheese glaze.
These pancakes are:
- gluten-free, dairy-free, and paleo
- light and fluffy
- ultra moist
- sweetened naturally by the maple syrup, apple sauce, and raisins
- warm from the cinnamon
- creamy from the cream cheese glaze
- walnuts add a crunchy texture
Happy Easter everyone! I hope you and your family are safe and well.
24K Pancakes
Ingredients
- For pancakes:
- 1 ½ cups Cassava flour not the same as tapioca starch
- 2 ½ tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 large egg
- 4 oz applesauce unsweetened
- 1 ¼ cup almond milk or milk of choice
- 2 Tbsp maple syrup
- juice of half a large lemon
- ½ cup olive or avocado oil
- 1 ½ cups grated carrot
- ¾ cup raisins or craisins optional
- Chopped walnuts for garnish
- Butter or ghee for greasing pan
Instructions
- In a large bowl, whisk together all wet ingredients.
- Using a large sieve (or fine mesh strainer), sift the dry ingredients over the bowl of wet ingredients.
- Whisk wet and dry ingredients thoroughly and fold in grated carrots and raisins with a rubber spatula.
- Heat a large cast-iron pan or non-stick skillet over medium heat and grease pan with butter. Using an ice cream scoop or ⅓ measuring cup, ladle the pancakes onto the pan and cook for 3-4 minutes per side or until golden brown.
- For the cream cheese glaze, in a small bowl whisk all ingredients together until combined and ensure there are no lumps.
- Serve pancakes warm and garnish with walnuts and serve with cream cheese glaze.