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 healthy 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.
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 do not recommend substituting sugar-free maple syrup; your cake will collapse and turn out really dense if you do so.
Any milk may be substituted for the nonfat milk.
Neufchâtel (⅓-less fat) cream cheese may be substituted for the Greek yogurt cream cheese. Regular cream cheese and brick-style fat-free cream cheese will also work. Regardless of which cream cheese you use, for the smoothest frosting texture, just make sure it's well softened first!
GLUTEN FREE OPTION: 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.
LIQUID STEVIA IN CAKE BATTER NOTE: 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 (120mL) of pure maple syrup AND reduce the milk to ¼ cup (60mL) to compensate for the added liquid volume. Alternatively, substitute ½ cup (96g) of coconut sugar or brown sugar AND reduce the milk to ½ cup (120mL) to compensate for the added volume.
LIQUID STEVIA IN FROSTING NOTE: For sweeter frosting, add an additional ⅛ to ¼ teaspoon of liquid stevia. I do not recommend substituting other liquid sweeteners (ie pure maple syrup, honey, agave, etc) for the liquid stevia in the frosting. These sweeteners will make the frosting too liquidy, and it won’t stay put once spread onto the cake. For frosting that does not require liquid stevia, use this cream cheese frosting recipe of mine instead.
IMPORTANT CARROT NOTE: Do not substitute store-bought pre-shredded carrots. They are too thick and dry, and they won’t soften while the cake bakes.
OTHER MIX-INS: 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.
9X13" CAKE PAN: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 26-32 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 test it myself, I'll share my experience here too!)
{gluten-free, clean eating, low fat, lower sugar, higher protein}
View Nutrition Information + Weight Watchers Points
Hi how much stevia powder would I substitute for the stevia drops? Thanks xx
Colette, I really appreciate your interest in my recipes, but unless I know the exact brand and product of stevia powder that you’re trying to substitute, I can’t give you an amount for this, the cheesecake bars, or the pound cake. Please let me know the exact product you’re trying to use, and I’ll be happy to provide an amount for each of those three recipes! 🙂
I’d like to substitue the stevia and maple syrup in the cake batter with coconut sugar. Do I have to add more or less milk then? I will also reduce the coconut oil since I will use 3 whole eggs ?.
Thanks for your help!
I really appreciate your interest in my recipe Fabienne! If you prefer to use coconut sugar in place of the vanilla creme stevia and maple syrup, you’ll need 12-14 tablespoons (depending on how sweet you want your cake!). You’ll need to reduce the milk to be 6-8 tablespoons as well. The batter should be very thick, so start with the smaller amount of milk, and only add more if you can’t incorporate all of the flour mixture. If using 3 whole eggs, then use no more than 1 tablespoon of coconut oil. 🙂 I can’t wait to hear how your cake turns out!
Hi Amy!
Thank you so much for your swift reply! I’plan to bake it this afternoon ?. I’ll update you on how it turns out ?.
Reporting live from the kitchen: the cake rose like a boss, the consistency of the batter was on point w/ 6 Tsp of Milk, 3 whole eggs, only 6 Tsp of coconut sugar and 1 Tsp of Coconut oil. I used whole wheat flour as well!
I also baked it in one pan because i won’t use any filling or frosting. I just want the cake plain as is. I baked it for 24 mins at 175c. The smell is fabulous!
It looks like beautiful brown dome ?. From the smell alone, I can already tell the taste will be amazing!
That sounds like carrot cake perfection to me, Fabienne! 😉 I can’t wait to hear how it tasted once you cut into it!
Hi Amy, I’ve been waiting to try this for awhile. The vanilla creme sweetner arrived and it’s the same brand as you buy. I made your raspberry choc chip pound cake with it and oh my goodness, I thought there was something wrong with my raspberries because it had a really awful sweet bitter taste. I decided to try a single drop on my finger and yep
that was the awful taste. I’m going to try it with
granulated stevia or I have xylitol granulated sugar.
