The Healthier Carrot Cake Recipe
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Most carrot cakes I’ve tried tend to be overly sweet. I do have a sweet tooth and love carrot cake, but I wanted to eat a slice (or 3) without the associated guilt.
This was my answer. It is a “healthy” carrot cake recipe, shared with me by one of my readers, DeAnna Pavlenko. I loved how she described it: “The naturally sweet carrots, combined with honey and applesauce take this cake to a whole new, and quite nutritional, level.” I knew I had to try it! The cream cheese frosting complements it perfectly and is not overly sweet. My whole family was wowed by this cake.
The cake is best eaten the same day it’s made. The applesauce in it makes it a little more dense the next day, but it’s still super tasty even if you must wait. It’s moist, decadent, sweetened with natural goodness, and you can actually taste the carrots.
Ingredients for The Healthier Carrot Cake:
3 cups carrots, peeled and grated
2 cups all-purpose flour *measured correctly
1 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
4 eggs at room temp
1 cup honey
1/2 cup canola oil, or extra light olive oil for an even healthier cake!
2 tsp vanilla
1 cup applesauce
1 cup crushed walnuts, toasted on a skillet (optional – I omitted these inside the cake since not everyone in my family eats nuts).
Ingredients for Cream Cheese Frosting:
2 cups powdered sugar
16 oz cream cheese at room temp
2 sticks unsalted butter, softened at room temp
1 Tbsp pure vanilla extract
To Decorate:
1/2 to 3/4 cup walnuts, coarsely chopped and toasted on a skillet
1/4 cup to drizzle over the top
How to Make the Carrot Cake Layers:
Preheat the Oven to 350˚ F. Butter and flour 2 round cake pans.
1. In a medium bowl, whisk together 2 cups flour, 1 tsp baking soda, 1 1/2 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp salt and 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon.
2. In a large bowl beat eggs on high speed until foamy (1 min), Add 1 cup honey and beat on high another 4 min. Blend in 1/2 cup canola oil, 2 tsp vanilla and applesauce.
(My son wasn’t happy with me about the applesauce situation..)
3. Add the flour mixture about 1/2 cup at a time and mix until it is just incorporated into the batter.
4. Use a spatula to fold in the grated carrots and walnuts (if using) just until combined.
5. Divide the batter equally among the two cake pans and bake at 350 ˚ F for 28-32 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean (mine took ~30 min).
Tip: While cakes are in the oven make your frosting and refrigerate it until ready to use.
Remove cakes from the oven and once they are cool enough to handle, remove from cake molds and let them cool completely to room temp before assembling and frosting your cake. Note: if the cakes are still warm, your frosting will melt.
How to Make Cream Cheese Frosting:
1. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat 2 sticks of butter with 2 cups powdered sugar on low speed or until combined (1 min) Don’t start on high speed or you will be surrounded in a cloud of powdered sugar (lessons learned). Increase speed to high and beat until the mixture is pale and fluffy (2 min).
2. Add cream cheese 1-piece at a time and mix until combined. (I waited maybe 3 seconds in between each piece; it’s one after another really. Once all of the cream cheese is incorporated. continue to beat 1 more minute.
3. Add 1 Tbsp vanilla and mix until combined (1 min). Refrigerate frosting until ready to use. Note: if you are refrigerating for a long period of time, you might let it soften up at room temp for easier spreading.
Assembling your Carrot cake:
1. Place your first (fully cooled) cake layer down on a cake platter. Cover the top generously with frosting. (I used an OXO Bent Icing Knife
2. I pulled the frosting up all around the top rim of the cake (If you don’t have an icing kife, you can use a spoon) to make the “column” effect on the sides (I’m not a pro, but I’m improving. I’m sharing my technique just in case some of you are worse at this than I am! lol). I then used my WILTON 1M
3. Top the cake (staying inside the border) with toasted coarsely chopped walnuts and drizzle generously with honey. This cake is best when enjoyed the same day it’s made, but refrigerate the cake if not serving right away and let it sit at least 1 hour at room temp before serving to give the frosting and cake a chance to soften up.
THE Healthier Carrot Cake Recipe
Ingredients
For the Cake Layers:
- 3 cups carrots, peeled and grated
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 4 eggs
- 1 cup honey
- 1/2 cup canola oil, or extra light olive oil for an even healthier cake!
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup applesauce
- 1 cup crushed walnuts, toasted on a skillet (optional - I omitted since not everyone in my family eats nuts).
For the Frosting:
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 16 oz cream cheese
- 2 sticks unsalted butter
- 1 Tbsp pure vanilla extract
To Decorate:
- 1/2 cup walnuts, coarsley chopped and toasted on a skillet
- 1/4 cup to drizzle over the top
Instructions
How to Make the Carrot Cake Layers:
- Preheat the Oven to 350 degrees F. Butter and flour 2 round 9-inch cake pans.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together 2 cups flour, 1 tsp baking soda, 1 1/2 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp salt and 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon.
- In a large bowl beat eggs on high speed until foamy (1 min), Add 1 cup honey and beat on high another 4 min. Blend in 1/2 cup canola oil, 2 tsp vanilla and applesauce.
- Add in the flour mixture 1/2 cup at a time and mix until it is just incorporated into the batter.
- Use a spatula to fold in the grated carrots and walnuts (if using) just until combined.
- Divide the batter equally among the two cake pans and bake at 350 degrees F for 25-30 minutes; a toothpick inserted in the center should come out clean (mine was closer to 30 min).
- Tip: While cakes are in the oven make your frosting and refrigerate frosting until ready to use.
