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
On the bottle it says: 1/3 dropper approx the sweetness of 1 teaspoon of sugar.
https://www.nirvanahealthproducts.com/stevia-faq/
Sugar amount Stevia Powder extract Stevia Liquid Concentrate
2 cups 3 level teaspoons 2 teaspoons
1 cup 1 ½ level teaspoons 1 teaspoon
½ cup ¾ level teaspoon ½ teaspoon
¼ cup 3/8 level teaspoon ¼ teaspoon
1 tablespoon 1/8 level teaspoon 12 to 16 drops
2 teaspoon 1/16 level teaspoon 6 to 8 drops
1 teaspoon A pinch to 1/32 level teaspoon 3 to 4 drops
Thank you SO much for that conversion chart Tee! Super helpful! It looks like your vanilla stevia is twice as strong as the one I use. For my brand’s vanilla stevia conversion chart, 1 cup = 2 teaspoons vanilla stevia. Nirvana’s says 1 cup = 1 teaspoon of liquid stevia. If that’s true, use a little less than ¾ teaspoon of Nirvana’s vanilla stevia. (However, I’ve found that the brand I use isn’t quite as sweet as the website’s chart makes it seem, and I need a little more than 2 teaspoons of that vanilla stevia to taste like 1 cup of sugar… So if you’ve found that for Nirvana’s stevia as well, then use ¾ teaspoon or a little more!) 🙂
Canu use Stevia packets I stead of liquid?
It depends! What brand of stevia packets do you have, Renee? 🙂
Sweet Additions from. Aldi. The packet says not recommended for baking. I just used maple syrup in the cake. What about the frosting?
To clarify, you used the maple syrup substitution for the stevia in the cake, correct? 🙂 What’s the sugar equivalent in each Sweet Additions packet? I’ve been researching online, but I haven’t been able to find that key bit of information…
Yes, Maple syrup in the cake.the package reads 6 packets to 1/4 cup sugar
Thanks for the info Renee! In the future, you can use 12 packets of your stevia in the frosting instead of the vanilla stevia. 🙂
The cake was delicious. I didn’t miss the sugar and used maple syrup in the cake and coconut oil. It was very moist. I used a little powdered sugar in the frosting, about 1/4cup. It was perfect. I even cut the recipe in half to serve e less people.
I’m so glad you enjoyed this cake Renee! Thanks for taking the time to let me know, as well as share your modifications! That means a lot to me! 🙂
Can I make this in a loaf pan?
Yes! The baking time will definitely increase, but the baking temperature will remain the same. I can’t wait to hear what you think of this carrot cake Lyndsay! 🙂
Do you have any substitutions for the Greek yogurt if I am making this diary free?
I really appreciate your interest in my recipe, Michaelan! You can substitute non-dairy yogurt (i.e. soy- or almond-based) in the cake batter, but I’ve found most non-dairy yogurts aren’t thick enough for the frosting… So I’d recommend using twice as much non-dairy cream cheese for the frosting instead. 🙂 I can’t wait to hear what you think of this carrot cake!
I would love to try this recipe…in case you have exact measurements to make half the quantity, kindly share it as i find it difficult to divide eggs & oil… 🙂
I really appreciate your interest in my recipe, Abi! If you’d rather make a single-layer cake, then I recommend using this recipe of mine. It’s very similar — just a single layer instead! 🙂 I’d love to hear what you think if you try it!
Hi Amy! I want to try this recipe for 1 year old birthday cake. Could I use whole eggs instead of just egg whites though?
I’m so honored that you’d want to use one of my recipes to celebrate such a special occasion! That really means a lot to me! 🙂 Yes, you can use 3 whole eggs, and I’d recommend decreasing the coconut oil or butter to 1 tablespoon (14g) instead to compensate. I can’t wait to hear what you think of this carrot cake, Angel!
Hi Amy! Thank you so much for your quick reply. I just baked it. I did what you said about the eggs and butter, but I forgot to reduce the milk for stevia alteration, so the mixture became too wet. I ended up adding more flour and walnuts but it ended up ok. I think it’s the perfect sweetness for toddlers. And thank you so much for writing down all the ingredients in both ml, g, and cups! I hate recipes that only write in cups!!
It’s my pleasure, Angel! Yes, reducing the milk makes a BIG difference. Adding in the extra flour is what made your cake taste not as sweet as the original version, but I’m glad it still worked for toddlers! 🙂
Have you tried this in a bundt cake? Curious as to how the baking time/temp. would differ.
I really appreciate your interest in my recipe, Angelina! I haven’t, but I don’t think it’s quite enough batter for a bundt cake pan (it’ll look pretty short and squat!). 😉 I’d love to hear what you think if you decide to try this carrot cake!
I bake often—in fact, I make money on the side baking for others—but I am new to the whole sugar-free/low sugar scene. I made this today. It was very dense and not very sweet at all. The icing is way too wet to hold shape—I know it will make a mess if I try to put it on the cake, and the liquid vanilla Stevia leaves a bitter aftertaste. Was trying to make a birthday cake for a friend who’s diabetic, but I’m afraid he’s going to be disappointed. Any ideas what I did wrong?
I really appreciate your interest in my recipe Jennifer! That sounds disappointing, and I’d love to work with you to figure out how to solve those issues. 🙂 Did you happen to watch my recipe video, and was your cake batter and frosting the same consistency as in the video? This cake isn’t supposed to be light in texture like a boxed mix or angel food cake; it’s more towards the dense side of the spectrum, like a pound cake. However, it shouldn’t be as dense as a brick! 😉
Did you make any substitutions, including those in the Notes section underneath the Instructions? Did you use the vanilla stevia in the cake batter as well? When you measured the flour, carrots, and Greek yogurt, did you use a kitchen scale or measuring cups? Also, do you know your friend’s preferred no-calorie sweetener? We can probably modify the recipe to suit his tastes if it turns out this cake, as is, doesn’t work out! 🙂
Thank you for responding and for your time! I followed the recipe exactly for the cake—even made sure I had the same brand of vanilla Stevia that you use. It was the same consistency as yours in the video. The only substitution I made was in the icing, following one of your suggestions to add an additional 1/8 tsp of the Stevia to make it sweeter. I added meringue powder after discovering the icing was too wet and got it to thicken, but not by much. I ended up putting it on the cake the best that I could, then putting coconut on the outside to keep it in place. I made carrot curls to decorate the top, and we just went with it. It was ok. Maybe the discrepancy is that we’re all accustomed to my full-sugar baking and were (unfairly) comparing the 2?
It’s my pleasure, Jennifer! I’m always happy to help! 🙂 Thank you for sharing all of those details — really helpful! Your additions of coconut and carrot curls sound beautiful! What brand of Greek yogurt did you use? And what type (and brand!) of cream cheese? Some brands yield a thinner consistency, especially with Greek yogurt, so that could also be the culprit. I’ve recently found that Fage Greek yogurt is the thickest and yields the best textures for frosting! Did you notice the bitter aftertaste in the cake as well, or just the frosting?
It’s very true that full-sugar baking and sugar-free baking are different, especially because sugar adds both flavor and texture to baking recipes. I’d be happy to suggest substitutions using different sugar-free ingredients the next time you bake for your diabetic friend! I’m very familiar with Truvia, Splenda, and many others, and I’m always happy to try to modify recipes to best suit your needs and tastes. 🙂