Carrot Buttermilk Pancakes ♥

Light and fluffy buttermilk pancakes laced with carrots – not grated carrots, not cooked carrots but a small jar of baby food carrots! The carrots make for lovely color and a subtle sweetness but really, if no one will know there's carrots in the pancakes unless someone says. This is an easy variation of My Mom's Pancake Recipe, my very first pancake recipe. It's an easy-easy recipe to make changes to – like, on a whim, adding a jar of carrot baby food!

2007: For as long as I've known, if it's the Tuesday supper before Lent, supper is pancakes. This year, I'm cooking up another quick batch of my Mom's buttermilk pancakes with a jar of baby food tucked in and topped with a gorgeous sorghum from Sandhill Farm. They're pretty, they're light, they're cheap, they're fast.

And I find considerable irony that our lives are now are so rich that the egg and butter and flour and sugar in pancakes are no long considered ingredients worthy for Lent's fasting. When was the last time you heard someone say, "I'm giving up eggs for Lent"?

So tonight, it's pancakes. And tomorrow, Ash Wednesday, I'll plant Lenten grass, an old Finnish tradition especially good for helping children observe Lent. Tis the season.

2015: Ah, Sunday pancakes! If you're a pancake fan, add this recipe to your rotation – or just add a jar of baby food to your own favorite recipe. Tis a winner!

COMPLIMENTS!
"The baby food, again? Well, everybody, it works!" ~ BookBum

CARROT BUTTERMILK PANCAKES

Hands-on time: 15 minutes
Time to table: 15 minutes
Makes 6 4-inch pancakes

1 large egg
2 tablespoons oil
1/2 cup buttermilk
4 ounces baby food (carrots, sweet potatoes, etc.)
2 tablespoons sugar

1 cup whole wheat pastry flour (or all-purpose), fluffed to aerate before measuring or 125g
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon table salt

Butter, for griddle

Whisk the egg, buttermilk, baby food and sugar. Collect the flour, soda and salt on top of the egg mixture but don't incorporate. With a fork, lightly combine the flour, soda and salt, still without incorporating, then whisk it in until just combined.

Melt the butter in a large skillet or on a pancake griddle set at 325F/160C until a sprinkle of water sizzles. Scoop about 1/3 cup batter into the hot skillet or griddle; if it's thick, you might need to spread a bit. Let the pancakes cook, without moving them until air bubbles start to form on top. Turn the pancakes and cook for another minute or two.

ALANNA's TIPS & KITCHEN NOTES
NO BUTTERMILK? Mix 1/2 cup "sweet milk" (just regular milk) with 1-1/2 teaspoons vinegar. This will "curdle" the milk to make a not-bad substitute for buttermilk. That said, it's easy to keep buttermilk on hand since it keeps for a month or more. Buttermilk is a natural tenderizer in muffins and other baked goods and I'm a big fan of its added "tang" in smoothies too. See buttermilk recipes for more inspiration and recipes.
LEAVENING For years, I've made this pancake recipe (without the carrots though) with 1/2 teaspoon baking soda. This time, I used 1 teaspoon and love the lightness and loft of the pancakes. Lovely!
PANCAKE GRIDDLE We really love our non-stick pancake griddle and get it out, even for the two of us. But it's especially good for making a whole ton of pancakes at once, it can handle six or more pancakes at a time. With the griddle, we can even keep up with pancake-crazy grandchildren!

Per Pancake (not including butter or syrup): 160 Calories; 6g Tot Fat; 5g Sat Fat; 36mg Cholesterol; 439mg Sodium; 22g Carb; 3g Fiber; 6g Sugar; 4g Protein. WEIGHT WATCHERS POINTS: WW Old Points 3 & WW PointsPlus 4 CALORIE COUNTERS 100-calorie serving, 2/3 pancake.

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MORE FAVORITE PANCAKE RECIPES

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~ Brown Rice Pancakes ~
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from A Veggie Venture

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~ Lifetime Pancakes ~
~ My Mom's Pancake Recipe ~
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from Kitchen Parade, my food column

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