- Remove cakes form the oven and once they are cool enough to handle, remove from cake molds and let them cool completely to room temp before assembling and frosting your cake. Note: if the cakes are still warm, your frosting will melt.
How to Make Cream Cheese Frosting:
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, mix the 2 sticks of butter with 2 cups powdered sugar on low speed or until combined (1 min) Don’t start on high speed or you will be surrounded in a cloud of powdered sugar. Increase speed to high and beat until the mixture is pale and fluffy (2 min).
- Add cream cheese 1-piece at a time and mix until combined. (I waited maybe 3 seconds in between each piece; it’s one after another really. Once all of the cream cheese is incorporated. continue to beat 1 more minute.
- Add 1 Tbsp vanilla and mix until combined (1 min). Refrigerate frosting until ready to use.
Assembling your Carrot cake:
- Place your first (fully cooled) cake layer down on a cake platter. Cover the top generously with frosting.Top with the second cake layer and frost the top and sides until smooth.
- I pulled the frosting up all around the cake (If you don't have an icing knife, you can use a spoon) to make the "column" effect on the sides. I then used my WILTON 1M large frosting tip and a pastry bag to pipe the pattern all around the top rim of the cake.
- Top the cake (staying inside the border) with toasted coarsely chopped walnuts and drizzle generously with honey. This cake is best eaten the same day, but refrigerate the cake if not serving right away and let it sit at least 1 hour at room temp before serving to give the frosting and cake a chance to soften up.
Natasha Kravchuk
Hi! I'm Natasha Kravchuk. Here you'll find delicious, trusted recipes with easy step-by-step photos and videos. 
I’ve been baking this carrot cake for 10yrs now and the only one I’ll ever bake! Best tasting and moist and not to mention healthier alternative ingredients. Thank you for sharing Natasha♥️
Aaaw love it! Thanks so much for your good comments and feedback, Anita!
Hi Natasha! Im a big fan of carrot cake. So excited to try this recipe out! Im planning to make this as my son’s smash cake for his first birthday. I will be using a 6-inch pan. Should I just use half of the ingredients? How many cups of batter does this recipe yield? 😊
Hi Tin! I’m glad you love my recipes and I really do hope you love this one too. 🙂
I have not tested this in different size pans to advise and unfortunately, I don’t have the number of cups of batter this recipe would make. You may find this cake pan conversion chart helpful. Please let us know how it turns out if you experiment with it.
Hi Natasha! I used half of the ingredients only for a 6-inch pan. I only had 1 pan though so it was a bit taller. I cut in the middle so I get thinner layers. Baked it for a little over 25 minutes. Taste was, as everyone had already said, fantastic! Thank you very much!
That’s great to know, Tin. Thank you for sharing your experience. 🙂
Hi Natasha
This weekend I am going to make the Carrot Cake and I have one 10 inch round cake pan so I will be making it in this pan. Please tell me in your ingredients you mentioned 2 sticks of unsalted butter (How many grams each butter stick) and which brand of cheese. Is it okay if I use Philadelphia Cheese. This is what we use when making cheesecake.
Thanks
Hi Alim! 2 sticks of butter are about 226g. You can use any brand of cream cheese, just make sure it is in the form of a block of cream cheese. The Philadelphia brand is great!
I made this cake yesterday and it turned out fabulous! I didn’t have enough honey so I only used about a half cup, and I didn’t have enough cream cheese so I only made a half a batch of frosting. The cake is still more than enough sweet, and I would probably never make a full batch of frosting because it seems like way too much. This is my new fave carrot cake 😁
I’m so happy you found a favorite on my blog, Tiffany! Thank you so much for sharing that with me.
This is my favorite carrot cake recipe. Thank you Natasha
Aww, that’s the best! Thank you so much for sharing that with me, Rachel!
Hi Natasha, would it be ok to split the batter in half, bake the first half and then bake the second one? I don’t have two pans in the same.size
Hi Sara, I think your best bet would be to either halve the recipe or make half at a time. I worry while the first cake is baking, the second will lose its volume and consistency.
Hi Natasha! I’m looking forward to making this recipe for my son’s birthday, I just wonder, since I don’t have two cake pans, can I bake the forst half of the cake then bake the second one later or would something happen to the batter if it wasn’t baked directly?
Hi Sara, I have always baked the two layers at the same time so I’m not sure how that would affect the rise of the second layer to have it out for that long.
The best Carrot Cake recipe and is so moist!! I’ve made it twice in one month. I added coconut flakes to the batter and on frosting. I wish I could add a photo of it.
Thank you for the recipe!!
Sounds yummy! I loved that you added coconut flakes to it. Please do share a photo with us next time on our Facebook page. Thanks for your excellent review!
Hey Natasha! Trying this out tonight! Just one question, what size cake pan should I be using?
Hi Heather! Thank you for pointing that out, two 9″ round baking pans. 🙂
Oh my gosh! This cake was simply amazing!! By far the BEST carrot cake I have ever tried. This was my first time ever making a carrot cake and I will only use this recipe. So moist and just the right amount of sweetness. This is a must try!!
Thank you so much for the thoughtful review! I’m so happy you enjoyed this Carrot Cake.
I love this recipe. I half the honey for less sweetness. Also, I use oatmeal flour instead, double the baking soda and baking powder.
-I have made it before with pumpkin instead of applesauce and its very moist and delish.
-I make the cream with half mascapone and half heavy cream with some condensed milk.
I’m so happy you enjoyed that. Thank you for sharing those changes with us!
