carrot cake waffles with maple raisin cream cheese spread

a local grocery store had 5 lb bags of organic carrots on special this week. i normally keep many small bags of frozen carrots in my freezer to add to soups and sauces along with the occasional muffin, but after grating my way through all five pounds i had an irresistible urge for carrot cake. a quick google search later and i was looking through a couple promising recipes. since we have been mostly paleo for about two years now (you've noticed the evolution of my food posts, right?) i have become familiar enough with how acceptable flours work, compliment each other, and their limitations to use the existing carrot cake pancake recipes as a launching pad to develop my own waffle version. it turned out really well (wishing i had made a double batch so we had more leftovers) and i can't wait for you to try it!

carrot cake waffles

6 lg carrots (approx 2 1/2 C - 3 C)
1 C blanched almond flour
1/2 C tapioca flour
1/3 C coconut flour
1/4 C - 1/3 C coconut sugar
1 1/2 t baking soda
1 1/2 t baking powder
1 t sea salt or kosher salt
1 T cinnamon
3/4 t ginger
3/4 t nutmeg
1/2 t cloves
12 eggs
1 C unsweetened almond milk
1/2 C butter, ghee, or coconut oil, melted

in a large bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients. you can whisk the wet ingredients together in a separate bowl, but who wants the extra dishes? i whisk the eggs and almond milk and add the melted butter after those are incorporated. heat your waffle iron to medium and serve warm with cream cheese spread (seriously, don't skip it!). makes 16-17 waffles using 1/2 C batter for each waffle.

if i was going to make this recipe a little larger, i would go 1.5X and use a whole can of coconut milk for the liquid. leftovers can be stored on the counter (a few days), in the refrigerator (a week), or in the freezer (months, if you can make them last that long).



the topping i created was based on traditional carrot cake. i mean, cream cheese frosting is a standard, right?! some people put raisins and walnuts in their carrot cake. next time i will probably add walnuts to the mix. obviously this is the part of the meal that is not paleo, but it's worth the teeny-tiny cheat. trust me.

maple raisin cream cheese spread

1/2 C raisins
8 oz cream cheese, neufchâtel cheese, or strained yogurt*
1/4 C maple syrup
1/4 t vanilla

in a food processor, chop the raisins alone. after they are all in small pieces, add the rest of the ingredients and mix well.

i will add 1/2 C chopped walnuts the next time i make this, mixing in by hand at the end. *to make strained yogurt, place two heaping cups of plain, whole milk yogurt in a mesh strainer lined with cheesecloth or paper towels over a bowl (to catch the whey) and cover in the refrigerator for 24-48 hours.