I bought them all at the same time because I’m
from Australia and it’s hard to get. The only
reason I purchased in the first place was to
make this cake. I’m not that savvy with sweetner s
and am wondering if you have tried xylitol?
I desperately want to make this cake without
all the extra maple syrup. The pound cake called
for 15ml of vanilla creme stevia but I’m
worried about using it for this cake.
I’m super disappointed that I can’t stand
the taste of it.
Oh no!! That’s such a bummer that the vanilla creme stevia has a bitter taste to you. It’s completely understandable though; everybody has different taste buds on their tongues! I haven’t worked much with xylitol, but I can try to do a little research to see if I can provide an amount for you. What specific brand/product of xylitol and granulated stevia did you buy? We’ll figure out a different substitute for the vanilla creme stevia so you don’t need to use extra maple syrup in this cake Kim! 🙂
Hi Amy, thank you so much for your reply! The stevia granulated sweetner is by Natvia and it’s a baking one. The Xylitol is from Naturally Sweet 100% Xylitol and it’s from Sweet Leaf, the same place I ordered the vanilla creme stevia. I have been making a carrot loaf cake from another site only because the person uses Greek yoghurt also which I adore and they add some vanilla protein powder in which tastes divine but without naming the site, the loaf always turns out flat however the taste is good. It’s just that I love what you do and love your healthy Banana Snack Cake which I’ve mentioned a few times now ??. My 8 year old son, Callum cannot believe how I am talking to someone from America. I don’t think he understands the concept of technology but whenever he has friends over, he always asks for my friend Amy’s cake to share and even wrote a story about how I make it for his teacher!! So cute! I would sneak a slight portion of walnuts into this cake. I really appreciate your effort in trying to help me. ?
Awwww Callum is so sweet!! Reading that story brought happy tears to my eyes — I’m truly touched that he’d want to share my cake with his friends and write a story about it and his teacher! Thank you SO much for sharing that with me! ♡ I tried researching both products, and if I’m reading the Natvia website correctly, the product that you have can be used as a 1-to-1 substitute for granulated sugar. Is that correct? (I couldn’t find a SweeLeaf xylitol product on their website, so if you have a link to your specific product, let me know!) If that ratio is correct for your Natvia product, then I’d recommend using ½ cup of your Natvia product (or a little more, if you prefer a sweeter cake!) and reducing the milk to be between ½ – ⅔ cup. The batter should be very thick, where you’ll need to scrape it from the bowl and spread it into your pans with a spatula. 🙂 I can’t wait to hear how that turns out for you Kim!
Hi Amy,
Thank you so much for replying. Callum was thrilled you actually mentioned him 🙂 Yes, I believe with Nativa it is a 1:1 ratio swap. Interestingly though and I cannot remember where I read it but it does say with artificial sweetners that you actually have to increase the a liquid quantity by a third to make up for the lack of moisture by not using natural sugars. I will however try your suggestion by reducing the milk. Also here is the link for the Xylitol product I bought. My hestitation with Xylitol is that used in larger amounts, it does add extra calories.
https://www.naturallysweet.com.au/naturally-sweet-xylitol-1000g-pouch. This is the same site I bought the same drops as you do.
I will really try to make this cake over the weekend. I seem to be hooked on Carrot Cake lately. I have tried your Carrot Oatmeal Cookie Cake quite awhile back and it was a major hit!!! I forgot to rate that recipe so will be doing so very soon.
You do a fantastic job Amy with your wonderful instructions (particularly using grams) which it really does make for easier measuring. I also enjoy your blogs and photo’s very much. It’s great how you try your best to help people. I am new to baking but I am improving by the day since I came across your site. It is my number one go to site! 🙂
It’s my pleasure Kim! And tell Callum that I say hi again — and I hope he does well in school this week and enjoys his playdates! 🙂
Thanks for sending along the link! Now I see why I was confused… The company sells the same brand of stevia that I use, but they’re not actually the same company — only a distributer! (I use the company SweetLeaf, not Naturally Sweet! 😉 ) I’m SO glad you enjoyed this cake and were able to make it work with Natvia! I’m actually going to post a slightly different carrot cake recipe later this month that’s baked in a loaf pan, so stay tuned… 😉
And I’m truly, truly honored by your kind words about my blog! It means a lot to me that you find the instructions and gram measurements so helpful — and I’m completely blown away that you’d call my blog your number one go to site! Thank you SO much, sweet friend!! ♡
Hi Amy,
Well I finally made this cake and it’s divine!!
