After spending my entire three-week Winter Break sinking my teeth into every single dessert I saw—sugar cookies, hazelnut cake, raspberry truffles, and more—I decided to skip all sweets as my New Year’s Resolution during my sophomore year of college. Yes, I now bake and blog as a living… And I enjoy a small treat once, twice, or sometimes three times a day. But that holiday season, my sweet tooth completely spiraled out of control!
That year, I originally challenged myself to shoot for just one quarter—10 weeks, plus another week of finals—without dessert. After those three months passed, resisting treats basically became second nature, so I decided to continue and see if I could go the entire year without a single dessert.
For the record… Dark chocolate does NOT count as dessert. Just like your 8 glasses of water, a small square or two is a daily necessity!
The weekend my birthday rolled around in late June, I had to leave town for a few days. When I returned, I opened my apartment door and found bright purple and yellow crêpe paper strung all around the living room and hanging from the ceiling fan. Matching balloons came flying around the corner, closely followed by my two roommates shouting, “Happy birthday!!”
They handed me tissue paper-filled gift bags and brought out a large homemade sheet cake on our biggest cutting board from the kitchen. “We know you aren’t eating dessert,” the girls explained. “But we still wanted you to be able to make a birthday wish and blow out candles!” After setting down the cake on the coffee table, the three of us knelt down on the carpet with a packet of matches, carefully avoiding the temperamental smoke detector, and began my little birthday celebration.
Since they knew I wouldn’t sneak even a teensy tiny bite, the ladies elected against my preferred fudgy chocolate cake and baked their favorite flavor instead: carrot cake. They followed the directions for a boxed spice cake mix and simply added freshly grated carrots, but they happily finished it off in my honor over the next few days. Now whenever I eat carrot cake, I think of those girls!
My lightened Classic Clean-Eating Carrot Cake is much healthier but still just as easy as their doctored box mix version! Saturated with spices and topped with a generous layer of sweet vanilla ricotta frosting, each large square elicits memories of big church potlucks or decadent Easter feasts, grandma’s famous baking or special family dinners. This simple recipe will immediately win you over, convincing you that carrots are your favorite vegetable and cake is the best way to eat them!
Because I turned to melted coconut oil instead of creaming butter and sugar, there’s absolutely no need for a mixer. Just grab your favorite sturdy spoon or fork and stir! I know, I know… You probably think I’m crazy, adding coconut oil to a classic carrot cake recipe. But I promise you can’t taste the coconut! Its flavor is completely masked by maple syrup and plenty of spices. You’ll use both cinnamon and nutmeg; the latter adds a subtle depth and really helps the cinnamon’s warmth shine.
Like many of my other cake and cupcake recipes, this low-fat one only requires 1 tablespoon of oil. Instead, the majority of the cake’s tender texture comes from Greek yogurt. As a true powerhouse in healthier baking, it contributes lots of moisture while lowering the fat and calories. Bonus: Greek yogurt adds a little extra protein too!
Now for the star of the show… The carrots! Pack in as many as you can: the more the merrier. I mixed in a whopping 2 cups, but if you accidentally measure a little more, go ahead and add in the extra too. Make sure you use freshly grated carrots. Avoid the pre-shredded ones available in the produce section because those are dry and crunchy. Freshly grated carrots contain more moisture and natural juices, which they release as the cake bakes and make it unbelievably moist. Because of that, be sure to spray the pan really well to prevent the cake’s bottom from sticking!
Tip: Grate the carrots using a food processor with a grater attachment to speed up the process!
The frosting is laughably easy to make. Just mix the 4 ingredients together in a bowl with a fork! Do NOT use an electric or stand mixer because those would over-beat the frosting, resulting it a thin runny texture. Unlike cream cheese, ricotta has less of a “cheesy” taste, so this frosting actually tastes more like vanilla than cheese as written. Feel free to adjust the vanilla extract according to your tastes.
Ricotta also contains a grainier texture than cream cheese, so right after mixing the ingredients together, the frosting feels rather grainy on the tongue. As it rests, the graininess gradually fades. I found it best to frost the cake at least 1-2 hours before slicing and serving to really reduce that grainy texture.
Pure veggie dessert bliss.
Loaded with soft carrots and warm spices, this skinny Classic Carrot Cake carries all of the comforting flavors your childhood favorite but none of the guilt of typical oil-laden recipes. Its supremely moist texture draws you back bite after bite… I should know—I ate three slices the day I photographed this cake! One as an after-lunch dessert, another as post-dinner treat, and the third as an I’m-still-hungry-and-craving-something-sweet-as-a-midnight-snack just before bedtime.
Yup, it’s that addictive! Even the Easter Bunny would agree. ♥
| Healthy Classic Carrot Cake | | Print |
- for the cake
- 1 ½ cups (180g) whole wheat or gluten-free* flour (measured like this)
- 1 ½ tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- 1 ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- ½ tsp ground nutmeg
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 tbsp (14g) coconut oil or unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
- 1 large egg, room temperature
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- ½ cup (120mL) pure maple syrup
- ¼ cup (60g) plain nonfat Greek yogurt
- ¼ cup (60mL) nonfat milk
- 2 cups (180g) freshly grated carrots (about 3 medium, peeled first!)
- for the frosting
- 8 oz (227g) nonfat ricotta cheese
- 3 tbsp (45g) plain nonfat Greek yogurt
- 2 tbsp (30mL) agave
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- Preheat the oven to 350°F, and coat a 9”-square baking pan with nonstick cooking spray.
