When I started graduate school, the chemistry department required all first year grad students to attend a weekly seminar on Tuesday afternoons. The invited speakers ranged from professors at other universities throughout the US to high-ranking individuals at local pharmaceutical companies and everything in between, but each scientist presented their cutting-edge research and took questions at the end.
In order to make room for all of the first years, along with anyone else in the chemistry department who wanted to attend, the seminars were held in the second largest lecture hall in the building almost three stories tall with slanted stadium-style seating. Most speakers put together slide decks to present on the oversized screen that came down from the ceiling, but a few also drew out specific molecules and mechanism pathways on the green chalkboard behind it.
Partially as a bribe, and partially to ensure we all stayed awake, the chemistry department set out a snack tray in the small classroom across the hall just before the seminars started at 4 pm. They provided two huge urns of coffee and hot water for tea, plus an oversized tray of store-bought cookies.
Free caffeine and sugar—definitely two fail-proof ways to get us grad students to show up!
About ten minutes before the snack trays arrived, first year grad students began congregating in that small hallway, eagerly anticipating the sweet snack’s arrival. We all rushed through the door, more in a chaotic blob than a neat line, quickly grabbed a napkin, and picked out a couple of cookies from the oversized platter.
The sugary treats ranged from classic Oreos and Fig Newtons to chewy chocolate chip cookies and crunchy iced oatmeal cookies to knockoff Thin Mints and Samoas to strawberry cream wafers and Keebler chocolate-striped shortbread… And just about every other cookie that you can possibly find at grocery stores.
We weren’t picky about what sweets they provided us with… We just looked forward to the free snacks and how they got us through the seminars!
Looking back, those store-bought cookies weren’t the best or healthiest option for snacks… But this homemade Healthy Carrot Zucchini Oatmeal Snack Cake definitely would be!
It’s full of fresh zucchini and sweet carrots, along with lots of hearty oats and warm spices, and it keeps me feeling full and satisfied (without any danger of a sugar crash!) much longer than those grad school cookies ever did. This healthy oatmeal snack cake also contains no refined flour or sugar, yet it still tastes like a special treat, just like those seminar snacks!
HOW TO MAKE A HEALTHY CARROT ZUCCHINI OATMEAL CAKE
So let’s go over how to make this healthy carrot zucchini oatmeal snack cake! I originally named it a “snack” cake, but maybe I should change that… Because it’s healthy enough and perfectly acceptable to eat this oatmeal cake for breakfast too! 😉
You’ll start with a combination of whole wheat flour (or gluten-free—see the Notes section of the recipe for my recommendations!) and instant oats. Yup, instant oats. Instant oats aren’t the ones sold in those individual brown paper packets with flavors like cinnamon apple or maple brown sugar!
Instant oats are just smaller and thinner than traditional old-fashioned rolled oats. This means they soften faster, which creates the most wonderful moist and tender texture in your healthy oatmeal breakfast cake!
Tip: Instant oats only contain one ingredient (oats!), and they’re usually sold in canisters right next to the old-fashioned rolled oats at the grocery store.
However, it’s extremely important to measure the flour and oats correctly, using this method or a kitchen scale. (← That’s the one I own and love!) Too much of either ingredient will dry out your batter, which means your snack cake would turn out dry and crumbly. This is especially true of the oats because they act like little sponges and soak up lots of moisture. But if you measure them correctly (hint: don’t scoop them from the canister!), then you’ll end up with a perfectly moist healthy carrot zucchini oatmeal snack cake.
Of course, anything with oats + carrots + zucchini definitely needs spices! Well, at least in my book… I always include spices in my carrot cake recipes, my zucchini bread, and my oatmeal cookies, so why not this healthy carrot zucchini oatmeal snack cake too?
I kept it simple and just used cinnamon and nutmeg. This is my favorite cinnamon because it tastes richer, stronger, and slightly sweeter than the most common varieties. (I buy it online here—it’s super affordable!) Then the nutmeg adds an extra cozy depth to the spice flavor. Yum!
