Irresistibly moist and secretly healthy carrot cake… This recipe is so good, you’re going to want to eat it again for breakfast the next morning!
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I am the girl who eats carrot cake all year.
If you haven’t tried my recipe yet for Healthy Carrot Cake Cupcakes, that post continues to be one of the most popular recipes on my blog…
So I guess I’m not the only one who eats carrot cake year-round!
Since the carrot cake cupcakes have been so popular, I knew I wanted to get an actual healthy carrot cake recipe up on the blog this year.
With Easter less than a week away, today seems like the perfect time to share this moist and incredibly delicious healthy carrot cake, loaded with sweet cinnamon and carrots.
I hope you love this recipe as much as I do!
The carrot cake above is topped with my Cream Cheese Greek Yogurt Frosting – which I even successfully made vegan!
It also tastes amazing topped with melted coconut butter (one of my favorite ways to eat carrot cake), or the cake is so perfectly spiced and flavorful that you might want to simply eat it unfrosted.
Above – watch me make the healthy carrot cake
The recipe was adapted from my Vegan Carrot Cake.
Healthy Carrot Cake
Ingredients
- 1 packed cup shredded carrot (200g)
- 1/2 cup applesauce (120g)
- 1/3 cup oil, or sub applesauce only if you don’t mind a gummy texture (60g)
- 2 tsp white or apple cider vinegar
- 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups spelt, white, or Bob’s gf flour (180g)
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/3 cup sugar, xylitol, or evaporated cane juice (65g)
- 1/16 tsp uncut stevia OR 2 additional tbsp sugar
- optional shredded coconut or chopped walnuts
- optional 1/2 cup raisins
Instructions
- *For a double layer cake, simply double all ingredients and bake in two pans.Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease and line an 8-inch square or round pan with parchment. In a mixing bowl, whisk together the first 5 ingredients and let sit at least 10 minutes or fridge overnight. In a separate bowl, stir together all remaining ingredients. Pour wet into dry, then stir until just combined. Do not overmix. Pour into the prepared pan, and smooth down evenly. Bake 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean. The carrot cake tastes much sweeter and better-textured the day after it’s made, and leftovers can be refrigerated for 3-4 days or even sliced and frozen. I frosted the cake with about 1/2 cup of the frosting recipe linked under the second photo in this post – If using a preservative-free frosting like the one I used, it’s best to frost directly before serving.View Nutrition Facts
Video
Notes
More Easter Recipes:
Can I replace the apple sauce with greek yogurt?or any other substitute if I don’t have apple sauce?
Tried with yogurt and had a really good result. Forget to add in sugar but its til taste good to me as I don’t really like it too sweet. Thanks for the recipe!
Hi there! So wrote you forgot the sugar! How did it turn out? I like to make this for my little son and would leave the sugar out, but I was unsure about the results?
Can I use honey instead of sugar as the sweetener?how much honey should I add in?same amount as sugar?Thank you.
You never know unless you experiment but it sounds like a fun experiment. Be sure to report back if you try!
Hi! This recipe sounds so delicious. I am looking forward to trying it. What kind of oil do you use?
You can use veg oil, canola, melted coconut, or even sunflower oil.
Hi there,
I made your banana and carrot bread the other day and liked it very much so I wanted to give this one here a go.
I am just wondering if I could leave the sugar out? We are mainly sugar free at home, especially with my little son and I don’t really like substitutes like stevia.
I would just add one or two tablespoons honey, but do you have an idea if the texture will change? Will I need to add something to fill up the dough? Like almond flour or something?
Thanks!
What oil do you recommend?
Coconut, canola, or vegetable oil all work here 🙂
Since when SUGAR and sweetener XYLITOL is healthy?
Made this tonight with my 2-year old who has been requesting carrot cake after reading about it in a children’s book. He was very pleased with his first carrot cake! And so was I! And my husband too! Thank you for such a healthy and yummy recipe. 🙂
Hi. This looks like a fantastic recipe. May I ask if I can substiture the applesauce with something else? Thanks…
What could I use instead of the applesauce?
Yogurt?
Use an apple
Pumpkin puree 🙂