After a crazy month of December this past year, my family changed our holiday plans at the last minute, bought plane tickets to fly to Arizona, and spent Christmas with my grandparents. Since my parents always host the holidays at their home in California, seeing cacti all decked out in festive twinkling lights was quite a treat!
To keep things simple, we decided to skip almost all presents and focus on spending time together. We didn’t even decorate a tree while in Arizona! However, I drew the line at stockings—everyone deserves to at least open something on Christmas morning!—so I volunteered to put those together. Everyone in our family has a huge {chocoholic} sweet tooth, so there were lots of smiles and empty wrappers by midday on Christmas… I stuffed at least ten different types in those stockings!
Although we usually cook a Thanksgiving-style feast for our Christmas dinner, Mom voted for a low-key meal instead and bought ham, honey mustard and chutneys as toppings, potato salad (as requested by Grandma… when she gets a craving, there’s no stopping her!), ambrosia salad (again, Grandma’s request!), a baguette, and pecan pie for dessert.
After spending the afternoon listening to Grandpa’s stories about his childhood growing up on their Colorado farm and coloring in these fun coloring books, we settled into the comfy couches and chairs with plates of food balanced on our laps to watch the original “Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer.” After she cut everyone else a piece of the pecan pie, my mom quietly handed me a big slice of carrot cake from the grocery store bakery as a special surprise dessert instead. She knew I had been craving it all week, and I slowly savored every single bite of that colossal piece!
Because calories don’t count on Christmas, right??
While I really enjoyed that layered carrot cake on Christmas, I had one main problem with it… Like many store-bought carrot cakes, it was really lacking in veggies and tasted more like a spice cake with a few itty bitty, almost imperceptible orange flecks sprinkled in here and there. Don’t get me wrong—I love cinnamon and cozy spices—but I want my carrot cakes to taste like carrots!
So when we returned home after the holidays, I started working on developing a better carrot cake recipe in my kitchen. After lots of testing, I finally have the perfect one: this Ultimate Healthy Carrot Cake! It’s full of those classic cozy spices we all know and love, and it’s finished with sweet cream cheese frosting. But unlike those bakery-style cakes, this one contains a lot fewer calories—and it’s almost healthy enough for breakfast!
It has carrots… And no butter, refined flour, or sugar… And lots of protein… So that should basically count. Right??
The veggies truly star in this carrot cake show! (I’m suddenly having flashbacks to my childhood with dancing cucumbers, tomatoes, and carrots in “Veggie Tales…” Please tell me I’m not the only one who watched those movies!) For the best flavor and texture, you’ll use a full 2 ½ cups of freshly grated carrots. Don’t substitute the pre-shredded kind you can buy at the grocery store! Those are thicker and drier, and they won’t soften enough while baking.
Because grating all of those carrots can be tedious (and dangerous—I have a brand new scar on my pinky from battling my box grater!), I have a special tip for you… Use a food processor with the grater attachment instead! It makes the process go a hundred times faster, which means you’re that much closer to eating cake!
Many traditional carrot cake recipes depend on anywhere from half to a full cup of butter or oil to make them moist or tender, but… There aren’t exactly enough hours in the day to exercise and burn off all of those calories! Instead, this lighter recipe of mine uses my favorite ingredient in healthier baking: Greek yogurt. Greek yogurt provides the same moisture and extra butter or oil for a fraction of the calories, and it gives your baked goods a protein boost, too!
To keep this cake clean eating friendly, you’ll skip the refined sugar and sweeten this cake with two different ingredients: pure maple syrup and liquid stevia. Be sure to buy the good stuff when it comes to maple syrup! It’s sold in thin glass bottles or squat plastic jugs, generally near the oats at the grocery store, but I’ve also bought it online.
As for the stevia, it’s a plant-based, no-calorie sweetener and is very concentrated. A little goes a long way—you’ll only need slightly more than 1 teaspoon to sweeten both layers of cake! I typically buy this brand because it has a lovely sweet flavor and no strange aftertastes, and you can find it in many health-oriented grocery stores. However, I buy mine online here because that’s the cheapest price I’ve found! (And you’ll use it in all of these recipes of mine, too!)