I think you have to love honey to appreciate this cake. I followed the recipe completely.
AWESOME carrot cake!
I made this for our family and EVERYONE loved it!!! It is SO moist and not too sweet! I substituted the flour for gluten free flour and no one knew any different! I HIGHLY recommend this!
That’s just awesome, Trina!! Thank you for sharing your wonderful review
Made the healthy carrot cake for my husband a month ago. He loved it!
I’m so happy to hear that! Thank you for sharing your great review!
I’m thinking of making this ahead of time and freezing. Have you tried that before?
Hi Miranda! I’ve never tried freezing an entire cake before so I can’t really say yes or no with this one. I think it’s best fresh. I hope you love it!
Hey, I love this cake, and last time I made it was a few years ago, so I don’t remember much. This time I need it for tomorrow noon, and have to make it today. What recommendations would you give me to make sure it’s still amazing tomorrow. Do i refrigerate it? Or leave it out? And what other tips you have
HI Natalya, because the frosting has cream cheese in it, I would refrigerate overnight.
Thank you ! Also, I have some left over frosting and was wondering if I freeze the frosting will it pipe tomorrow (to last longer in the heat outside)? Or if I want to use it tomorrow i should just refrigerate it?
Natalya, It would be best refrigerated.
Hi,
Love your videos and recipes! I wanted to ask about the honey you used for the cake. Was it the loose, pourable kind or raw, stiff, spoonable kind? I have the latter on hand. I don’t even know if it makes a difference but I wanted to use the kind you did.
Thanks!
Hi Johanna, we used the loose, pourable kind.
This cake was AMAZING! Though I changed some things like whole wheat flour and excluded butter in the frosting to make it healthier, my whole family enjoyed it and ate it in less than a day (before it they all were skeptical about “veggie cake with cheese on top”).
I’m so happy to hear that, Aelita! Thank you for sharing your great review!
Its yummy with oatmeal flour as well!
Hi, I am curious about how using the honey instead of sugar affects the density of this cake. I’ve tried substituting refined sugar for other sweeteners in the past (date paste in my case) and it was basically a pound cake. Based on further research, I decided that this was because the sugar granules couldn’t “cut” into the butter to create air holes and fluff up the cake as it baked. Have you noticed any density issues with this recipe? I’d love to avoid refined sugar, but not if it means everybody avoids my cake (like last time). 🙂 Thank you for your time!
Hi Katie, I think you are onto something. This cake is definitely more moist and dense than my other carrot cake. I think it is a combination of factors that make it that way and honey likely contributes, but it isn’t overly dense – it’s very nice 🙂
Can you make this carrot cake in a bundt pan? Looks good, healthier & somewhat lighter than traditional carrot cake.
Hi Esther, one of my readers reported great results using a bundt pan, although you may need to adjust the baking temperature. Without testing it in bundt pan myself, I can’t really give you specific timings.
This cake looks delicious! I am going to make it for Easter this year!
Do you think subbing crushed pineapple instead of applesauce would work??
I have not tried that substitution, so I can’t say for sure. If I were to try testing it, I would probably purée the pineapple. If you end up testing yet, let me know how it goes. I’m so curious! I’ve been wanting to put pineapple into my other carrot cake recipe to see how it works.
Hi I have just baked this unfortunately only the top side seemed cook inside it was still wet and raw i have followed recipe and cooked for over 30 mins as it wasn’t done what has happened rather saddened also my cup measurements are 1/2 cup 125ml and 1 cup 250ml added an apple to make up more apple sauce and plain flour as that’s our standard flour in UK.
Hi Rebecca, I’m sorry to hear that! I haven’t had that happen, but I’m always happy to help troubleshoot. I wonder if it’s a difference in how you are measuring ingredients. Did you measure out 1 cup (240 ml) of applesauce, or did you use more? Do you live in a high altitude area? Did you do the toothpick test and remove the cake when the toothpick came out clean after inserting it in the center?
It just really saddened me the as the top snd sides were baked but inside it appeared wetter. Yes everything was measured correctly I believe my cup is 250ml do you think there Is a difference there?Yes I kept checking it as it had near enough 40 mins because it left a greasy residue. i used olive oil for the cake would that have altered anything and I didn’t have any baking soda but I used baking powder instead.
Hi Rebecca, I think it could have been multiple factors, but I do think the baking soda substitution could have been a culprit as well. Baking soda is about 4x stronger than baking powder, so if you substituted evenly across, the baking powder would not be strong enough to make the cake rise and bake properly. I hope that helps for next time!
Has anyone tried this cake as cupcakes? I made this cake for my daughter’s birthday last year and we all loved it, so I wanted to use the same recipe. But need it to be cupcakes for serving ease at her birthday party. I am assuming it should be fine, just bake less time.
Hi Britni, I haven’t tried baking it as cupcakes but one of my readers, Holli, reported the following “The recipe made 24 perfect cupcakes baked at 350 degrees for 18 minutes”
So I’m sitting here deciding between the rustic carrot cake and the healthier carrot cake, since this one goes “bad” faster because of the applesauce, do u think it would be okay to add some cinnamon to your other rustic carrot cake recipe? I do love the smell of cinnamon, and if so, how much would u reccomend if I’m not adjusting any other ingredients? Thank you!
Hi Anna, one of my readers reported great results with adding 1 tsp of cinnamon to my classic (rustic) carrot cake. I hope you enjoy it! 🙂
Can you substitute the honey with maple syrup?
