{A quick note before we get to today’s recipe!} It seems like many people are talking about the same topics right now. While I think it’s important to be informed, cautious, and as safe and healthy as possible… I also think it’s really easy to feel anxious, overwhelmed, or afraid by seeing and hearing updates about the world’s current events almost nonstop.
I know I feel those things nearly every time I read the news or scroll through social media…
And I don’t want to do that to you. I don’t want you to feel those things because of me and what I’m sharing here on Amy’s Healthy Baking.
So I’m planning on posting the same things as usual: recipes, baking tips, and lighthearted stories to go with them. Because I think we could all use a little distraction, a little sense of normalcy, and a hefty dose of sweet treats to brighten our days.
At least… I know that’s what I could use!
So with that in mind… I’m sending so many sweet, positive, and uplifting thoughts your way. ♡ And now let’s dive into today’s yummy dessert post! (It’s one of my new all-time favorite cake recipes!)
Partway through my sophomore year of college, after a particularly sugar-laden Christmas break, I decided to give up desserts for the first half of the year. I felt bloated and sluggish from all of the sweets (and my clothes fit more snugly than I remembered!), so I wanted to focus on eating more fruits, vegetables, and healthy meals to kick off the new year.
When I returned to campus in January, I picked my birthday in late June as the end date of my break from desserts. But as the months passed by, I realized I wasn’t craving sweets nearly as much as I thought, and since I rarely thought about them either…
A few days before my birthday, I decided to see if I could make it through the entire year!
That year, my birthday fell on the same weekend I drove up to Oregon with a group of graduate students from the organic chemistry lab I worked in to run in a 180-mile relay race. Because I didn’t want them to make a big deal out of it, I didn’t tell the grad students about my birthday, and somehow, even with dozens of texts and phone calls from family and friends throughout our 24 hours of running, they never found out!
But as soon as I walked through the door of our apartment back in California on Sunday evening…
My roommates greeted me with balloons, streamers, and a birthday cake! They didn’t want my special day to go unnoticed, and even though they knew I was still avoiding desserts, they wanted me to be able to make a wish and blow out the candles on a cake… Regardless of whether I actually ate a slice!
So they ended up baking a cake that they wanted to eat! They had picked up a box of spice cake mix and a tub of cream cheese frosting on the baking aisle of the grocery store across the street, and they had stirred shredded carrots into the batter to turn that boxed mix into a carrot cake.
That evening, they slipped candles into the center of their doctored-up sheet cake, turned off the lights, and sang happy birthday to me. It was so sweet and special of them!
Right after, they cut themselves big pieces of cake to enjoy while I told them stories about the running race. Although each roommate said the dessert satisfied her sweet tooth, I could tell from both of their faces… It wasn’t quite as good as a true, supremely moist, almost dense, so sweet and richly flavored homemade carrot cake.
And when I recently baked this Healthy Carrot Pound Cake, memories of that birthday and their doctored-up cake mix floated through my mind… But this homemade carrot cake definitely tasted SO much better — and it’s almost as easy to make!
Yes, really! You just need two bowls and a fork to make this healthy carrot cake. So put away those hand-held and stand mixers! It still has really rich and cozy spice flavors, along with such an incredibly soft and moist texture, even with no refined flour or sugar… And each slice is 139 calories!
HOW TO MAKE THE BEST HEALTHY CARROT POUND CAKE
What exactly is a pound cake? I’m glad you asked! Traditional pound cakes earned their name because they contained a pound of four main ingredients: flour, butter, eggs, and sugar. That definitely makes for one very rich and very moist dessert… But with how much cake I like to eat, there aren’t enough hours in the day for me to burn off all those calories!
So… I healthified it! 😉 Now let’s go over how to make this healthy carrot pound cake!
You’ll start with a combination of white whole wheat flour and spices. As confusing as it sounds, white whole wheat flour is not a combination of white (aka all-purpose) flour and regular whole wheat flour. Instead, it’s made by finely grinding a special type of soft white wheat (hence the name!), whereas regular whole wheat flour comes from a heartier variety of red wheat. They both have the same health benefits (like extra fiber!), but white whole wheat flour has a lighter taste and texture… Which lets the sweet flavor and moist texture of your healthy carrot pound cake really shine!