Once the cake has cooled, it’s time for the cream cheese frosting. You just can’t have carrot cake without it! A bakery once tried to sell me a slice with plain vanilla buttercream instead, and I nearly walked out of the store… No thank you!
For this healthier version, you’ll skip the butter and powdered sugar. It’s made with protein-packed Greek yogurt and Greek yogurt cream cheese! I found my Greek yogurt cream cheese at Safeway (their own Lucerne brand), and many Walmart stores sell this brand. And it’s sweetened with that same liquid stevia you used in the cake, so it’s completely sugar-free!
Time to eat! ♡ And when you make your own, remember to snap a picture and share it on Instagram using #amyshealthybaking and tagging @amyshealthybaking IN the photo itself! (That guarantees I’ll see your picture! 🙂 ) I’d love to see your carrot cake!
| The Ultimate Healthy Carrot Cake | | Print |
- for the cake
- 2 ¼ cups (270g) whole wheat or gluten-free* flour (measured like this)
- 2 ¼ tsp baking powder
- ¾ tsp baking soda
- 2 ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- ¾ tsp ground nutmeg
- ½ tsp salt
- 2 tbsp (28g) coconut oil or unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
- 3 large egg whites, room temperature
- 1 tbsp (15mL) vanilla extract
- ½ cup (120g) plain nonfat Greek yogurt
- ¼ cup (60mL) pure maple syrup
- 1 ¼ tsp liquid stevia
- ¾ cup (180mL) nonfat milk
- 2 ½ cups (265g) freshly grated carrots (about 4-5 medium, peeled first!)
- for the frosting
- 1 cup (240g) plain nonfat Greek yogurt
- 1 (8oz) block Greek yogurt cream cheese, softened
- 1 ¼ tsp liquid stevia
- To prepare the cake, preheat the oven to 350°F. Cut two 9”-round circles out of wax paper to fit inside two 9”-round cake pans. Lightly coat the two 9”-round cake pans with nonstick cooking spray. Gently press one wax paper circle into the bottom of each cake pan, and lightly coat the wax paper with nonstick cooking spray.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. In a separate bowl, whisk together the coconut oil, egg whites, and vanilla. Stir in the Greek yogurt, mixing until no large lumps remain. Mix in the maple syrup and stevia. Alternate between adding the flour mixture and the milk, beginning and ending with the flour mixture, and stirring just until incorporated. (For best results, add the flour mixture in 4 equal parts.) Gently fold in the carrots.
- Divide the batter between the prepared pans. Bake at 350°F for 24-28 minutes, or until the center feels firm to the touch and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool in the pans for 10 minutes before inverting, peeling off the wax paper, and transferring to wire racks to cool completely.
- To prepare the frosting, add the Greek yogurt, Greek yogurt cream cheese, and stevia to a medium bowl, and beat with an electric mixer until smooth.
- To assemble the cake, spread a generous dollop of frosting on top of one of the cake layers. Place the second layer on top. Frost the tops and sides.
For the gluten-free flour, I recommend the following: 1 cup (120g) millet flour, ¾ cup (90g) tapioca flour, ½ cup (60g) brown rice flour, and 1 ¾ teaspoons xanthan gum. Most store-bought gluten-free flour blends (like this one!) will work as well, if measured like this.
White whole wheat flour, whole wheat pastry flour, or all-purpose flour may be substituted for the whole wheat flour.
Honey or agave may be substituted in place of the pure maple syrup.
I highly recommend using the liquid stevia! It's one of my favorite ingredients, and you'll use it in all of these recipes of mine. I buy my liquid stevia online here because that's the cheapest price I've found. If you prefer to omit the liquid stevia from the carrot cake batter, you may replace it with an additional ½ cup of pure maple syrup and reduce the milk to 6 tablespoons. However, I do not recommend substituting anything for the liquid stevia in the frosting. Other sweeteners will make the frosting too liquidy, and it won’t stay put once spread onto the cake.
Any milk may be substituted for the nonfat milk.
Do not substitute store-bought pre-shredded carrots. They are too thick and dry, and they won’t soften while the cake bakes.
You may add raisins, chopped walnuts, or shredded coconut to the cake if you prefer. However, I do not recommend adding diced or crushed pineapple. The extra liquid in the fruit and juices will cause the cake to collapse while cooling and make it extremely dense.