The whole family loved it and it’s already gone.
So I ended up using 1/3 cup of Nativa stevia
sweetner and I didn’t reduce the milk either.
For the milk, I used Almond Breeze unsweetened
Almond vanilla milk (first time I’ve tried it)
and it really tasted so wonderful!! I ended up
halving the ingredients to make it into a
an 8 x 4 loaf pan also. That didn’t rise as high
unfortunately but it’s cooling now and I’m
betting it’s going to taste great! As for the
first cake, it rose beautifully and it’s another
hit. I thought I’d let you know how I did
the substitute just in case anyone else
doesn’t like the Vanilla Stevia Liquid.
I’d really love to know how you would turn it
into a loaf cake because it’ would be great
to put into lunch boxes. Everything about
this cake is sensational!!
You’re so welcome Amy!
Oh my goodness I cannot wait to read and try
the carrot cake loaf!! Yummy! ❤
That means a lot to me Kim! I can’t wait to hear what you think of it! ♡
Hi Amy,
You just made Callum’s day by mentioning him!! He said to say thank you
for getting my mum to make your yummy
recipes and that you a very nice and pretty. Awww ?
Awwww Callum is such a sweetie!! (And so polite! I’m sure he has his mother to thank for that! 😉 ) Tell him you’re very welcome, and thank you so much for your kind words about me and my recipes! My heart melted! ♡
Hy Amy!
If i don’t have maple syrup, can i subtitute it with any other sweetener or i should use instead of honey / or just add more milk because of the texture?
Alexa
I really appreciate your interest in my recipe Alexa! I’ve actually answered that question already in the Notes section underneath the Instructions. 🙂 I can’t wait to hear what you think of this cake!
Hi Amy,
I have only one cake pan Do you think it will be ok if I bake one first, and set the batter aside in the fridge, then come back again to bake it with the same cake pan (after cooling it with water)?
Or is there a risk that the cake batter will start to ‘fall flat’ in the meantime?
(It has happened to me before with other cake recipes — having waited a bit before baking and the cake didn’t rise)
Thanks in advance! Cheers!
P.S Going to start later in the day~ will report back on what I did
I really appreciate your interest in my recipe Jade! I think that should be okay. These cake layers don’t rise too much as it is, and they may be ever so slightly denser — but nothing drastically different! I’d recommend placing the unused batter in the refrigerator while the first portion bakes. That second portion may require longer to bake, but putting it in the fridge will slow down the activation of the baking powder and baking soda (if they activate too early, before the batter has been baked, that’s typically what causes the batter to “fall flat” as you described!). 🙂 I can’t wait to hear what you think of this cake!
Thanks for your prompt reply~ Going to see if I can find Greek yogurt cream cheese at the store (gonna be hard; will probably use regular cream cheese — eeps)
Fingers crossed!
Good luck!! Neufchâtel (1/3-less fat) will also work, if that’s easier to find! 🙂
Hi Amy,
The carrot cake turned out to be a “carrot pie”! The texture is quite dense, and it didn’t rise much
It could not have been the waiting time, since the first batch — which went in immediately after incorporating the carrots — was also rather dense Taste-wise, it does have a bonafide carrot cake flavour. (I remembered seeing another baker’s comment about their cake not rising…)
Some possible reasons:
1/ The oven wasn’t hot enough — I preheated at 180C (a tad more than 350F) for 20 minutes and baked for 25 mins. I did the toothpick test at 25 min, baked for another 2-3 min, took the cake out when the toothpick turned out clean around the 28 min mark.
