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
Well, the cake layers are about 1-1/2” tall and the cake has an unusual flavor. I think I can salvage this if I switch to traditional cream cheese frosting and cut the cake in to squares.
I really appreciate your interest in my recipe Ken! I’d love to work with you to solve the issues that you experienced. 🙂 Did you make any modifications to the recipe, including those listed in the Notes section? Would you mind elaborating a bit more about the flavor? Was it bitter, sour, over spiced, something else? What pans did you use to bake the layers, circular as instructed or something else? We’ll get those issues sorted out so your cake turns out exactly as it’s supposed to if you decide to try this recipe again! 🙂
Hello , I found your healthy carrot cake recipe on Youtube, I am really interested in making the carrot cake but I would like to add raisins or walnuts. How much do I add ??
I really appreciate your interest in my recipe Melissa! You can definitely add either — or both! I recommend adding between ¼ and ½ cup. (You don’t want to add too much, or else the cake layers won’t hold together properly! 😉 ) I can’t wait to hear what you think of this carrot cake!
Hi, I was wondering if there is a substitute for the Vanilla Stevia. I’m not a fan of any Stevia in any form. Also do you have a substitute for the Greek yogurt? I like dairy free products. What should instead?
I really appreciate your interest in my recipe Jolie! I’ve actually given the best substitutes for the vanilla stevia in the Notes section of the recipe. I know it can be easy to miss! You can definitely substitute non-dairy yogurts (ie soy- or almond-based) for the Greek yogurt in the cake batter. However, those will make the frosting a little to liquidy and runny. 🙂 I can’t wait to hear what you think of this carrot cake!
Thank you for the recipe! I’ve change the frosting and I used light ricotta cheese + cream cheese (I couldn’t find greek yogurt cream cheese). The cake was a bit gummy 🙁 Maybe because I used oatmeal flour? I’ll try to make it with white flour next time 🙁 Anyway, it was good 🙂
I really appreciate your interest in my recipe Sorina! I’m glad you enjoyed the flavor. I’m happy to help you sort through that gummy texture issue! 🙂 Just to make sure I fully understand, it turned out more rubbery / gummy, rather than dense and moist, correct? When you mixed up the cake batter, did you use a whisk and fork like I did in the recipe video? Or did you happen to use a stand or electric mixer, by any chance?
The cake was dense and it didn’t rise too much. I used only a fork 😀
P.S. I don’t have instagram, but I’ve posted on my facebook. Lots of my friends asked me about the recipe 😀
https://www.facebook.com/sorina.puiac/posts/1037299346450805?notif_id=1539537925666500¬if_t=feedback_reaction_generic
Thanks so much for sharing your Facebook photos, Sorina!! Your cake looks BEAUTIFUL — I love how you decorated it! So chic! 🙂 So just to confirm, the cake was dense and moist — not rubbery? (I think of rubbery when people say gummy, so I just want to make sure!) If it was just dense and moist, and not rubbery, then that’s actually the right texture for this recipe. It’s supposed to be really moist and dense, not light and airy like an angel food cake or a boxed cake mix. Does that make sense?
I’ve made this cake several times (love it) just wanted to mention that I bake with oat flour a lot and it will be extremely dense regardless of the recipe. You need A LOT of baking powder to get it “fluffy”.
You can’t use it as a straight substitute without changing some element of the original recipe.
p.s. making carrot cake muffins with oat flour that turned out perfectly fluffy – and using your amazing frosting! my son is excited to take them to school tonight 🙂
Thank you so much for chiming in Jojo!! This is really good to know! I’ve mainly used oat flour in cookies, which don’t exactly rise much… 😉 It sounds like I have a lot more fun experimenting ahead of me! And I’m SO glad you and your family enjoyed the carrot cake muffins! That means so much to me!! 🙂
Hi Amy!
I want to make this but I’ve got a granulated Stevia blend I want to use. It’s meant to be a 1 to 1 substitute for white sugar. How would you alter the recipe to make that work? I’d still do the 1/4 cup of maple syrup.
Thanks!!! This looks incredible. It’s for my husband’s birthday 😀
I’m truly honored that you’d consider making my recipe for such a special occasion Kelly!! 🙂 If you’d like to use your granulated stevia that’s a 1-for-1 substitute for granulated sugar, then use ½ cup of that and reduce the milk by 2-3 tablespoons (so ½ cup + 1 or 2 tablespoons of milk in total!). I can’t wait to hear what you think of this carrot cake!
Hi Amy!
I didn’t get your reply in time so what I did was substitute the liquid stevia for 1/2 granulated stevia blend and left the milk the same. The reason I did this was because for flour I used 1. 5 cups buckwheat flour and 1 cup oat flour. I knew I’d need the extra moisture. When I mixed it it still felt thick, so I added more eggs! I had 6 eggs total. Everything else follows your recipe exactly. It was FANTASTIC! I’d highly recommend the buckwheat flour, it added a wonderful mild nutty flavor!
I’m so glad you enjoyed this carrot cake Kelly! That means a lot to me! 🙂 I’ve made a note about the buckwheat. It’s definitely something I’m interested in trying! And thank you for including your recipe modifications. I always love hearing what tweaks work!
I really liked how the cake turned out, but not so much the frosting. I used normal stevia and vanilla extract. I also used normal Philadelphia cream cheese as I couldn’t find the Greek one.
It just tasted to much like plain greek yogurt and I didn’t want to put more stevia because I dont like the “fake” sugarflavour.
I really appreciate your interest in my recipe Anika! I’m glad you at least enjoyed the cake! 🙂 Do you have a preferred sweetener (besides maple syrup, honey, or agave!) that you’d like to use or add to the frosting? If you have confectioners’ style erythritol, that would be my first suggestion for a clean, no-calorie sweetener! Otherwise, something like powdered sugar would work fine as well!
Thank you for the reply Amy!
Do you think there is a big difference by using normal stevia vs. vanilla stevia though?
I really appreciate your website btw!
It’s my pleasure Anika! I haven’t worked enough with granulated stevia to know whether there’s a big difference. I do know that I like that the liquid stevia takes up a lot less space in my pantry though! 😉
Hi Amy!! First of all, I LOVE your blog and your recipes!!! Congratulations! You´re awesome!!
– How can I substitute the maple syrup with coconut sugar?, in my country (Mexico) its kinda difficult to find pure maple syrup, and I dont wanna use the commercial one ´cause it always turns out more harmful to health.
Thanks!!
I truly appreciate your interest in my recipes Génesis! That means a lot to me! 🙂 If you’d like to substitute coconut sugar in place of just the maple syrup (not the stevia!), then use ¼ cup + 3 extra tablespoons of milk. I can’t wait to hear what you think of this carrot cake!
Dear Amy,
Thank you very much for the recipe. I made the basic cake recipe and did it with a little bit “Easter decoration”. The result is delicious and I am satisfied from my decoration´s feeling :D.
I’ll try more of your recipes.
Sunny greetings from Slovakia
BR
Lenka
I’m so glad you enjoyed this carrot cake Lenka! That means so much to me. Thanks for taking the time to let me know! 🙂 I’m so excited to hear what recipe you decide to try next!