Neufchâtel (⅓-less fat) cream cheese may be substituted for the Greek yogurt cream cheese.
For sweeter frosting, add an additional ⅛ to ¼ teaspoon of liquid stevia.
For frosting that does not require liquid stevia, use this cream cheese frosting recipe of mine instead.
I haven't yet tried baking this cake in a 9x13" pan, but some readers have said it works! They recommend baking the 9x13" pan at 350°F for 28-32 minutes, or until the center feels firm to the touch and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean or with a few crumbs attached. (As soon as I'm able to test it myself, I'll share my experience here too!)
{gluten-free, clean eating, low fat, low calorie, lower sugar, higher protein}
View Nutrition Information + Weight Watchers Points
This recipe is awful!!! Don’t try to do it!!! It has no texture what so ever, it is super raw no matter how long you are baking it for this recipe just sucks!
I really appreciate your interest in my recipe Orsi! That sounds so disappointing and not like how this carrot cake should turn out at all, so I’d love to work with you to figure out what happened. 🙂 Did you make any modifications to the recipe, including those listed in the Notes section? How did you measure the ingredients, with measuring cups or a kitchen scale? Did you use the same size cake pans that I did? How long did you bake the layers at 350°F? And finally, did you happen to watch my video directly above the recipe, and did your batter look the same as mine throughout each stage?
I know I just asked a LOT of questions, but once I know your answers to each of them, that will really help me narrow down the culprit and solve the issues that you experienced! 🙂
Could you use a different sweetener like granular Cologran instead of the stevia?
I really appreciate your interest in my recipe Chloe! Granular Colorgran isn’t a product that we have in the US (it includes an ingredient that’s actually banned in the US!), so I have zero experience with it and am not entirely sure. Is that the only sweetener option you have available?
Made the recipe for my husband, and followed the recipe exactly it tastes lovely but it sank once it was out of the oven – what am I doing wrong?? 🙁
I’m so honored that you tried my recipe Rhi! Your husband is so lucky to have you to bake him homemade treats. You’re so thoughtful! 🙂 Did you make any modifications to the recipe, including those listed in the Notes section? How did you measure the ingredients (especially the flour and carrots!), with a kitchen scale or measuring cups? If the latter, can you describe how you used them to measure? Your answers will help me narrow down the culprit and figure out what happened!
Tried this recipe but left out the Stevia because I don’t have that. I guess it makes a huge difference because my cake wasn’t sweet enough with just the maple syrup. The texture of the batter was very gluey and after it was baked, the cake texture was almost rubbery. I followed the video step by step but not sure what went wrong.
I’m honored that you tried making my recipe Sam! That sounds really disappointing and not like how this carrot cake should turn out at all, so I’d love to help solve those issues you experienced. 🙂 You’re correct about the stevia. It’s the equivalent of ½ cup of maple syrup! I actually shared what to do if you don’t have stevia in the Notes section of the recipe (located directly underneath the Instructions). I know it can be easy to miss that section!
For the texture, did you happen to use a hand-held or stand mixer to make the batter, by any chance? Also, how did you measure the flour? Did you use a kitchen scale or measuring cups? If the latter, can you describe how you used them to measure? Also, did you make any other modifications to the recipe other than omitting the stevia?
I know I just asked a LOT of questions, but I’ll have a much better idea of what happened and how to prevent it from happening again in the future, if you ever decide to try making this recipe again! 🙂
Hi Amy! I love this recipe! Thank you so much for sharing. I especially love the frosting! However I think I did something wrong tho.. but I don’t know what I did wrong.. my cake is very firm.. I didn’t have any cups so I used the kitchen scale. I didn’t had baking powder either so I used 1/4 tsp baking soda for every 1 tsp baking powder, if that makes sense???? (I also still used the 3/4 tsp of baking soda)
I hope you can help me!
Thanks again!
I’m honored that you tried making my recipe Jasmijn! I’m happy to help figure out what happened. 🙂 When you say firm, do you mean stiff and dry? Rather than moist and tender? How long did you bake your two cake layers? How was the consistency of both your batter and cake compared to mine in the video directly above the recipe?
