My senior year of high school, my momâs cousin visited us during the spring as part of her RV road trip up and down the west coast. When we realized that she and her significant other would arrive the week before Easter, we invited them to spend a few extra days in town and join us for the holiday.
They graciously accepted, so we quickly started planning a special Easter dinner menu. Mom ordered a honey baked ham (her favorite!), and we settled on a few simple sides, like a spinach salad, asparagus, and homemade bread rolls.
On a whim, I pulled out the cookbook my parents had given me for Christmas, and I skimmed through the dessert chapter until I found a recipe that sounded festive and fun: a carrot sheet cake. Baked in a 9×13â pan, topped with cream cheese frosting, and easily enough to serve 16 â if not 20!
I pored over the extensive recipe notes before making the batter and baking the cake the day before Easter. On Sunday, I whipped up the frosting and spread it across the top of the cake, then stood back to survey my work and mentally proclaimed it done just a few minutes before our two guests arrived.
Everyone thoroughly enjoyed the feast that afternoon, although possibly a little too much⌠Almost all of the adults forgot to save room for any dessert!
As for me? I sat down at the dinner table with a plan and priorities in mind, served myself the smallest portions of the savory dishes⌠Then reached for the biggest slice of cake. Nobody else even seemed to notice!
When I took my first bite of this healthy carrot cake, those fond memories came flooding back. Yet this recipe tastes even better than the one I made that year â and itâs healthier too!
This carrot sheet cake is perfect for Easter (as Iâm sure youâve already guessed!), but itâs also lovely for birthdays, special celebrations, or any day youâre craving something cozy, comforting, and sweet. Although made in a large 9×13â rectangular cake pan, the leftovers rarely last long!
QUICK OVERVIEW â HEALTHY CARROT CAKE
Difficulty: Mainly easy, including for many beginner bakers.
Taste: Lots of rich, warm, cozy spice flavors in a lightly sweetened batter, topped with sweet and oh-so-subtly tangy cream cheese frosting.
Texture: Supremely moist and soft, and on the dense side, with plenty of tender carrots scattered liberally throughout.
WHATâS A SHEET CAKE?
A sheet cake is a single-layer cake baked in a rectangular pan, usually topped with frosting. The flavors of cake and frosting donât matter too much⌠Mainly the cakeâs shape!
Technically, sheet cakes are supposed to be made in sheet pans (hence the name!), which are 18×26â in size. (Ginormous!) Since many people donât own this massive full-sized sheet pan or a half-sized one, a fair amount of âhomemadeâ sheet cakes are baked in a 9×13â rectangular cake pan instead.
This healthy carrot sheet cake falls into that latter category. You just need a regular 9×13â pan to make it!
KEY INGREDIENTS TO MAKE A HEALTHY CARROT CAKE
Letâs go over the ingredients youâll need to make this healthy carrot sheet cake! Iâm assuming you have basic staples like baking powder and salt, so weâll focus on the more interesting and important ones.
Flour. To make this carrot cake healthier, I opted for regular whole wheat flour. The rich spices (more on those in a moment!) completely masked any hints of âwheat-yâ flavor, so nobody could tell thatâs what I used. (I was SO excited about that!)
A few other types of flour will also work! Those include white whole wheat flour (another one of my favorites!), whole wheat pastry flour, and even all-purpose flour.
Tip: If youâd like to make this healthy carrot cake gluten-free, Iâve included recommendations on how to do so in the Notes section of the recipe!
Spices. Youâll need both cinnamon and nutmeg. I love how warm and cozy those spices make this carrot cake taste â especially the nutmeg! I like a pretty robust spice flavor in my carrot cake, so I tend to add a bit more than most people. If youâre the same way, then see my recommendations in the Notes section of the recipe!
Tip: I love using Saigon cinnamon because it has a stronger, richer, and sweeter taste. I buy it online here, and itâs really affordable!