Hi Kara, I haven’t tested that substitution but one of my readers reported great results with subbing maple syrup. 🙂
hello Natasha i have a question.. i want to make this cake using 7 inch pans. Should i cut the portion in half? or leave it as is.. I want a smaller, taller cake. For my sons first birthday..
Hi Maryanna, I haven’t tested it in a 7″ cake, I think it could work to leave the recipe as is, but I just hope it doesn’t overflow! If you test it out in the 7″ pans, please let me know how it goes!
I LOVE the apple sauce carrot cake! I’ve made it several times and it’s always moist and delicious! Thank you so much for this recipe (:
Thank you so much for sharing your awesome review :). I’m so happy you liked it!
This cake came out soooo good that we ate it up in one sitting. No one refused a second or even a third piece! Even the kids loved it.
I made a small adjustment – as I didnt’ have proper applesauce – so I used a babyfood applesauce my sister had left here! And added one grated apple. In addition, I used Whole Spelt flour and added some cranberries as well. I did put the toasted, chopped walnuts into the cake.
Oh, and one slight change to the frosting – I halved it – and added only about a 1/4 cup of frosted sugar. Turned out amazing. The cake is more than sweet enough!
Audrey, thank you for the wonderful review and nice job improvising 😀.
Hi Natasha,
I was wondering if you can substitute honey with white granulated sugar?
Btw I love all your recipes.
Luv ya!
Hi Aly, I believe you can but without testing it myself, I’m not sure how it would affect the recipe or if any other modifications need to be made If you make that substitution. You might consider this carrot cake recipe that we posted recently-ish. It uses granulated sugar and is super yummy. We have a video with this one to make it even easier 🙂
Hi Natasha,
So excited to find a more healthier version of my favorite cake !! Just to let you know , I used your recipe , I added my home made applesauce, chopped pecans and 3/4 honey and 1/4 Brown sugar, the rest I followed the recipe . I also baked it in a bundt cake pan . I had to bake it 40 mins longer before it pulled away from the sides and a toothpick came out clean. I am not a big frosting fan , so I made a simple glaze of powder sugar, maple syrup and warmed cream cheese and drizzled !! YUMMY .. moist & just the right sweetness <3.
I look forward in making your full recipe for my daughter's b day, as your version is absolutely stunning and after my taste test ..I am sure it is wonderful ! .
Just info .. I live in the Mts so Altitude may effect anyone else trying the Bundt version.. 🙂
Thank you so much for sharing that with me! I love the idea of making the carrot cake in a bundt pan! I bet it was gorgeous!
Natasha could this be baked in a 13×9 ” pan instead of two round pans?
Hi Veneta, I think it could work but I haven’t tested it that way to tell you for sure how it would rise or how you would need to alter the bake time.
I may try it today or tomorrow. Will let you know how it comes out if I do…and how long it took to bake. I bake at 375 due to a high altitude. 7000 feet needs some adjustments to time and temprature and sometimes a couple others too.
I made this cake recipe yesterday in a 13×9″ glass dish and it turned out perfect! I baked at 350 degrees for about 50 minutes until the center cracked. I also only needed to make have the frosting recipe and still had about half of that left once the top was foster. It was amazingly moist! Will definitely make again! I’m in Florida btw, so higher altitudes may need to make adjustments.
Thanks and I am still working out the adjustments for my altitude on this cake.
Hello Natasha,
I wouldblike to try your carrot cake recipe but before, can you please tell me if you know Nutritional Facts per serving?
Thanks!
I don’t typically include nutrition info, but if you go to caloriecount.com you can plug in the ingredients and servings and figured out pretty easily that way. I hope that helps!
I made this recipe for a Thanksgiving dinner, it was so delicious that people rejected the pies. I used low fat cream cheese and organic apple sauce. I also added the walnuts inside. It was perfection! Thank you so much!
Ana, thank you for a such a nice review, it is quite a compliment. At least you’ll have leftover pie to enjoy 😀 .
I’ve been working on my making my own GF carrot cake to enter into our fair, and I’ve been tying to gather anyone and everybody’s opinions on what makes the best carrot cake; and I have to say this one looks really good. I really want to try using applesauce! Although I am wondering does the cake last just as long when use apple sauce or does it spoil quickly?
Thanks & Blessings,
Tamara Green
I’ve always kept it refrigerated until ready to serve so I’m not sure. As far as food safety goes, I don’t think the applesauce would spoil as quickly as the dairy frosting.
Thanks for responding so quickly Natasha! I’ve been wanting to leave a comment for a long time now, ever since I first stumbled upon your site almost two years ago. I like your site for so many reasons: your Christian, your Ukrainian (and I am other mostly Ukrainian heritage), you always have great recipes, and your name is Natasha (just like my sister!). Thanks for making your site available to so many people.
Thanks & Blessings,
Tamara Green
Hi Tamara, thank you so much for your thoughtful comment. It’s so nice to meet you here :). God bless you also!
Made this healthy carrot cake but was really moist , is it supposed to be ?
Yes it is supposed to be more moist than a normal carrot cake.
This was delicious! I didn’t have too much honey on hand so I used 1/4 cup honey and < 3/4 brown sugar. The sugar caused the eggs to gain quite a bit of volume, but I think that helped give the cake a more airy texture. I threw in a pinch of nutmeg as well. Also for the frosting, I only used 8 oz of cream cheese and 1/2 cup of confectioners sugar. I had just enough for a thin layer between the cake, on top, and around it, which worked out fine because my family is not a huge fan of icing. The bit of cream cheese does go well with the cake. I might use 12 oz of cream cheese next time.
