Carrot Cake Pancakes (Sugar-free and Wheat-free)

All of my bread-y recipes these days seem to be variations on the same theme. I started this when T was beginning to eat finger foods with these muffins. I turned the concept into pancakes earlier this year with these healthy pancakes, and I actually make a variation of this banana bread using oats and my food processor every Sunday morning with the week's leftover bananas.

E is not really a "mushy stuff" type of baby. She'll sometimes eat the oatmeal or yogurt or other puree that I prepare for her for a few days, but then she resolutely refuses to open her mouth for a spoonful of the stuff, no matter the content. Give her chunks, though, and she shovels them in her mouth greedily. Not just bananas and rice puffs, but yesterday it was a goat cheese and spinach frittata - she ended up eating almost as much as her big brother did! And earlier in the week, it was the aforementioned banana bread, which I make with a half cup of brown sugar, not a lot considering most banana bread recipes, but still more than I want her to have.

So you won't eat the mushy stuff? Fine, I'll change the rules a bit and cook that same stuff into a format that you will eat. After all, eating mushy stuff isn't a life skill that I need to teach her until (hopefully) I'm in my grave and she is on her way. Plus, then I can just plop a pile of bites on her plate and do other things - win!

Don't think these are just for baby, though; I liked them a lot, and T gobbled them down for breakfast, too (we added a small drizzle of maple syrup while E just ate hers plain).

Carrot Cake Pancakes (for baby and everybody else)

Combine in food processor:
2 c oats
1 c applesauce
2 eggs
1/2 c Greek yogurt
1/4 c coconut oil
2 t vanilla
1 t cinnamon
1/4 t salt
1/2 t baking soda
1/2 t baking powder

Process until very smooth (or less if you want a few oatmeal chunks).

Add:

1 1/2 c baby carrots (or roughly chopped big carrots)

Blend in the food processor until the carrots are in small (baby-safe-sized) pieces.

Then add:
1/4+ c Craisins (you could use raisins; I just prefer the flavor of Craisins, although I realize that they have sugar added to them - I'm okay with this since it's the only sugar added to the whole batch)

Pulse just until the Craisins are in small chunks (again, baby-safe size).

Now, go nurse your baby or change a diaper or clean up the mess in the bathroom from when your two year old decided that he needed to wash his basketball in the sink and proceeded to get water all over the counter and floor. Then change his clothes because he is inconsolable about having gotten his pants wet in the middle of the bathroom flood. While his pants are off, make him go potty, and then convince him that his new pants are okay to wear because you haven't done laundry in a while and these are pretty much his only option besides the unacceptably wet ones.

If this does not describe your life, just let the batter rest for about 10 minutes so the oats will soften up. This makes for a fluffier, more evenly-cooked pancake.

Lightly grease your griddle with coconut oil and cook tennis ball-sized pancakes over medium-low heat. The low heat will ensure that they cook all the way through (important for baby) before getting too dark on the outside.

For us, these were a perfect sweetness with a small drizzle of maple syrup on them. Baby E (just shy of 9 months) gobbled them up plain.