Name: Carrot Cake Pancakes
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 20 min
Ingredients: 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour; 1/4 cup chopped walnuts, toasted; 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; 1 1/2 cups finely grated carrot

Carrot Cake Pancakes

My newfound love of yoga

I’ve gotten really into yoga recently. Now, let’s backstory this. I freaking hate yoga. My whole life every time I’ve tried it I’ve disliked everything about it. It’s slow and the movements are awkward and it doesn’t make me feel like I’m working out and I hate the calm, pseudo-hippie talk that goes along with it. I even had to do a verbal presentation in college about yoga, and my boyfriend was laughing through his teeth the entire time because he knows how much I hate it.

But ever since last fall when I somehow pulled my leg in like 3 places, I haven’t been able to run or even use the elliptical without feeling strain in my hip, knee, or shin. So after failing to find any other form of exercise that doesn’t further exacerbate my injury, I forced myself to buy a month pass at Center For Yoga, a studio two blocks from my house in Ann Arbor. And guess what? I’m really into it.

This yoga is totally different from any other yoga I’ve ever done. It’s hot vinyasa, and the instructors are all really young and fit, and they play pump-up music, and you sweat so much that if you didn’t know any better it’d look like you just jumped in a pool with your clothes on. The movements are fast, and it reminds me of all those years I did dance. The low-impact is great for my leg problems, and I get a ridiculous workout that doesn’t burn me out like running does. So basically it’s amazing. Coming from someone who absolutely hated yoga up until this month, this is a big deal. I think I’ve found my new go-to form of exercise.

In other news, these carrot cake pancakes are AMAZING. They come together in about 20 minutes and can feed a crowd. Because they’re studded with shredded carrot and toasted walnuts, they’re heartier than your typical flapjack. Not to mention the spices in these carrot cake pancakes makes them taste out of this world good.

How to freeze pancakes for later

Don’t have a crowd to make these carrot cake pancakes for? No problem, you can freeze them to enjoy later! To freeze these homemade pancakes, first lay them out on a baking tray, then pop them into the freezer. After an hour, the pancakes should be hard enough to stack in a freezer baggie. When you’re ready to chow down on the frozen pancakes, just toast them in the toaster until they’re heated through. Personally, I think it’s best if you toast the pancakes multiple times at a low heat so that the outside doesn’t dry out too much.