2/ The baking soda did not interact with the other ingredients to create bubbles.
Normally it should react with the yogurt (acid) or the honey (molasses/sugar-based stuff). It is a new packet of baking soda so I can’t be sure it’s this reason…
3/ The mixing process – I didn’t beat very intensely when mixing in the flour and milk (4 times as you recommended) so maybe there isn’t enough air inside to help the batter rise? I figured this should not matter if the idea is for the bubbles to form while the batter bakes. But if the intention is that I should beat very hard to incorporate air, then this could be it
Perhaps you can shed some light on my ‘carrot pie’. Cheers!
I’ll still try to finish it though~
Let’s get this sorted out Jade! 🙂 It’s definitely not #3. Overmixing will make your cake tough and rubbery, so do not try to mix more to incorporate air. It has the opposite effect! Did you use the vanilla creme stevia or did you use the alternative substitute in the Notes section? Did you make any other substitutions? Did you measure with a kitchen scale or measuring cups? Does your cake look denser than the one in my photos? In general, traditional carrot cakes are denser than other cakes (like yellow cake — and especially angel food cake!), so I’m also trying to get a sense of whether your “dense” texture is in comparison to that traditional carrot cake texture, as opposed to traditional white/yellow cake textures. 🙂
The substitutions I used were honey instead of maple syrup, and soy milk instead of regular milk. I used a measuring cup for both..
Here’s a picture of my cake/pie so you get a sense of how dense it got :p I could barely see the carrot bits.
Here’s a link: tinypic.com/r/2nib2pc/9
Thanks Amy!
Thanks for the picture Jade! Did you purée the carrots?
Also, what flour did you use? Did you measure it with a measuring cup or a kitchen scale?
I shredded the carrots by hand.
As for the flour, I used regular all-purpose flour and measured with the kitchen scale. 🙂
(I’m starting to think it’s the honey.. not enough sugar to activate the baking soda to create bubbles…)
On the bright side, everyone helped to finish my carrot pie :p
Thanks for the info Jade! It’s definitely not the honey… Baking soda is a base, so it’s activated by acid, not sugar. (I was a chemist before a baking blogger, so I’m really into nerdy things like that!) 🙂 Based on your photo, it really looks like there was too much liquid, not enough flour (you used the full 270g, correct?), or not enough egg whites/Greek yogurt/protein. The protein is what ensures baked goods hold their shape after baking. You mentioned that you used honey instead of maple syrup, but I want to double check — did you use the vanilla creme stevia as well? Or did you substitute honey for that too?
Yes for the flour, I used the full 270g…
As for the stevia, I didn’t use it — I used honey as the substitute 🙂
Did you reduce the amount of milk to compensate for the honey substitution? 🙂
Hi Amy,
this cake looks so delicious! Can’t wait to try it for easter!
Sadly I can’t find Greek yoghurt anywhere… do you have any ideas what I could use instead? Would normal yoghurt or “quark” work?
It’s the same with vanilla cream stevia…
I really appreciate your interest in my recipe Anne! Normal yogurt will work just fine. I’ve actually offered options for the vanilla creme stevia in the Notes section already, so check there. 🙂 I can’t wait to hear what you think of this carrot cake, and happy {early} Easter!
Hi Amy-
I was thinking of making this cake this year for Easter. What can I use for a substitute for the Maple Syrup. My dad is Diabetic and this sugar levels are a little higher than I hoped when looking at the nutritional facts. Can I substitute granulated stevia? And if so what other adjustments should I make to it as well? Thanks for your input I tried reading all the comments and didn’t see one that officially answered my question. Thank you again.
Nikki
I really appreciate your interest in my recipe Nikki! Your dad is so lucky to have you. 🙂 The modifications will completely depend on the exact stevia product that you use! Will you be using the vanilla creme stevia? If so, I’d recommend increasing it to 2 full teaspoons and increasing the milk to 1 full cup to compensate for the missing liquid from the maple syrup. I can’t wait to hear what you both think of this cake, and happy {early} Easter!