Egg whites. The egg whitesâ protein is a key component in this cake batter. It helps your carrot cake maintain its structure after baking. Without all of the egg whites, your cake would collapse while cooling and turn out a little gummy.
And since I know someone is going to askâŚ
Yes, you do need all of them. However, if youâd like to use whole eggs (not just the whites!), then you can decrease the amount of milk to compensate for the added liquid volume from the yolks. See the Notes section of the recipe for that modification!
Greek yogurt. This is one of my favorite healthy baking ingredients! Here, it adds the same moisture to your cake batter as extra butter or oil â but for a fraction of the calories. It also gives your carrot cake a protein boost!
Tip: If you top your carrot cake with one of my homemade cream cheese frosting recipes, then youâll use Greek yogurt to make that too!
Sweeteners. You need two! Pure maple syrup and liquid stevia. Pure maple syrup is the kind that comes directly from maple trees, and itâs often sold in thin glass bottles or squat plastic jugs (like this!). Stevia is a no-calorie, plant-based sweetener thatâs highly concentrated, so a little goes a long way. You just need 2 ½ teaspoons for this entire cake!
Tip: Many stevia brands and products have different sweetness levels, so theyâre not necessarily 1-for-1 substitutes for one another. For the best results, I highly recommend using the same liquid stevia that I do. I buy it online here because itâs the best price Iâve found, and youâll use it in all of these recipes of mine too. (I promise itâs not a âone-time useâ ingredient!)
And yes, you do need to use both! Hereâs the nerdy explanation about whyâŚ
We often think about sugar as simply a sweetener (whether the plain white granulated kind or unrefined ones like honey and pure maple syrup!), but it actually does a whole lot more than that.
In cakes, sugar molecules also contribute to the structure.
Itâs not as obvious in loaf cakes or bundt cakes, where the sides of the pans are closer together. Because theyâre only 4â or 5â apart (loaf pans), or even closer to 3â (bundt pans), the stiff and sturdy sides of these cakes reinforce the cakeâs structure, in a sense, and you can get away with using just stevia to sweeten them while depending on the flourâs gluten content and the egg whites for structure â without the cakes collapsing or deflating.
But in larger pans like 8â-rounds, 9â-rounds, and 9×13â rectangular ones, those sugar molecules become extremely important. The sides of these pans are too far apart to help maintain the cakeâs structural integrity, regardless of how many egg whites you use (yup â speaking from personal experience here!)⌠So if made without any âclassicâ sugar molecules, those cakes collapse and end up with a really dense and almost gummy texture.
Trust me⌠Thatâs what happened when I tried making this cake solely with liquid stevia. It was tasty â but it had an incredibly sad and disappointing texture.
So thatâs where the pure maple syrup comes in!
Pure maple syrup is comprised of three main types of sugar molecules: sucrose, glucose, and fructose. (This article goes into a lot more detail about the composition of pure maple syrup. I was a chemist before I became a baking blogger, so I love reading about nerdy things like this and find them fascinating!)
By adding a small amount to the batter, the pure maple syrup really helped with this carrot cakeâs texture. It didnât deflate, and it turned out incredibly moist, just like youâd expect a regular carrot cake to be.
Hooray for cake-baking chemistry!
Carrots. Use freshly grated ones! Do not substitute store-bought pre-shredded carrots (also called âmatchstickâ carrots). Theyâre thicker and drier, and they donât soften properly while baking. I know it takes a little extra time to grate your own, but it makes a big difference in how soft and moist your carrot cake turns out!
Tip: If you have a food processor with a grater disc attachment, that makes the process much faster!
HOW TO MAKE THE BEST HEALTHY CARROT CAKE
Now that you have your ingredients in hand (and one very nerdy explanation!), letâs talk about how to make the best healthy carrot sheet cake! This recipe is simple and straightforward to make, but I still have some important tips for you.