Great recipe though, and I felt quite guilt-free eating it! I sliced it into 20 single portions.
I’m so glad you enjoyed it and thank you so much for sharing your modifications. You’ve given me fierce cravings for carrot cake! 🙂
can you cook in bundt pan
I haven’t tried it in a bundt pan so I’m not sure if it would be too heavy in a bundt pan to rise properly. If you try it, let me know how it worked out.
Have you tried freezing the carrot cake layers for use later?
I haven’t tried, but if you do give it a try, let me know how it works out :). I think it should work fine, just keep parchment or wax paper between the layers and cover with plastic wrap
I made this cake for one of my relative, she is allergic to gluten, so I made it with GF flour. The cake turned out so light and moos, It was the best carrot cake I ever made. Definitely worth trying!
I’m so happy to know it worked well with gf flour! What brand of GF flour did you use? My sister is following a GF diet and I’m sure she’d be happy to know 🙂
hi natasha!
this recipe looks so yummy! i am intolerant to all fruit (except melon), what would you recommend i substitute the applesauce with??
thanks.
To be honest, I haven’t tried this recipe with anything else so you would have to experiment. It’s often used to substitute butter in recipes so my best guess would be to substitute with a stick of softened butter.
so excited to try out your carrot cake recipe!! may i ask, how do i make my own applesauce? and i guess i dont have to add sugar to the applesauce for this recipe? thanks in advance!!
Hi Doreen, I don’t have a recipe posted for applesauce, but I trust this blogger who does: http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/applesauce/ 🙂
I made this cake twice and both times it came out great!
The first time was for my sisters 30th birthday, I used 1 apple to make the apple sauce and it came out to be about 3/4 cup and baked for 30 minutes.
I made it for Easter and I followed the recipe exactly but with an extra 1/2 tsp cinnamon, using 2 apples which came out to 1 cup as called for in the recipe, the baking time was about 36 minutes. I left the walnuts out of the cake but added chopped walnuts and raisins to the middle layer and decorated the sides with walnuts and a spiral design of raisins on top. For the frosting I used 3 packs of cream cheese, a few tablespoons half and half, 1 teaspoon vanilla and added 1 cup powdered sugar.
Thank you for a great recipe!
Thank you so much for sharing your modifications. I’m so happy you loved the cake enough to make it twice. That’s music to my ears 🙂
I made this cake yesterday, but I subbed coconut oil for the canola oil and maple syrup for the honey. I also used half the frosting and left the side with no frosting. It was delicious. My kids loved it. 🙂
Thank you for the great review Jill and great job on improvising :).
What a lovely cake!
Thank you Betsy 🙂
Hello Natasha.
Today I made this recipe. It served its purpose and was delicious too. 🙂
I juiced apples and carrots in the morning and didn’t want to throw the pulp away so I searched for a recipe to use it in. That is how I found you! 😀
Here is what I changed:
1. Instead of carrots I put the apple/carrot pulp in.
2. The flour I used was gluten-free.
3. I baked in a muffin pan for cupcakes.
4. I frosted with a cashew cream frosting which tasted just like cream cheese frosting.
Thank you for this delicious recipe. I’m glad you used honey instead of sugar too.
I look forward to looking at your other recipes.
Blessings,
Tena 🙂
P.S. I would post a photo if I could.
I love that you were able to use the pulp – I always wondered what I could use that stuff for. Thank you so much for sharing your modifications! What brand of gluten-free flour did you use? Also, do you have a recipe for cashew cream that you could share? That sounds amazing! I’d love to see the finished product, but the only way to do that is to email me directly: natashaskitchen@yahoo.com or post it to my facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/natashaskitchenpage
The recipe looks amazing and I can’t wait to try it. I was just wondering, could I completely skip the oil and use extra applesauce in place of it? I know some recipes use applesauce in place of oil. Or does the cake need the oil to work? Thanks!
Alina, I haven’t tested it with that substitution so its hard for me to guess, since baking is such a science. I feel like the cake needs the oil, but again I haven’t experimented otherwise. Let me know how it works out if you try it :).
One more question! Is the 3 cups of carrots packed or just loosely scooped? Thanks!
Lightly packed. I definititely didnt pack it down.
My husband loves carrot cake so I made this with slight modification. He wanted raisins, and I used olive oil instead of canola. He loved it, and doesn’t know it was a healthier recipe!
Thats awesome!! :-)!
Hey. So I am going to try this tomorrow. The only thing i want to change is honey.. i don’t want to to substitute it with any other syrup but can i used riped banana instead?
Hi! I’m glad I discovered you on Pinterest. I haven’t tried baking carrot cake before. I’m fairly new baker and I must admit I’m intimidated by cakes, but I would like to give it a shot. Apple sauce is not readily available where I’m from, what would you suggest as an alternative? thanks!
I haven’t tried any other substitutions, but you could always make your own applesauce by finely grating an apple to make the applesauce and that would work well. It doesn’t really matter if the applesauce is store-bought or not. It doesn’t have to have that light color that you get when you buy apple sauce.
Thanks for sharing a healthy carrot cake recipe. I feel so much better making delicious desserts for my family when it’s not full of sugar. I am not one for nuts, so I used raisins in the batter and it came out awesome!
We love raisins too! Thanks so much for sharing how you modified it. We love trying new things 🙂
I made this the other night. Best carrot cake I’ve ever made! Thanks!!!
Thank you Angela for the great review 🙂
This is a great recipe! I have made it many of times and planning to make it for Thanksgiving next week. My hubby loves this cake and my friends can’t eat any other carrot cake after trying this one 🙂 Thanks for the this awesome recipe!