- To prepare the cake, whisk together the flour and next 5 ingredients (through salt) in a medium bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together the coconut oil, egg, and vanilla. Stir in the maple syrup and Greek yogurt, thoroughly mixing until no large clumps remain. Alternate between adding the flour mixture and milk, stirring just until incorporated, beginning and ending with the flour. (For best results, add the flour mixture in 3 equal parts and the milk in 2 equal parts.) Fold in the carrots.
- Spread the batter into the prepared pan, and bake at 350°F for 28-31 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan for at least 10 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack. Cool completely to room temperature before frosting.
- To prepare the frosting, stir together the ricotta cheese, Greek yogurt, agave, and vanilla in a medium bowl. Spread on top of the cooled cake. Let the frosting set for 1-2 hours before slicing and serving.
White whole wheat flour, whole wheat pastry flour, or all-purpose flour may be substituted for the regular whole wheat flour.
Honey or agave may be substituted for the pure maple syrup in the cake batter.
Pure maple syrup or honey may be substituted for the agave in the frosting.
As written, the frosting tastes more like vanilla than cheese, so adjust the amount of vanilla to suit your tastes.
{gluten-free, clean eating, low fat}
View Nutrition Information + Weight Watchers Points
Amy, YUM! This cake looks incredible! Thanks for sharing 🙂
Aww thank you Emma; it’s my pleasure! 🙂
Wonderful cake.. yummy!!
Thank you Hari! 🙂
Amy, this cake looks fantastic! I can’t believe that it’s good for you! As soon as I can get past the whole “grating carrots” thing, this recipe is totally going on my to-do list. We don’t get along so well. 😉 Pinned!
Thank you so much Justine! For both your sweet comment and the pin. 🙂 My box grater and I aren’t very good friends either; I’ve accidentally grated my thumb before trying to make a carrot cake in high school. I only use my food processor now — much safer! Even if it does have a few more pieces to clean…
Yum, Amy! Like always, I enjoyed reading your personal carrot cake story. You have some willpower, girl! I seriously don’t know how you resisted your own birthday cake. Thanks for sharing your clean-eating version! 🙂
Blessings!
Kim
Thank you so much Kim! Looking back, I’m amazed that I was able to stick with it for so long. Dessert has always been my favorite and most important meal of the day! If I didn’t allow myself dark chocolate, I probably wouldn’t have lasted a single day. 😉
This cake looks magnificent! You totally blew my mind with the ricotta in the frosting. I can’t wait to try that!
Thanks Shannon! I was amazed that it turned out so well. Make sure you wait a while before eating the frosting though; that initial grainy texture really threw me off. But all of my neighbors gave it rave reviews, and seeing as I ate 3 entire pieces myself… I think I can probably call it a success! 😉
I have a confession that I feel like maybe you can agree with, or maybe not, but I’m going to say it anyway. When someone tells me that they have baked something from a box, I don’t really consider that baking. AH does that make me a bad person!? BAKING is creating something like this..FROM SCRATCH! Anyone can read a box and throw together an egg and oil. I will forever think this. Your cake looks divine, and surprisingly it wasn’t until I switched to a vegan diet that I tried/loved carrot cake.
You know me well Brittany — I’m the same way! You are NOT a bad person!! If it’s a little kid or it’s someone’s first time baking (aka it’s their best effort and made with lots of love), I’ll still try some, but otherwise… Not so much. I’m so happy you enjoy carrot cake! With my chocoholic distractions, I always forget how good it is until I start smelling the cinnamon as it bakes. So good! Didn’t you publish a blog post before where you tried carrot cake at a vegan restaurant with some sort of discount/coupon??
Brittany, I totally agree… box cakes are an abomination!! If that makes me a bad person as well for thinking that, than so be it! haha. Amy- this looks fabulous! And seriously- willpower! Not eating your own birthday cake?! Craaazy!
Andrea, you bake for a living — that does NOT make you a bad person!! I remember a while ago you mentioned that you only bought cake mixes so you’d have an easy blank canvas to practice piping frosting and decorating. I thought that was the perfect use for them! 🙂 And never again will I skip my own birthday cake… I basically need an entire birthday week to fit in all of the sweet treats!
My husband’s birthday is 2 weeks from today. His absolute favorite thing in the world is carrot cake! We are both trying to eat better and lose some weight so this could not come at a better time. This will definitely be his birthday cake this year.
You’re so sweet to bake your husband a homemade cake for his birthday Suzanne! He’s really lucky to have you. 🙂 I hope you both enjoy it and have great success with your weight loss journey!
That is such a sweet story Amy! What awesome roommates 🙂 I love that you used coconut oil and even though you can’t taste it, I know I would love it because my favorite carrot cake recipe has coconut in it! I love how this cake is so good for you and looks so beautiful too. Pinned!
Thank you so much Trish! 🙂 I always forget that people include coconut, pineapple, and raisins in carrot cake. I just get so excited about the carrots and spices that all other thoughts fly out the window! I’d love to try your carrot cake — maybe at our next food blogger potluck party??
I am in the midst of a carrot-cake tasting tour of my city … but I can’t get enough & I am so looking forward to making this as soon as I finish exams next week! Have you tried it with agave rather than maple syrup, or do you think it would work? Only asking because I already have the agave on hand 🙂 Thanks!!
A carrot cake tasting tour? Where do I sign up?? That sounds incredible Meg, and good luck on your exams! Agave would definitely work in place of the maple syrup. I was actually debating between the two when I created the recipe, but I just didn’t quite have enough agave. 😉 I can’t wait to hear what you think of this version of carrot cake!