Unlike many traditional snack cakes that call for ¼ to ½ cup of oil (yikes!), you just need ½ tablespoon of melted butter or coconut oil in this healthy recipe. That saves you anywhere from 356-764 calories, which really helps keep this healthy carrot zucchini oatmeal snack cake low calorie and low fat!
But I promise this healthy snack cake is just as moist and tender as those traditional ones! And that’s because you’ll mix lots of Greek yogurt into the batter. If you’ve browsed through my recipes before, then you already know how much I love baking with Greek yogurt! It adds the same moisture to this healthy carrot zucchini oatmeal snack cake but for a fraction of the calories. It also gives your snack cake a protein boost!
Then to sweeten your snack cake, you’ll skip the refined granulated sugar and use pure maple syrup instead. You want the kind that comes directly from maple trees, not pancake syrup! The only ingredient on the bottle should be “maple syrup.” It generally comes in thin glass bottles or squat plastic jugs (like this!).
Time for the veggies! And if you ask me… This is the best way to sneak extra vegetables into your diet. 😉
You’ll need freshly grated carrots and freshly grated zucchini. Don’t use the store-bought pre-shredded carrots! (They’re also called “matchstick” carrots.) They’re thicker and drier, and they don’t soften properly while baking. I also think they taste much more bland than freshly grated ones. I promise this healthy oatmeal breakfast cake is worth the extra effort of grating your own carrots!
Before you add the latter to the batter, you must thoroughly pat the freshly grated zucchini dry. I use paper towels to do this! Zucchini contains a lot more moisture than carrots do, which it releases while baking. That extra moisture adds too much liquid to the batter, which means your snack cake would collapse while cooling, and it would turn out overly dense. Not good!
But if you press the zucchini between multiple layers of paper towels before adding it to the batter, you end up squeezing out that extra moisture. Therefore, it doesn’t end up in your batter, so you get a perfectly moist and tender healthy carrot zucchini oatmeal snack cake!
And with those sweet veggies + cozy spices + fluffy oatmeal texture… I think this snack cake is perfect for healthy breakfasts, snacks, and even a little pre-bedtime treat! Which also means it rarely lasts more than a day or two in my house. 😉
Then 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 zucchini oatmeal snack cake!
Healthy Carrot Zucchini Oatmeal Snack Cake
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups (150g) instant oats (measured like this and gluten free, if necessary)
- 1 ¼ cups (150g) whole wheat or gluten free* flour (measured like this)
- 1 ½ tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- 2 ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- ¾ tsp ground nutmeg
- ¼ tsp salt
- ½ tbsp (7g) coconut oil or unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
- 2 large egg whites, room temperature
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- ¾ cup (180g) plain nonfat Greek yogurt
- 6 tbsp (90mL) pure maple syrup
- ½ cup (120mL) nonfat milk
- ¾ cup (79g) freshly grated carrots (peeled first!)
- ¾ cup (68g) freshly grated zucchini, thoroughly patted dry (see Notes!)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F, and coat a 9”-square pan with nonstick cooking spray.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the oats, flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. In a separate bowl, whisk together the coconut oil, egg whites, and vanilla. Add in Greek yogurt, stirring until no large lumps of yogurt remain. Stir in the maple syrup. Alternate between adding the oat mixture and milk, beginning and ending with the oat mixture, and stirring just until incorporated. (For best results, add the oat mixture in 3 equal parts.) Gently stir in the carrots and zucchini.
- Spread the batter into the prepared pan. Bake at 350°F for 32-36 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. Cool completely to room temperature in the pan before slicing and serving.
Notes
View Nutrition Information + Weight Watchers Points
You may also like Amy’s other recipes…
♡ Healthy Cinnamon Apple Oatmeal Snack Cake
♡ Healthy Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Snack Cake
♡ Healthy Banana Oatmeal Snack Cake
♡ Healthy Gingerbread Oatmeal Snack Cake
♡ …and the rest of Amy’s healthy snack recipes!
Hi Amy!
Wow again a recipe that sounds really delicious and healthy at the same time!