Now I just need to figure out how to make cupcakes out of it! I’m so happy you and your family and friends love the carrot cake! That’s just music to my ears. Thanks for the great review 🙂
This is the Best carrot cake I have tried!! I did not have the applesauce so I used crushed pineapples, and it was amazing! Every one loved it. The next day the kids were begging me to make it again! Thank you very much for this recipe.
I love the idea of using pineapple! Now I really want some too! 😉
Hi, I would really like to try this recipe. Is there any reason why it needs to be bake with 2 tins? Is it to cook it more even? I am thinking of baking All the batter in a single tin. Do you think that will work?
It might be too heavy to bake in a single tin. The cake is fairly dense as is and I think putting the entire batter into one pan would make it too dense.
I made this cake for the Fourth of July and it was a huge hit! I followed the recipe 99% as instructed! however I did add a handful of golden raisins. Other than that, I followed it exactly and it came out perfectly. Thank you so much for this great recipe!
I love the idea of golden raisins. I’ll have to try your 1% modification next time! 🙂 Thanks for sharing!
I just made this cake today and it is amazing and super easy to make too! I changed the recipe for the icing and made a glaze instead. I skipped the butter, I only used half a cup of icing sugar, I added orange and lemon zest, I also dilluted the cream cheese with fresh orange juice and Grand Marnier.
Your cake sounds even healthier and so delicious! Did you post a picture of it online somewhere? I’d love to see it.
I came across your recipe looking for another healthy alternative because I didn’t have the ingredients for the one I was going to make…well I sure lucked out! I made a few alterations after skimming through the reviews but not much. I went with half n half
W & WW flour, coconut oil, and sunflower seeds cause I don’t like walnuts.
I made this for Mother’s Day and it was devoured by all 🙂 thank u for the relatively sugar free dessert!
I totally forgot to add that I topped up the amount of carrots with 3/4can of diced pineapple. I had run out of raisins or I would have added those too. some people get so snarky about pineapple (and raisins) in carrot cake…it’s a taste preference and for me, I just love it!
Pineapple sounds amazing! Snarky? Really? They just don’t know what they’re missing! 😉
That’s so great to know that it works well with sun flower seeds. My son doesn’t eat walnuts at this point so he hasn’t been able to enjoy this cake. Thanks so much for sharing your alterations. You are awesome! I’m so happy you enjoyed the cake 🙂
I made this cake for my kids’ birthday. It was really good. In fact, everyone liked it better the second night. Thanks for sharing the recipe!!
You are most welcome! I think these would make excellent cupcakes too, don’t you? I’m so happy it was a hit at your child’s b-day! That’s so sweet 🙂
Natasha, 2nd time I’ve made this cake…2nd time everyone raved about it! I used unsweetened applesauce by Mott’s and the cake was perfect. With the sweetness of the icing you certainly don’t miss the sugar from the applesauce! Everyone wants this recipe!
Thank you for sharing your modifications. I love the idea of using unsweetened applesauce! I don’t like a sugar rush either when I eat dessert, that’s why this cake is a little less sweet than most carrot cakes I’ve tried 🙂
It turned out perfect! I used brown rice flour instead and put the dates, cream cheese and vanilla in a food processor so no sugar or butter!! There are so many ways to healthify or un-healthify this recipe! Thank you for sharing!
I love your alterations! What brand of rice flour do you buy and where can I find it? I’d love to experiment with new ingredients!
so your frosting was only dates, cream cheese and vanilla?
Hoe much of everything?
Yum!!! Going to try tonight!! What about substituting the powdered sugar with agave nectar or blend up cream cheese with dates for the sweetner!!? I will try this!
I’ve never thought about blending cream cheese with dates. Do you use that as a frosting? I actually have a date in my mouth right now. lol. love them! I haven’t tried subbing with agave, but I think it might work.
I make my frosting with
2 (8 oz) cream cheese
1/3 cup honey
1 teaspoon vanilla
Its really good. The love it too.
opps the kids love it too. 🙂
Mmmm that sounds really good and healthy with the honey. Lately I’ve been using honey everywhere I can 🙂 Thanks so much for sharing!
Amazing recipe! Made this for the family this weekend, and everyone loved it. Only substitution I made was marscapone instead of Cream Cheese. Cake was incredibly moist and delicious, thank you for the recipe!
Oh I bet it was amazing with mascarpone! Thanks so much for sharing! Did you substitute it equally? Can you tell I want to try it with Mascarpone? 😉
Thank you for the recipe! I made this today with some alterations and it turned out really great. My three boys and hubby all enjoyed it. I substituted 1/2 cup whole wheat flour for white; 1/3 cup golden raisins for carrots; melted coconut oil for canola oil. I omitted the nuts. I added 2 tbls. ground flax, 1/2 teaspoon more vanilla and 1/2 teaspoon more cinnamon. I used a food processor to quickly mince the carrots and raisins. The recipe made 24 perfect cupcakes baked at 350 degrees for 18 minutes. I also added one more cup of powdered sugar to the frosting and piped about a tlbs. in each cupcake and a small dollop on top. They turned out light, fluffy and not as sweet as a typical carrot cake. I’ll definitely be making them again!
That is awesome that it worked well for cupcakes and thanks so much for sharing the baking instructions! I’ll definitely try your alterations. Sounds like you “healthified” it up even more!
question: Can i cut the layers of the cake? or it comes out to thin to cut them?? thank you
I think they might be too slim for cutting them in half. You could try, but it would be a little tough to cut them.
