Healthy Carrot Cake
Published 3/28/2021
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Our healthy carrot cake recipe is ultra moist and made with whole ingredients such as white whole wheat flour, maple syrup, warm spices, and applesauce.
We know you guys love carrot cake recipes because some of our most popular recipes on FFF are our Chocolate Chip Carrot Cake Loaf and Oatmeal Carrot Cake Cookies!
This recipe was modified on April 7, 2020. It has now been tested multiple times to ensure it works and tastes delicious!
Healthy Carrot Cake = Cake for All Seasons
So I’m trying to figure out what season carrot cake belongs in. Is it a winter cake? A summer cake? An Easter cake? The world may never know.
I’m dubbing it a year-round cake because carrots are pretty much always in season. How do you feel about that?
This healthy carrot cake recipe is probably the easiest carrot cake you’ll ever make and it is so good! Here’s why you should make it:
Why Make This Healthy Carrot Cake Recipe?
- Whole Grains: in this healthy carrot cake recipe, we’re using half white whole wheat flour and half all-purpose to make sure it’s light and airy.
- Lower in Sugar: this recipe uses a combination of brown sugar and maple syrup. It’s not overly sweet, but still so yummy.
- Lower in Fat: we subbed out some oil for applesauce, to make sure this healthy carrot cake still comes out moist, but not packed with fat.
Is carrot cake healthy?
For the most part, carrot cake is made with butter, sugar, and flour, making it a decadent dessert especially when served with classic cream cheese frosting!
This carrot cake recipe, however, is made healthier with real-food ingredient swaps such as white whole wheat flour, coconut oil, maple syrup, and applesauce.
Healthy Carrot Cake Ingredients
You likely already have everything you need for this carrot cake in your kitchen because it’s made from pantry staples.
One thing we try and do here at Fit Foodie Finds is bake with similar ingredients in all of our recipes so you aren’t scrambling to find weird/hard-to-find ingredients! Here’s the basis of what you need:
- carrots
- white whole wheat flour
- all-purpose flour
- brown sugar
- carrot cake spices
- pecans
- raisins
- applesauce
- eggs
- vanilla
- maple syrup
- almond milk
- coconut oil
best cream cheese frosting
This recipe uses a variation of our Greek yogurt cream cheese frosting. It’s simple, not too sweet, and something you definitely don’t want to skip.
- cream cheese
- Greek yogurt
- maple syrup
Easy Method
Whether you’re making this carrot cake recipe for Easter, a family birthday, or just because. It’s rather simple to put together.
- Grate Carrots: first, peel and grate 2-cups of carrots. We suggest doing a fine to medium grate.
- Wet Ingredients: Combine all wet ingredients minus the coconut oil in a large bowl. Make sure to add the coconut oil last so that it doesn’t coagulate.
- Dry Ingredients: Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl.
- Mix: Add wet ingredients to dry and mix to combine. Finally, add in melted coconut oil and mix again.
- Bake: Transfer the carrot cake batter into a greased 9×9-inch pan and bake at 350ºF for 25-30 minutes.
- Frost: Let carrot cake cool completely and then frost with Greek yogurt cream cheese frosting.
Can I make this cake vegan?
While we haven’t tested this recipe with flax eggs, we are confident that it will work. Follow our How to Make a Flax Egg recipe! In addition to a flax egg, you can replace the Greek yogurt with a non-dairy yogurt or even more mashed banana.
Can I sub a different flour such as almond flour or coconut four?
The short answer to this is NO. Coconut flour and almond flour can NOT be swapped 1:1 with white whole wheat flour. You’ll need to find a grain-free specific carrot cake recipe if you want to go that route.
Storage
Cover carrot cake with a piece of plastic wrap and store in the fridge for up to 3-5 days.