Mix by hand. Thatâs right â put away your mixer! Both hand-held and stand mixers tend to over-mix low fat and low sugar batters, like this one. Over-mixing creates a tough or rubbery texture. Not good!
So for the best soft and moist carrot cake, make the batter by hand. Use a whisk where explicitly instructed, and use a fork for everything else.
Yup, a fork. Not a wooden spoon! The open space between the tines of the fork allows the ingredients to pass through and mix more efficiently, which also helps guard against over-mixing.
Line the pan. Never done this before? Itâs a cake game-changer! Just coat your 9×13â rectangular pan with cooking spray, and then lay a sheet of wax paper in the bottom. Smooth out any bumps or bubbles, and coat the wax paper with cooking spray too.
This trick helps your cake pop right out of the pan. No more ripped, torn, or broken cake fragments! But Iâm getting ahead of myself. Before getting the cake out of the rectangular pan, first you need toâŚ
Bake. Your carrot sheet cake will be done when the center feels firm to the touch and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean or with some crumbs attached. Let it cool in the pan for 10 minutes before transferring it to a wire rack to cool completely.
Yes, completely. Donât cut into it while itâs warm! The structure wonât fully set until your cake reaches room temperature. But once it does, then you canâŚ
Frost. I have two cream cheese frosting recipes that would be perfect for this carrot sheet cake!
And thatâs another thing I love about sheet cakes compared to layer cakes⌠Theyâre much easier to frost. No leveling of layers, no crumb coats, no spreading and smoothing and worrying about whether the sides look perfect. Just slather the frosting on top, and youâre done!
But if you decide to skip the frosting and eat it plain, I wonât judge one bit⌠Thatâs what I often end up doing with this healthy carrot sheet cake too! đ
FAQS ABOUT HEALTHY CARROT CAKE
Is this healthy carrot cake gluten-free, clean eating, low calorie, low sugar, or low fat?
Yes! Iâve included both whole wheat and gluten-free options in this recipe. Itâs clean eating friendly (with no refined white sugar!), and itâs also low fat and low calorie (compared to traditional recipes!).
How do you make carrot cake moist?
This recipe uses Greek yogurt and freshly grated carrots. See the âKey Ingredients to Make a Healthy Carrot Cakeâ section above for more info about both!
Can I substitute something else for the maple syrup or stevia?
Yes! Honey or agave will work as 1-for-1 substitutes in place of the pure maple syrup. Substitutes for the stevia require tweaking the amount of milk, but Iâve included some options in the Notes section of the recipe.
Can I use more stevia in place of the maple syrup â or another sugar-free sweetener?
No, I donât recommend doing that. See the âSweetenersâ header in the âKey Ingredients to Make a Healthy Carrot Cakeâ section above for more information and my detailed nerdy explanation about why. đ
Can I use store-bought pre-shredded carrots?
I donât recommend that either. Theyâre stiff and dry, and they donât soften properly while baking.
Can I add raisins or nuts?
Yes! Simply fold them in with the freshly grated carrots.
Whatâs the best frosting for carrot cake?
Itâs hard to go wrong with cream cheese frosting â and these are my two favorites!
Can I make this carrot cake as a layer cake instead?
Yes! Youâll need two 9â-round cake pans. See the Notes section of the recipe for baking times!
Can I make this carrot sheet cake in advance?
Yes â and I actually recommend it! When it chills in the refrigerator for a day (or more!), the flavors blend and meld together, and that makes this healthy carrot cake taste even better. Just tightly wrap the cake in plastic wrap before refrigerating!
How should I store this healthy carrot cake? And how long does it last?
Store your cake in an airtight container (if possible!) in the refrigerator. I love using cake carrying cases like this rectangular one and this round one. Their lids help prevent the frosting from drying out. If stored like this, leftover cake should last for at least two or three days (if not longer!).
Ready to make your own? And when you do, remember to snap a picture and share it on Instagram using #amyshealthybaking and tagging @amyshealthybaking IN the photo itself! (That guarantees Iâll see your picture! đ ) Iâd love to see your healthy carrot cake!