Do you think I could use whole eggs instead of just the egg whites? And could I add some baking cocoa? I just love a bit of chocolate flavor 😉
Thanks for your help!
Katharina
I truly appreciate your interest in my recipe Katharina! Yes, you can use 2 whole eggs. I’d recommend reducing the butter or coconut oil to ½ teaspoon to compensate for the added volume from the egg yolks. If you’d like a little chocolate flavor, then substitute ¼ cup for an equal amount of whole wheat flour (or up to ¾ cup of cocoa powder for an equal amount of whole wheat flour for a more pronounced chocolate flavor!). 🙂 I can’t wait to hear what you think of this snack cake!
Fabulous. Perfect match muffin/cake. As organic, gluten free, dairy free vegan couple twists, 1. Substitute almond flour with oat, 2. Add 1egg (vegan) 3. Substitute zucchini with 1 3/4 carrots, 1 ripe banana, small handful raisins, 1 Tbsp 100% apple sauce, 4. Correspondingly reduce non-dairy milk and yogurt, 5 limit maple syrup to 3 tbsp (don’t really need any). Came out perfectly tasteful, moist, soft accompaniment to vegan bean/lentil/veg/seeds/nut/squash/avocado purée stew. Love following your recipes and family life stories, my sweet young lady.
I’m so glad you enjoyed this snack cake Barry! Thanks for including your recipe modifications — I always love hearing what tweaks work! 🙂 I’m excited to hear what recipe you decide to try next!
would these freeze well?
Yes, individual slices of this snack cake freeze really well! I’d love to hear what you think if you try this recipe Susan!
Can flaxeggs be used instead of the egg whites?
I really appreciate your interest in my recipe Ilm! I don’t have much experience with flax eggs. However, my brother is actually allergic to eggs, and Ener-G is my favorite substitute. Ener-G is a shelf-stable powder that keeps for ages. It works perfectly as an egg replacer in nearly all of my recipes, including this one! For my recipes, use 1 ½ teaspoons Ener-G + 2 tablespoons warm water for each egg white (and you’ll need an additional ½ tablespoon of butter or coconut oil {or Earth Balance, if you’re vegan!} for each egg yolk, although this doesn’t apply in this particular recipe!). I can’t wait to hear what you think of this snack cake if you try it! 🙂
When to add the zucchini? It’s not mentioned in the directions. Is it with the shredded carrots?
I see she never answered the question, which I also had, nor has the recipe been edited. I added the zukes when I added the carrots. It’s in the oven now!
Thanks for catching that detail Shaima and Sue — the Instructions are all fixed now! You’re correct, it’s with the carrots. 🙂 I can’t wait to hear what you think of this snack cake!
Hi Amy! I want to start off by saying that I’ve tried a few recipes from your website and I’ve loved all of them! I’ve bookmarked so many recipes and your website is so pretty that I could (and have) spend hours looking through all the delicious and healthy recipes.
My zucchini and carrot snack cake is in the oven right now but unfortunately I’ve been having a lot of difficulties. It’s been in the oven for an extra 25 min and I’ve been checking every five minutes for doneness but I’m not sure why it’s taking so long. Every time I poked either a metal or wooden chopstick in (because I don’t have toothpicks right now and I’m asian haha) it would come out with wet bits attached to them.
The only substitution I made was using a whole egg instead of two egg whites. I made sure to pat the grated zucchini dry, measure the oats and flour by sifting with a fork and leveling them off, stirring the mixture with a fork when indicated, and so forth. The only part I’m unsure about is the greek yogurt because I use Fage nonfat, and since it’s very thick and doesn’t settle into the measuring cup very well, I tapped the yogurt into the cup in between spooning it in to even it out and measure it to the full 3/4 cup. Did that give me more liquid than I needed, and therefore a lot more cooking time?
I ended up just taking the cake out after over an hour of baking time because I’m really tired from a long day, and am hoping that everything raw in the batter got cooked through. However, I would like to make other snack cakes from your website and would like to troubleshoot the issues I had for next time! Thank you in advance!