Tip: I’ve also included my two favorite gluten-free options in the Notes section of the recipe, if you’d like to make this healthy carrot pound cake gluten-free!
For the spices, you’ll need both cinnamon and nutmeg. I buy my favorite cinnamon online here! It tastes richer, stronger, and sweeter than regular cinnamon, yet it’s still really inexpensive. It’s the only kind I use in my baking right now! Then the nutmeg adds a deeper coziness and really rounds out the spice flavor. I just love pairing cinnamon and nutmeg together!
Unlike the traditional pound cakes with a pound of butter (over 2 cups!) and a pound of eggs (about 9 of them!), you just need ½ tablespoon of butter and 3 large egg whites (no yolks needed!). That really helps keep your healthy carrot pound cake low calorie and low fat!
Even better? Your healthy carrot pound cake still tastes really rich and moist, and a lot of that is from Greek yogurt! If you’ve browsed through my recipes before, then you already know how much I love baking with it. Here, Greek yogurt adds the same moisture to your cake batter as extra butter but for a fraction of the calories. It also gives your healthy carrot pound cake a protein boost!
Another ingredient that helps your cake taste so rich? Vanilla extract! Vanilla actually enhances butter’s rich flavor, so by using a bit more vanilla than most traditional recipes call for, your healthy carrot pound cake tastes just as buttery. (I use that trick in my favorite healthy chocolate chip cookies recipe too!)
Also unlike traditional recipes that use a pound of refined granulated sugar, you’ll sweeten your healthy carrot cake with two of my favorite sweeteners: liquid stevia and confectioners’ style erythritol. Both of these are plant-based, no-calorie sweeteners that contain nothing refined or artificial (aka they’re clean eating friendly!).
I always try to keep my recipes’ ingredients lists as short as possible for you because I know it isn’t fun to hunt down extra things at the grocery store… But for the best and sweetest possible cake, you really do need both of these sweeteners! I found that this cake tasted decently sweet when I just used liquid stevia, but adding a small amount of the erythritol really boosted the sweetness level so that this healthy carrot pound cake tastes just as indulgent and sweet as store-bought cakes. I promise it’s worth using both!
Hint: I actually buy both of these online! Here for the liquid stevia and here for the erythritol. Neither one is a single-time use ingredient either! You’ll use liquid stevia in all of these recipes of mine and erythritol in all of these recipes of mine!
Of course, it’s impossible to make this cake without one key ingredient… Carrots! Freshly grated carrots, to be exact. Do NOT substitute store-bought pre-shredded carrots (also called “matchstick” carrots). Those are thicker, drier, and really bland in comparison to freshly grated carrots, and they don’t soften properly while baking. For the best texture and taste in your healthy carrot pound cake, I promise it’s worth grating your own!
Then for a fun twist, I also added pineapple and raisins to the batter! I used to hate it when bakeries hid these two ingredients inside of carrot cake… But after tasting them in this healthy homemade carrot pound cake, I was absolutely smitten — and borderline obsessed!
The pineapple makes this healthy carrot pound cake SO incredibly moist. I was completely shocked by the difference just a small amount of the fruit made to the texture! Both the pineapple and raisins add such a bright, naturally sweet pop of flavor too. Yum!
Tip: Hydrate your raisins before adding them to the batter! I do this every time I bake with raisins because it makes them exceptionally plump and juicy. See the Notes section of the recipe on how to do this!
Once your healthy carrot pound cake has fully cooled, you can serve it plain (I’m lazy and usually do this!) or top it with cream cheese drizzle…
Then cut yourself a slice and enjoy! 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 pound cake!
Healthy Carrot Pound Cake
Ingredients
- 2 ¾ cups (330g) white whole wheat flour or gluten-free* flour (measured like this)
- 2 ¼ tsp ground cinnamon (see Notes!)