Healthy Carrot Cake
Ingredients
- 3 cups (360g) whole wheat flour or gluten-free* flour (measured like this)
- 1 tbsp (14g) baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 3 ½ tsp ground cinnamon (see Notes!)
- ž tsp ground nutmeg (see Notes!)
- ½ tsp salt
- 2 tbsp (28g) unsalted butter or coconut oil, melted and cooled slightly
- 4 large egg whites, room temperature
- 4 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 ½ tsp liquid stevia (see Notes!)
- 5 tbsp (75mL) pure maple syrup
- â cup (160g) plain nonfat Greek yogurt
- 1 cup (240mL) nonfat milk, divided
- 3 Âź cups 345g) freshly grated carrots (about 6-7 medium, peeled first â and see Notes!)
- optional: cream cheese frosting, for serving (see Notes!)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Cut a piece of wax paper to fit inside the bottom of a 9x13â pan. Coat the 9x13â pan with cooking spray. Gently press the wax paper into the bottom of the pan. Coat the wax paper with cooking spray.
- Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt in a medium bowl. In a large bowl, whisk together the butter, egg whites, vanilla extract, and liquid stevia. Add in the Greek yogurt, stirring until no large lumps remain. Stir in the maple syrup. 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 3 equal parts.) Gently fold in the carrots.
- Spread the batter into the prepared pan. Bake at 350°F for 32-36 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 cake to a wire rack to cool completely. Once completely cool, top with the cream cheese frosting, if using.
Notes
View Nutrition Information + Weight Watchers Points
You may also like Amy’s other recipesâŚ
⥠The Ultimate Healthy Carrot Cake (a two-layer cake!)
⥠Healthy Carrot Bundt Cake
⥠Healthy Carrot Pound Cake
⥠Healthy Carrot Cake Cupcakes
⥠Healthy Carrot Cake Oatmeal Cookies
⥠Healthy Mini Carrot Cake Cupcakes
⥠Healthy Carrot Cake Thumbprint Cookies
⥠Healthy Carrot Cake Bars
⥠âŚand the rest of Amy’s healthy cake recipes and healthy carrot cake-flavored recipes!
Can I substitute the liquid stevia for regular?
We really appreciate your interest in this recipe, Carmen! Many stevia brands and products have different sweetness levels, so they’re not necessarily 1-for-1 substitutes for each other. If you don’t mind, can you let me know the exact one you’d like to substitute (brand + product name!)? That will give us a better idea about if you need to make any other modifications!
It is the Truvia stevia leaf sweetener đ
Thank you, Carmen! Can you tell me what the exact Truvia product you have? They make several different varieties so we need to know the exact product to get you the right information! I really appreciate it! đ
Overall, I liked how it came out though it is fairly heavy. I used all the same ingredients and tried not to overmix it. Any suggestions?
Susan
It means a lot that you tried my recipe, Susan! I’m happy to try to help. đ It’d be useful to know more about your cake’s texture. Would you mind elaborating on what you mean by “heavy?” For example, was it rather dense yet still moist and soft? Or was it gummy, rubbery, or tough? The more details that I know, the easier it’ll be to pinpoint what might have happened!
Hi Amy,
Thanks for your response.
I would say it was dense but still moist. It wasn’t gummy, rubbery or tough.
I think I would substitute some of the whole wheat flour (not pastry) for some unbleached white.
Thanks,
Susan
It’s my pleasure, Susan! Thank you for elaborating. I’m relived to hear it wasn’t gummy, rubbery, or tough!
This cake’s texture is meant to be dense and moist. I included that in the blog post and recipe box, but I know it can be easy to miss! đ This recipe isn’t supposed to be light and fluffy, like an angel food cake or boxed cake mix. If you’d like it to be lighter, it might be worth experimenting with reducing the amount of carrots as well. They can contribute to the dense texture and “heaviness,” as you described.