I truly appreciate your interest in my recipes Angela! That means the world to me that you’ve bookmarked so many to try. I’m honored! 🙂 I’m happy to help sort through the issues that you experienced! I think that method of measuring the Greek yogurt may have played into the longer baking time. The other thing could be the zucchini wasn’t quite as thoroughly patted dry as what I used. When you dried the zucchini, did you use two different sets of top paper towels, and did they turn fully wet each time?
Also, how did you measure the carrots and zucchini — did you use measuring cups as well? If so, did you use exactly ¾ cup of each? Not a “generous” ¾ cup or a little extra of either one?
Once I know all of that information, I should have a much better idea of what happened and how to troubleshoot it!
Ah, I see. I’ll make sure to measure the yogurt with a light hand next time!
I did thoroughly dry the zucchini, even drying them a third time to catch any leftover moisture. But yes, I did use measuring cups to measure the grated vegetables. I measured the grated zucchini prior to squeezing the moisture. However, when putting the veggies into the measuring cup to see if I had enough, I did prod the them with my fork so that they got into all the nooks and crannies of the measuring cup, since the grated vegetables were rather “fluffy” and left a lot of gaps in the measuring cup. Maybe that’s it! Would you recommend that I also spoon and level off the veggies for next time?
(update: although the texture of my cakes are off they taste delicious 🙂 )
I’m so glad you love the flavor Angela! Yes, I’d recommend not packing the veggies into the measuring cups and using a slightly lighter hand. Although it’s really tempting to add more (at least, that’s how I am!), adding too many will have a negative impact on the baking time and texture. I think if you use a little less yogurt and veggies, your next snack cake should turn out much better! 🙂
Hi, is there a substitute I can make for the greek yoghurt? Something dairy free?
I really appreciate your interest in my recipe Liz! Dairy-free yogurts (ie soy- or almond-based) are the best substitute for the Greek yogurt. 🙂 I’d love to hear what you think if you try this snack cake!
Can i sub oat flour in your recipes?
I really appreciate your interest in my recipes Angela! It actually depends. Oat flour works really well as a substitute in baked goods that don’t need to rise much (like cookies and brownies!), but in baked goods that do rise (like this snack cake, muffins, scones, etc), oat flour tends to make them turn out denser, and they don’t rise quite as much. As long as you don’t mind that texture difference, the flavor will remain the same. Also, be really careful when measuring oat flour! It’s a bit more absorbent than wheat-based flour, so adding too much will quickly dry out your baked goods. Lastly, you can actually find my recipes that already call for oat flour here, if you’re interested! 🙂 I’d love to hear what you think of this snack cake if you try making it!
So so so yummy! It’s my first time trying healthy baking. I’m used to making the cheat day cakes and cookies so was unsure how this would taste. They are delicious and definitely going to be making them again. I accidently put in all the milk but found I like the fudgier texture more. The only addition I’ll make next time is adding raisins…personal choice on this one, really.
Thanks for sharing your recipes, Amy. Looking forward to trying a banana bread recipe soon.
I’m so glad you enjoyed this snack cake Radhika! I’m really honored that you picked one of my recipes to try as your first healthy baking recipes. That means the world to me! 🙂 I love your idea of adding raisins too! Have you seen my trick about hydrating raisins before adding them to baked goods? It makes a HUGE difference in the texture! They turn out so plump and juicy that way! (If you haven’t, then I’ve shared it here in the Notes section of this other recipe, located directly underneath the Instructions!)
Hi Amy,
Can I add ONLY carrots to this recipe? If yes, can you write the adjustment amount?
Thank you, can’t wait to try this!
I stumbled across your blog and I love it! Your recipes are so yummy looking! The pictures are are so beautiful!
I’m honored that you’d like to try making my recipe, Karen! Yes, you can replace the zucchini with additional grated carrots. So that would mean you’d need a total of 1 ½ cups (158g) of freshly grated carrots. 🙂 I’m so excited to hear what you think of this snack cake! And thank you so much for your sweet words about my recipes and photos too — that truly means a lot!!