- ¾ tsp ground nutmeg
- 1 ½ tsp baking powder
- ¾ tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ tbsp (7g) unsalted butter or coconut oil, melted and cooled slightly
- 3 large egg whites, room temperature
- 1 ½ tbsp (22mL) vanilla extract
- 4 tsp liquid stevia
- 3 tbsp (27g) confectioners’ style erythritol
- ¾ cup (180g) plain nonfat Greek yogurt
- 1 cup (240mL) nonfat milk, divided
- 2 cups (180g) freshly grated carrots (about 3-4 medium, peeled first — and see Notes!)
- ½ cup (105g) diced pineapple, thoroughly drained (see Notes!)
- ¼ cup (40g) raisins (see Notes!)
- optional: cream cheese drizzle, for serving (see Notes!)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F, and coat a 9x5” loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray.
- To prepare the cake, whisk together the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl. In a large bowl, whisk together the butter, egg whites, vanilla extract, and liquid stevia. Stir in the erythritol. Add in the Greek yogurt, stirring until no large lumps remain. Stir in ½ cup of milk. Alternate between adding the flour mixture and remaining 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, pineapple, and raisins.
- Spread the batter into the prepared pan. Bake at 350°F for 70-80 minutes or until the top feels firm to the touch and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean or with a few crumbs attached. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes before carefully transferring the pound cake to a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
View Nutrition Information + Weight Watchers Points
You may also like Amy’s other recipes…
♡ The Ultimate Healthy Two-Layer Carrot Cake
♡ Healthy Carrot Bundt Cake
♡ Healthy Mini Carrot Cake Cupcakes
♡ Healthy Carrot Cake Oatmeal Snack Cake
♡ Healthy One-Bowl Carrot Cake Bars
♡ Healthy Carrot Cake Oatmeal Cookies
♡ …and the rest of Amy’s healthy pound cake recipes!
Such a sweet memory Amy! I go through spells where I eat less sugar or even cut out snacks at night and find that I don’t even miss them. It’s just the beginning that’s the hard part – getting my brain to forget to want these things! 😉 However, I think it would be nearly impossible to turn down a slice of this pound cake. I’m a sucker for pineapple and carrot! I really hope I get to bake this for Easter this year. Happy Spring! ♡
Yes — EXACTLY!! The mental part of it is the hardest… Because my brain can be very convincing when it decides it wants dessert or something sweet! ???? I wish I could share this cake with you in person! I have my fingers crossed that you’re able to bake this Easter too. Hopefully it’s far enough away in the future that grocery stores have flour and other pantry ingredients back in stock! 😉 Happy spring, sweet friend!! ♡
Thank you Amy, for cheering up the UK with your recipe. CAKE AGAINST C-19! That’s what I say. Love to you, Sally
Aww you’re just the sweetest Sally!! Cake solves just about all problems, doesn’t it?? 😉 I hope you and your loved ones are all doing well! ♡
Don’t know if I’m the only one, but I find your newsletter far too lengthy. Skip to the recipe sooner. And also, why use artificial sweeteners? Are there no natural sweeteners that can be used in your recipes?
You use a lot of liquid Stevia and the confectioners erythirol
Can’t anything else be used that’s not chemical or artificially processed in your recipes ?
Extremely lengthy story to get to the recipe… I had to scroll a lot!
I very much appreciate the tips that accompanied the Recipe. Howevet, a direct link to the Recipe might save time for readers like myself.
Kudos for this Recipe and keep up the good work.
Thank you so much for your kind words, Bernard! A “Jump to Recipe” button is at the very top of my list for the next time my website developer and I meet. Hopefully that’ll make things a little easier for you! 🙂 I’d love to hear what you think if you decide to try making this cake!
I really appreciate your interest in my recipe Inta! I’ve actually provided alternatives to the liquid stevia and erythritol in the Notes section of the recipe (located directly underneath the Instructions). I know it can be easy to miss! 🙂 I’d love to hear what you think if you decide to try making this cake!
This recipe was AMAZING and incredibly delicious. Thanks again Amy for a great healthy treat!
I’m so glad you loved this cake Shora! That truly means a lot to me. Thank you so much for taking the time to let me know too!! 🙂
Thank you for sharing this recipe ???? It was super yummy! I’m excited to have it for breakfast!