Healthy Carrot Cake Recipe
Ingredients
Dry
- 3-4 large carrots, peeled and grated (2-cups packed)
- 3/4 cup white whole wheat flour
- 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup light brown sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1/3 cup chopped pecans
- 1/3 cup raisins
Wet
- 1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup maple syrup
- 1/4 cup unsweetened almond milk
- 2 tablespoons melted coconut oil
Cream Cheese Frosting
- 1/2 cup fat-free cream cheese
- 1/2 cup nonfat Greek yogurt
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup, or more to taste
Instructions
Healthy Carrot Cake
- Preheat oven to 350ºF and spray a 9×9-inch pan with coconut oil cooking spray. Set aside.
- Next, peel and grate 2 to 3 large carrots. Place grated carrot on 2 pieces of paper towel and squeeze out as much of the moisture as possible. Save the juice and drink it! It’s good for you 🙂
- Measure out 2 cups of grated carrots and then place into a large bowl along with the rest of the dry ingredients and mix.
- In a medium bowl, mix together wet ingredients minus the coconut oil.
- Add wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix. Finally, add in melted coconut oil and mix again.
- Transfer batter into a 9×9-inch pan and into the oven. Bake at 350ºF for 25-30 minutes.
- Let carrot cake cool for at least an hour before frosting.
Cream Cheese Frosting
- While the carrot cake is cooling, make healthy cream cheese frosting. Place all ingredients into a medium bowl and mix until smooth.
- Once the carrot cake is cool enough, frost, top with optional ground cinnamon and chopped pecans, slice, and enjoy!
Tips & Notes
- This recipe was updated on April 7, 2020, as many people had problems with the cake being too dense. For the original recipe click HERE.
- Nutrition information does not include optional toppings.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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Made the mistake of not reading the comments first, and like other people said, there is not enough flour in this recipe. Texture is mushy and very deflated.
Hello! Thank you so much for your honest feedback on this recipe. We wanted to let you know we’ve re-written the recipe, which has now been tested multiple times. We are so sorry our original recipe did not work properly. Best, Lee.
I made this today and they are delicious. I used 1.5 times the amount of flour in the recipe on account of a previous person’s comments. I also added a tablespoon of sliced almonds to the mix and a handful of sultanas as i like lots of texture. I didnt make the icing but when I try this recipe again I will. Thanks!
HUGE DISAPPOINTMENT!! There is something wrong with the quantities in the recipe. The resulting cake looks nothing like the photo. It was thin, flat, and solid; gummy in texture, like bread pudding compressed by a heavy weight. And no, I did not forget the leavening.
Same thing happened to me… not sure what went wrong…
Can I use almond flour instead of whole wheat?
Hello! Thank you so much for your honest feedback on this recipe. We wanted to let you know we’ve re-written the recipe, which has now been tested multiple times. We are so sorry our original recipe did not work properly. Best, Lee.
Same thing as well…Just made it. Did not come out the way it was supposedly to. Followed the recipe exactly. Gummy and pudding like texture.
Hello! Thank you so much for your honest feedback on this recipe. We wanted to let you know we’ve re-written the recipe, which has now been tested multiple times. We are so sorry our original recipe did not work properly. Best, Lee.
can i use regular butter instead of coconut oil, and is so how much?
Sub 1:1!
Hi, can I use self-rising flour instead of whole wheat flour? Thanks
If I’m making these night before and frosting do leave them out in kitchen or in the fridge over night please and where afterwards to store them ?
Thank you
Abi
You can let them cool completely and store them in the fridge both times!
Hi could I substitite the maple syrup with coconut sugar?
If you’re going to sub a different sugar, it should be a liquid sweetener or else the batter will be off!
Really easy recipe and very yummy! I made it once as a cake and made it into muffins the second time. For the muffins, I cooked them at 350 for 20 minutes. I also used whole wheat pastry flour. I’ve had them with and without the frosting and both taste good. Thanks for the tip to drink the carrot juice. It was the first time I ever had fresh carrot juice. I am not a fan of carrots, so I expected it to be gross, but I was surprised at how sweet it was!
Hi. Could i substitute with oat, coconut or almond flour?
Can you tell me a bit about why you utilize maple syrup vs white sugar? It seems to be as high in calories. Is it more about being unrefined or “whole” food?
Thanks for your thoughts!
If I wanted to make this cupcakes do I need to change the baking time? Also how many do you think it would make?