Where can I find the nutritional facts on this cake? I made it yesterday and my family and I LOVE IT!!!!
I Use Caloriecount.com for some recipes. Once you are there, go to tools and then recipe analyzer. Paste the ingredients list in there and let it analyze for you. 🙂 Hope that helps!
Sounds good. To make it healthier you should not put in GMO canola oil. Any form of canola oil is not a healthy oil and most likely the canola oil you buy will be GMO with Roundup in every drop of the oil. Instead use coconut oil. That would give you a healthy oil with a much better flavor than olive oil.
The extra light olive oil don’t really add any flavor to recipes. I haven’t worked much with the coconut oil, but I’ve heard good things about it!
Excellent recipe, thank you! I had to make a few changes because, well, because I didn’t have a lot of the ingredients…
– Used half a cup of oats in place of half a cup of flour
– Only had half the quantity of honey
– Used freshly grated apple instead of purée
– used rapeseed oil
Had lots of carrots so used a bit extra, as well as a bit of ginger and nutmeg!
Cooked it in a rectangular baking tin and it worked great, although would use a bit more spices next time. Yum!
Your substitutions sound wonderful! Thanks so much for sharing 🙂
I just made this today for my son’s first birthday. This is by far the best carrot cake I have ever had. Everyone loved it and my son licked the plate clean. I used whole wheat pastry flour and only half a cup of raw honey. For the icing I used only 8oz of cream cheese and 1tsp vanilla and it was still delicious. Very moist and filling. Thank you for sharing this recipe.
That’s music to my ears, thank you for sharing that with me and Happy Birthday to your son! I can’t try to try whole wheat pastry flour, it sounds nice and thank you for sharing your modifications with me :).
А Вы не могли бы дать этот рецепт морковного торта на русском?
Мой друг хочет этот торт. Но у меня недостаточный английский, чтобы разобраться.
I don’t have an easy way to translate them at this point. Have you tried using google translate?
Geezz — why in the heck are you using canola oil — and calling this healthy!!! I’m amazed at peoples lack of awareness of this toxic oil!! Which was never mean for human consumption!! this marketing ploy is extremely dangerous to human consumption — and people must wake up to marketing efforts — here is just some of the info (even if it says – “Organic, Non-GMO”!!!)
Canola oil from the rape seed, referred to as the Canadian oil because Canada is mainly responsible for it being marketed in the USA. The Canadian government and industry paid our Federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) $50 million dollars to have canola oil placed on the (GRAS) List, “Generally Recognized As Safe”. Thus a new industry was created. Laws were enacted affecting international trade, commerce, and traditional diets. Studies with lab. animals were disastrous. Rats developed fatty degeneration of heart, kidney, adrenals, and thyroid gland. When canola oil was withdrawn from their diets, the deposits dissolved but scar tissue remained on all vital organs. No studies on humans were made before money was spent to promote Canola oil in the USA.
Adrenoleukodystrophy (ALD) is a rare fatal degenerative disease caused by a build up long-chain fatty acids (c22 to c28) which destroys the myelin (protective sheath) of the nerves. Canola oil is a very long chain fatty acid oil (c22). Those who will defend canola oil say that the Chinese and Indians have used it for centuries with no effect, however it was in an unrefined form (taken from FATS THAT HEAL AND FATS THAT KILL by Udo Erasmus).
Read more at http://www.snopes.com/medical/toxins/canola.asp#TcFVi87ZaRS2yxkt.99
Wow! I had no idea! I’ll be replacing it with extra light olive oil next time I make it. Thanks for the heads up! 🙂
This carrot cake turned out amazing! Thank you so much. I was a little worried that it might be too dense for me because I only had a paddle attachment for my mixer (not a whisk) but it ended up being perfect. Completely delicious. I highly recommend this recipe!
Thanks for the great review! I’m so glad you loved it 🙂
Natasha,
Do you think the frosting would taste the same if I used 1 stick of butter instead of two. It seems like too much butter to me.
Love your website, thank you!
The frosting doesn’t taste buttery if that’s what you’re concerned about. I haven’t experimented with just one but I think it should work. You’ll just end up with less frosting 🙂
Made this last year so looked it up again for this year.Didn’t have applesauce so I vita mixed an apple and used gluten free flour..turned out wonderful….Fixing to make it again for myself without the icing…it’s a little to sweet for me so I’m going to make like a carrot bread with pecans….
That’s brilliant! I didn’t even think about blending up an apple. I have a Blendtec and It blends them up for smoothies but that’s such an easy applesauce! Thank you so much for sharing your tip! 🙂 I’m so glad you liked it and it’s great to know that it works gluten free! 🙂
Thanks for the recipe…I’m baking this as I’m writing to you… I chose this because the ingredients are more on the healthier side…. Question… Can I freeze them? If so, how long do you suggest. (I did a double batch).
Thanks..
Can’t wait to taste and share with the whole family…
I’ve never tried freezing an entire cake before so I can’t really say yes or no with this one. I think it’s best fresh. I hope you love it!
Thanks for the response. Sorry to keep asking questions, but…
Do you think I could use egg whites instead of whole eggs?
I’m making this tonight or tomorrow so I hope you can respond by then.
Thanks!!
To be honest, I haven’t tried with just the whites so I’m not sure how different it will be. Sorry, I know that’s not super helpful.
Could you make this recipe into muffins?
I don’t see why not, but the baking time might be shorter, so keep checking them with a toothpick :).