I’d love to hear how your next cake turns out, if you do end up trying those flour tweaks too! đ
Once I added the honey and cream cheese frosting, it was perfect! I understand that the texture is heavy, yet moist. I love it!
Wonderful!! I’m so thrilled to hear that, Susan! Thank you for taking the time to come back and share that with me. It truly means a lot! âĄ
Do I use the same amount of all purpose flour as a substitute? My father-in-law requested carrot cake for his birthday (I only know how to make it the extremely unhealthy way) I want to try your recipe but I don’t want to have to buy 5lb bag of whole wheat flour if I know I won’t use the rest.
It’s so sweet of you to want to make this cake for your father-in-law, Lisa! I definitely understand wanting to use what you know will be used in your other baking! We’ve actually covered the answer to your exact question in the notes section, directly beneath the recipe. I know it can be easy to miss! We’d love to hear how your cake turns out and hope you have a great celebration for his birthday! đ
Tried the recipe substituting half of the flour with home-made oat flour and only later realised you mentioned in your notes not to do that đ . (was making your carrot cake bars at the same time and must’ve mixed up the recipes lol). Usually I love reading all of the notes, the explanations are so interesting and informative!! I wished more websites would follow đ
By the way, I’m really curious do the type of oat flour affects the end result? I suspect the quick oats I used might’ve also overcooked in this case, because the cake turned out really mushy:/
Another potencial mistake of my could’ve been the fact that I left the batter rest for two days. Though it would be similar like my moms crepe batter, that only gets tastier with time.
That’s so sweet of you, Ana! It means a lot to hear that you enjoy the notes and explanations! Amy puts a lot of time and thought into them and we always appreciate hearing when our readers find them helpful!
We typically donât recommend that substitution in our cake recipes, including this one. This is because gluten is the protein in wheat-based flours that helps baked goods rise and maintain their shape while cooling. Oat flour lacks that, so when you substitute it for wheat-based flours in our recipes that rise (like cakes, cupcakes, muffins, quick breads, etc!), your baked goods will often turn out denser, somewhat mushy, and may collapse while cooling.
Since all oat flour lacks gluten, it doesn’t really matter about the type that you use. You’ll still see the same results if you try substituting oat flour in our recipes that rise. For the best results, we recommend sticking with the alternatives provided in our Notes sections instead!
(Because our carrot cake bars don’t rise, it’s okay to use oat flour in that recipe. It doesn’t affect their texture or consistency! đ )
The other issue is letting the batter rest for two days and not baking it right away. Baking soda starts reacting as soon as it’s mixed with the wet ingredients. (Baking powder contains baking soda, so part of it also begins to react at the same time!) When it reacts, it creates air bubbles. Those air bubbles help your cake rise and give it a more tender texture. If you let the batter rest, all of those air bubbles will evaporate⌠Which means your cake can’t rise properly, so it ends up with a dense and mushy texture.
Many crĂŞpe batters don’t include leavening agents (aka baking soda and baking powder), which is why it’s okay to let them rest. They’re not “losing” those air bubbles, so it doesn’t impact their texture when they sit for that long!
I also thought you might like to check out our carrot cake oatmeal snack cake recipe where you can get that combination of carrot cake and oats! We’d love to hear if you give it a try!
I loved the carrot cake sheet pan recipe. I made it for my birthday. It was perfect!! I loved the moist texture, and the spice. I was surprised by the amount of nutmeg used, but it was wonderful. I was also shocked at how much carrot was required, but it was perfect
And the icing was delicious. I’ve eaten and baked a lot of carrot cakes in my 66 years but this one is my favorite!!!!
Marianne
That’s so sweet of you to say, Marianne! We’re so happy to hear that you enjoyed this carrot cake, and honored to hear that this is your favorite recipe that you’ve tried! Thank you so much for taking the time to share and rate this recipe, it really means a lot! I hope you had a great birthday! đ
I am making this carrot cake recipe today – can I use Splenda Stevia Zero Liquid sweetener instead of the one you suggest and would it be the same amount to put in.