I’m so glad you love this cake Arifah! Thank you for taking the time to let me know — that really means a lot! 🙂
What can be a good gluten free substitute for this cake?
I really appreciate your interest in my recipe Valerie! I’ve actually provided my top two gluten-free recommendations in the Notes section of the recipe (located directly underneath the Instructions). I know it can be easy to miss! 🙂 I’d love to hear what you think if you decide to try making this cake!
The cake looks perfect and fabulous to bake for a special day. Yes, its definitely the best pineapple Cake. Lovely!!
Thank you so much for your kind words, Ronak! I’d love to hear what you think of this cake if you end up making it!
Hey Amy its me Cassandra , i changed my email though , anyways i just wanted to ask if i could use something else instead of pineapples and if so what would be best . Thank u , in these tough times we all need to try to stay positive.
STAY BRAVE AND HAPPY, SAFE EVERYONE
It’s always such a joy to hear from you, Cassandra! I’m honored that you’d like to try this recipe of mine as well. You’re welcome to simply omit the pineapple, if you’d like! Otherwise, you could easily double the amount of raisins {aka ½ cup (80g) of raisins, in total!} to compensate for omitting the pineapple. 🙂 I’m so excited to hear what you think of this pound cake!
I followed the instructions to the T. I drained the pineapple and raisins extremely well. My cake is mush. Completely ruined.
It means a lot that you tried my recipe, Marge! That sounds disappointing and not at all like how this cake is supposed to turn out, so I’d love to help figure out why that happened. In order to do so, I have some questions for you!
Can you describe the texture a little more? Was it raw? Fully cooked but too moist? Something else?
Did you make any substitutions or modifications to the recipe, including those listed in the Notes section?
Did you use a kitchen scale or measuring cups/spoons to measure the ingredients, especially the flour, yogurt, and milk?
Did you use a 9×5″ loaf pan, or did you try using a different sized pan instead?
How long did you bake your cake?
When you inserted a toothpick into the center, did it come out clean?
Did your cake collapse at all while cooling?
I know I just asked a LOT of questions, but I’ll have a much better idea of what happened and how to fix it once I know your answers to all of them! 🙂
The cake was flat and dense. The top was done and when I inserted a toothpick it came out clean. When I tried to remove it from the pan the bottom was soggy and very wet. I actually then flipped it over and tried to bake some more. It wouldn’t get dry. I used a 9×5 pan. I measured with a scale and drained the fruit. It definitely collapsed and felt very heavy.
Thank you for sharing this information with me, Marge! A few more questions (including some I previously asked in my last comment but didn’t see answers!). 🙂
Did you make any substitutions or modifications to the recipe, including those listed in the Notes section?
Did you use the same exact liquid stevia that I did?
How long did you bake your cake?
Did you use a kitchen scale for ALL of the ingredients? Or solely the ingredients given in gram measurements?
And just to confirm — you used freshly grated carrots, correct? Not carrot purée? (It’s happened with other readers before, which is why I’m checking!)
Hi, just wondered if there’s a good dairy free substitute for the yogurt? My uncle isn’t vegan but can’t have dairy or gluten. Would almond based yogurt work maybe without the pineapple to compensate the liquid? Can you use regular sugar? How do you substitute It for a gluten free version?
Sorry for all the questions but if anyone could figure out how to do this it’d probably be you!
Thanks!
Heather
I really appreciate your interest in my recipe, Heather! Your uncle is so lucky to have you to bake him treats that suit his dietary needs. 🙂 If you’d like to use granulated sugar, then use the modification that I shared in the Notes section for coconut sugar (and just use granulated sugar instead!) You should be able to use non-dairy yogurt in place of the Greek yogurt. If you’d like to still include the pineapple, then try ½ cup + 2 tablespoons of yogurt. Otherwise, yes — you can omit the pineapple and use the full amount of yogurt!
For a gluten-free version, see the Notes section of the recipe. I’ve already shared my top two recommendations there. I know it can be easy to miss! 😉
I’d love to hear what you and your uncle think of this carrot cake if you try making it!