Looks so good, planning to make it:)
What size of pans did you use??
9″ round baking pans 🙂
Baked the cake today and it turned out AWSOME! So yummy and very filling. I could barley finish one slice. Best carrot cake I’ve tried so far and easy to make. Thanks Natasha for another great recipe!
I’m so glad you loved it! 🙂 Thanks for the great review!!!
That was great!…As i have tried your pastry recipes.. so wonderful and exact measurements you give…please make cinnamon rolls…i eagerly want to know your own recipe..Thanks
Thanks Tina. I do have a recipe that I’ll be trying out soon 🙂
How did I miss this recipe? Yum! Pinned.
Thanks for pinning. You’re awesome!!
I used extra light virgin olive oil too- I never use canola- it turned out great!
I guess I’m switching over to using the extra light virgin olive oil more. I didn’t realize Canola was a GM culprit. It just didn’t hit me. I’ll probably still use it for bulk frying projects, but I do love the olive oil at Costco and always have it in my pantry!
I made this cake!!! It was the BOMB!!!!!!!!!! As far as it being “healthy” lol- not really, considering 2 sticks of butter just for frosting. But whose counting calories right? LOL
I love your website. Everything on here is delicious!
Well… yes, there is that. 🙂 It’s “healthier” – ish. It’s better than most carrot cakes is what I meant. lol
I love the way you decorated the cake (walnuts).
Thank you, it was actually husband’s idea :).
Thank you Natasha for great recipe, I wanna make this cake on sunday for my 2 years old daughter’s birthday. But I am not big fan of cinnamon. Do you think I can skip it or substitute with something else?
Just skip it :).
Yum. I’m defintely trying this out this weekend!
Let me know the outcome :).
So I finally got to bake the cake last weekend. It was delicious! The cake was gone before Sunday even ended 🙁 But thanks for the recipe, it has such a perfect flavor mixture. My little brother told me that his birthday cake has to have this cream on it 🙂 Haha
Woohoo! That’s fantastic! Thanks Vita for the good feedback. I’m so happy you all loved it. I’m sorry you didn’t have any leftovers 😉
Can you use different oil instead of canola oil?
You can probably use an extra light olive oil. I haven’t tested it with this so I’m not sure how it would change the texture.
A beautiful cake. Thank you.
Wow! This is a gorgeous cake, Natasha! I have been waiting for a carrot cake recipe so we will be making this today! Thank you so much and great job on the decorating!
You are welcome, let me know how it turns out :).
This is now my ‘go to’ carrot cake recipe. It was so delicious, the cake was gone right away!
AWESOME!! Thank you so much for sharing that with me. I’m so happy you loved it 🙂
Natasha, do you think this would work with whole wheat flour?
I have not tried it with whole wheat flour but I’m concerned that it will make it to dense. If you do give it a whirl, please let me know how it works out
I have tried spelt flour, it was delicious.
Thank you so much for sharing that 😉
Good question. I always wonder about it too so I decided to try it out one time with another carrot cake recipe and it was perfect but I don’t know about this particular recipe since as Natasha noted, it is pretty dense. I always substitute whole wheat flour for almost any recipe. I’ve made vareniki, perogees and much more with whole wheat flour
We’ve been using it more and more as well and I realized the organic version isn’t much more expensive so I’ve been buying it in the organic bins at FredMeyer or Rosauers.
I actually made it into mini muffins with whole wheat flour and it turned out great. I also substituted the canola/olive oil for coconut oil
Thank you so much for sharing!! Now I really really want to try your carrot cake muffins! 🙂
заметила пару ошибок в своём вопросе 🙂 – хотела сказать “пюрировать” яблоки. И ещё- можно другой эквивалент измерения масла ( я не в штатах проживаю и не могу разобраться 🙂 И ,если, вместо пудры добавить бел шоколад? что скажешь? Спасибо!
Yes it is just “пюрировать” яблоки (pureed apples). Most applesauces are cooked to keep them from browning and so they are more blended and not too watery.
спасибо!
Наташа, не совсем поняля насчёт “яблочного соуса” – это яблочное пюре? Если делать самой, должно быть проваренным или достаточно просто пбрировать яблоки? Спасибо!
The cake looks gorgeous in every way, I love the shot with a dripping fork! What did you use for the brown background? Finding a perfect background that looks seamless is one of my biggest challenges.
Thank you! It was actually our light diffuser against a window. I have it listed in the shop section of my blog.
That’s genius. I do have one but usually have no one to hold it for me. 🙂
2 or 3 cups of powdered sugar? at first you put 2 then 3 in your directions
Its two cups!! Oops. Sorry. Thanks for pointing that out! If you added 3, you would just have a sweeter frosting, but I love it with just 2. 🙂
I will make this in the near future. I am so excited I can hardly wait. I adore carrot cakes especially when the weather outside is gray. I find something very comforting about this cake. Perfect cake for fall.
That’s all I could think about was Fall when I was mixing in the cinnamon, applesauce and carrots. That batter smelled bomb!
I am a totally non-discriminating fan of all carrot cakes. It’s the icing that I adore the most. This looks like a total winner.
The frosting was definitely a winner! It would be awesome on any carrot cake.
Swooonnnn!!!! Looks luscious! Frosting looks amazing!
The frosting was so good and not top sweet. My sister kept going on an on about it. I think she might have eaten a plate of frosting by itself 😉
Gorgeous!!! Did you “borrow” applesauce on-the-go from your son?:) I feel like we could be friends. The recipes are getting healthier.:)
Yes and he wasn’t very happy about it :-O