My husband is a little apprehensive about health stuff so not able to order the one on line you suggest and no grocery stores have it.
Diana
We’re honored to hear that you’re planning to make this carrot cake, Diana! In case you haven’t already made your cake, you would need to use 3 ž teaspoons of your Splenda Stevia Zero Liquid sweetener to replace the liquid stevia that we use. You shouldn’t need to make any other modifications though!
If your husband is more comfortable with Splenda’s traditional granular sweetener (the kind that comes in a yellow bag, like this!), that would be fine to use as well! You’d need 1 Âź cups of this sweetener, but you wouldn’t need to adjust any of the other ingredients with this option either.
I hope you and her husband both enjoy the cake â all of my fingers are crossed!!
Thank you for response -the information was very useful and will definitely use your suggestions next time.
Unfortunately I made the cake before I heard back from you – my husband was anxious for me to make it.
I used zero calorie sugar and reduced the milk to half a cup.
The cake turned out o.k. but was a little heavy – I guess I should have used 1 cup of milk.
It was quite stodgy when I was mixing it together- I also used whole-wheat flour – what is the best flour to use for this cake.
Thank you again
Diana
I’m glad you found our suggestions helpful, Diana! Thanks for sharing the results of your first attempt with me, that’s really helpful!
Can you tell me the exact brand and product name of the zero calorie sugar that you used this time?
Many sugar-free sweeteners that say they’re a “cup-for-cup” replacement for sugar only sweeten cup-for-cup. Because they have different molecular compositions, they don’t behave cup-for-cup. They generally absorb and dissolve differently in liquids, which means you’ll need to adjust the amount of liquids (milk, in this case!) according to the exact sugar-free sweetener that you use â not based on the coconut or granulated sugar option that we provided!
In many recipes (like this one!), sugar contributes to the total liquid volume. In case that sounds a little confusing, picture a mug of coffee or tea (or even hot chocolate!). When you add a tablespoon or two of sugar to the mug and stir, the sugar dissolves into the liquid. Thus, it âaddsâ to the total liquid volume! That’s why we say to reduce the milk when using coconut or granulated sugar in this carrot cake.
However, if you used Splenda’s granular sugar-free sweetener (just as an example!), Splenda says it’s a cup-for-cup sweetener. Yet it dissolves down into almost nothing, unlike coconut and granulated sugar, so it basically doesn’t contribute anything towards the liquid volume. Therefore, even if you used 1 Âź cups of Splenda’s granular sweetener, you’d still need to add the full amount of milk (1 cup).
As for the flour, this is the flour we like to use for recipes that call for whole wheat flour like this one. However, I think the bigger issue is the amount of milk you used this time. That’s most likely why your cake turned out heavy and the batter was stodgy, rather than the brand of whole wheat flour that you used.
Does that make sense?
Thank you again for your helpful comments and everything you said makes sense. I did taste the carrot cake again yesterday and I found it very flavourful – it was moist but a little heavy (dense) so I think I should have used the full cup of milk.
The sugar I used was ERYTHRITOL. Not sure of the brand name.
I’m happy to help, Diana! I’m happy to hear that your cake is full of flavor, that’s great news! Thank you for letting me know the kind of sweetener you used, that’s very helpful! If your particular brand is 100% pure erythritol (not a blend with other ingredients) and you would like to use it again to make this carrot cake, you’ll need to use a total of ž cup + 3 tablespoons of milk. It absorbs and dissolves differently in milk compared to granulated and coconut sugar, which is why you’ll need to use this amount!
If you decide to try again, we’d love to hear if these adjustments help!
Thank you for all your help – will definitely let you know when I make this carrot again with your adjustments.
Much appreciated.
Diana
Happy to help any time, Diana! đ