If you don’t have measuring cups, then how did you measure the maple syrup and milk? Did you make any other modifications, besides the baking soda, including those listed in the Notes section?
I know I just asked a LOT of questions, but once I know your answers to all of them, I should have a much better idea of the potential culprit and how to fix it! 🙂
This recipe came out great. I chose to make it in a rectangular 9×13 cake pan, which has a slightly larger volume than two 9″ round cake pans. Even so, the cake came out to a really good thickness, and was moist in the center (I just cut around the perimeter to trim off the harder edges). I frosted everything, then cut into square pieces and stacked them together to make single serve carrot cake “sandwiches”.
Everything tasted really great, and it was even better knowing that it was low sugar and had a bit of protein.
The frosting just tasted a bit too much like yogurt for my liking…perhaps I’ll add some vanilla or some more stevia next time to improve the flavor. Overall it was a great recipe thank you Amy.
I’m so glad you enjoyed this cake, Matthew! It really means a lot that you’d take the time to let me know. 🙂 I love your idea of making carrot cake “sandwiches” — that sounds so delicious and fun!
Thank you SO much for mentioning that a 9×13″ cake pan worked too!! I’ve been meaning to try testing it out in that size pan, but I just haven’t gotten a chance to quite yet. Do you mind me asking if you remember how long you baked it for? I’ve had a few people ask if it’s possible to use a 9×13″ , so it’d be great to know that detail!
I baked it for 32 minutes, rotating halfway through. It actually might have been a bit too long, if I make it again I’d probably go a minute or two shorter.
Also note that the frosting recipe works out perfectly no matter if you use the two 9″ pans or the 9×13″ pan. Both cakes have roughly the same total surface area.
Thank you SO much, Matthew!! I truly appreciate your quick response too!
Coming from a family of nerdy scientists who also love math, I love how you included the tip about the frosting and the total surface area of both cakes. 😉 When people ask about what pans to substitute in some of my other recipes, I always calculate the surface area and volume of the different pan sizes before making recommendations. Math and science are really helpful with baking and desserts in those regards, don’t you think? 🙂
Definitely…since I don’t own round cake pans the first thing I did was get out my calculator to see if the recipe would work for the 9×13″ pan. The volume and surface area were close enough so I didn’t even have to scale up/down the ingredient measurements.
Can’t wait to try some of your other recipes. Already bookmarked the carrot cake protein muffins. Interested to see if adding the whey protein changes the taste or texture.
Oh my gosh — I love it!! I keep a calculator (and ruler!) in my kitchen for those same reasons… So handy! (And I’m glad I’m not the only one who pulls out a calculator and does that!) 😉
I’m really honored that you’d consider trying some of my other recipes too. That’s the best kind of compliment! 🙂 I can’t wait to hear what you think of the muffins (and any other recipes you end up trying too)!
Hi Amy,
This cake looks delicious. Can I substitute liquid stevia for powdered splenda.
Thanks.
I really appreciate your interest in my recipe, Alejandra! Would you like to use Splenda Granulated Sweetener, their product that comes in a yellow bag and sweetens cup-for-cup like granulated sugar? (Since Splenda has a few different powdered sweeteners, I just want to confirm I understand the exact one you’d like to substitute so I can give you the best advice possible! 🙂 )
Hi Amy, yes that’s the one I was refering to. The splenda one fot one cup.
Perfect! You’ll need ½ cup of that to replace the liquid stevia. (If you prefer your carrot cake on the extra sweet side, you can add another 2-4 tablespoons on top of that!) Because Splenda Granulated Sweetener dissolves differently than regular sugar, you should be able to leave the amount of milk the same, and the baking time shouldn’t change either. 🙂 I can’t wait to hear what you think of this carrot cake, Alejandra!
This recipe is delish! I’ve made it twice now with no substitutions (other than baking in a muffin tin for 24 min. rather than a cake tin) and it’s been lovely (and short lived – lol) both times. Thanks for sharing 😃
I’m so glad you’re enjoying this carrot cake, Lisa! That’s the best kind of compliment if you’ve already made there recipe twice and it didn’t last long either time. Thank you so much for taking the time to let me know — that truly means a lot! 🙂