Wonderfully moist and almost good for you. At about 270 calories and 7 grams of fat, you get one of the best carrot cakes, plus it won't leave a pool of oil on the plate.
Introduction
I away thought carrot cake would be hard to make. Nope, it was relatively easy with a 3/10 skill level and just a little more work than a coffee cake. You can make this cake with these easy to follow step by step instructions.
A normal recipe for carrot cake starts with a cup of oil. Read that as almost 2000 calories, and you have not added even a carrot yet. You can't do that very often.
So I looked around a lot for just the right recipe. Many had "odd" ingredients. While I'm not an all-natural guy, it still needs to be reasonably natural ingredients.
Many seemed to have roots in an old Weight Watchers cookbook that used pineapple and coconut. The best of those recipes was Super Moist Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting by Gina at Skinnytaste.com. But I can never keep my fingers off a recipe but made only a few adjustments.
I want two layers. Carrot cake "needs" to be two layers, so a bit of a change in baking. A few changes and options in ingredients, and since I was doing layers, I needed more frosting, so I changed that around a little.
My Rating
An easy 5. Much better than a lot of full-fat carrot cake. I like a carrot cake that has what I would term "good crumb" along with great taste.
📋Ingredients
The Flour
It almost uses what you have. Some recipes used cake flour. Many use 100% all-purpose flour, and some a substituted some whole wheat flour. I like the nutty taste that the whole wheat adds, but adding more than 50% may get too much to the "pound cake" texture.
The Pineapple
Many recipes will use applesauce to help replace oil in recipes. The pineapple does the same thing here. It needs to be drained and in small pieces, so crushed is perfect here.
There is minimal impact on the taste, but you can detect it. I like it.
If you object to pineapple, some recipes use applesauce and you can Google those. I have removed applesauce as a suggested substitute. So use the pineapple for this recipe which I prefer.
❄️Storage
Due to the frosting, this cake should be stored refrigerated for up to 3 days. Or frozen for 2-3 months.
📖Low-Fat Recipes
Healthier Chicken Enchilada Casserole in 60 Minutes
Healthier Sausage Gravy and Biscuits
Lower Fat Spicy Chicken Alfredo
🖼️Step-by-Step Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350°, not convection. Look at all that good stuff.
Spray two 9" round baking pans with a good coat of PAM.
Peel and shred 3-4 medium carrots to get about 2 cups of carrots. A little more or less should be okay.
Chop ½ cup of walnuts.
Drain one 20 oz can of crushed pineapple.
In a medium bowl, combine 2 eggs, 2 tablespoons oil, and 2 teaspoons vanilla. Mix well, then add in the carrots, pineapple, and ¼ cup of the walnuts.
In a large bowl, mix 1 ½ cup flour (I suggest ¾ cups each of AP flour and whole wheat flour) 1 cup sugar, ¼ cup flaked sweetened coconut, 2 teaspoons baking soda, 1 teaspoon salt, and 2 teaspoons cinnamon. Mix well. Now fold the wet into the dry and keep folding until all is incorporated.
Divide into the two baking pans and spread reasonably smooth. Bake until a toothpick comes out clean. About 30-35 minutes. Remove and allow to cool in the pan for about 5 minutes. Then invert pans on a cooling rack and remove them from pans and allow them to cool completely (at least 30 minutes).
While the cake is cooling, it is cream cheese frosting time.
Mix 8 oz of reduced-fat cream cheese (not fat-free), 1 teaspoon vanilla, and 1 tablespoon milk. Beat on well. Slowly add 2 cups of powdered sugar while continuing to beat. You may need 1-2 more teaspoons of milk to get the texture you want.
Place the first layer on a plate. Cover with about ⅓ of the frosting and spread evenly. Add the second layer and use about ⅓ on top and ⅓ on the sides.
Add the final ¼ cup of chopped nuts to the top.
📖Full Recipe
Healthier Low Fat Carrot Cake
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cup flour - I use half whole wheat
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup flaked sweetened coconut - Optional
- ½ cup walnuts - divided chopped
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 2 eggs - large
- 2 tablespoons oil
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 3-4 carrots - about 2 cups shredded
- 20 oz crushed pineapple - drained
Frosting
- 8 oz lower fat cream cheese - not fat free
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 tablespoon milk - and a little more
- 2 cups powdered sugar
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°, not convection.
- Spray two 9" round baking pans with a good coat of PAM.
- Peel and shred 3-4 medium carrots to get about 2 cups of carrots. A little more or less should be okay.
- Chop ½ cup of walnuts.
- Drain one 20 oz can of crushed pineapple.
- In a medium bowl, combine 2 eggs, 2 tablespoons oil, and 2 teaspoons vanilla. Mix well, then add in the carrots, pineapple, and ¼ cup of the walnuts.
- In a large bowl mix 1 ½ cup flour (I suggest ¾ cups each of AP flour and whole wheat flour) 1 cup sugar, ¼ cup flaked sweetened coconut, 2 teaspoons baking soda, 1 teaspoon salt, and 2 teaspoons cinnamon. Mix well. Now fold the wet into the dry and keep folding until all is incorporated.
- Divide into the two baking pans and spread reasonably smooth. Bake until a toothpick comes out clean. About 30-35 minutes. Remove and allow to cool in the pan for about 5 minutes. Then invert pans on a cooling rack and remove from pans and allow to cool completely (at least 30 minutes).
- While the cake is cooling, it is cream cheese frosting time.
- Mix 8 oz of reduced-fat cream cheese (not fat-free), 1 teaspoon vanilla, and 1 tablespoon milk. Beat on well. Slowly add 2 cups of powdered sugar while continuing to beat. You may need 1-2 more teaspoons of milk to get the texture you want.
- Place the first layer on a plate. Cover with about ⅓ of the frosting and spread evenly. Add the second layer and use about ⅓ on top and ⅓ on the sides.
- Add the final ¼ cup of chopped nuts to the top.
Recipe Notes
Pro Tips
- Cut in half and make only one layer.
- You can make this in a standard 9X13 cake pan. It will take 5-10 minutes longer to cook. The endpoint is the toothpick test.
- Use the flour you have. I suggest half AP flour and half whole wheat.
- The pineapple only adds a minimal taste and it is nice. Some recipes use applesauce and you can Google those. I have removed applesauce as a suggested substitute. So use the pineapple.
- The carrot calls for 2 cups shredded. That can be a bit more or less.
- Due to the frosting, this cake should be stored refrigerated for up to 3 days. Or frozen for 2-3 months.
To adjust the recipe size:
You may adjust the number of servings in this recipe card under servings. This does the math for the ingredients for you. BUT it does NOT adjust the text of the instructions. So you need to do that yourself.
Nutrition
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Originally Published March 27, 2013. Updated with expanded options, refreshed photos, and a table of contents to help navigation.
Neshamah
Made this for my husband's birthday. He's on a diet. I used monkfruit sweetener and 1/2 C. instead. I added 1/2 C. raisins soaked in vanilla and a little water. I also used nonfat cream cheese and 1/2 the sugar for the frosting. We'll see tomorrow!
HT
I substituted pineapple with 2 cups apple sauce and the cake was very wet and dense and I needed to bake for 55 mins. I would also cut back on the tsp of salt. It’s ok not really a fluffy cake, more plum pudding texture.
Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan
Hi HT,
Welcome to the blog and sorry you had an issue.
I have removed that possible substitute suggestion although it was consistent with many other recipes. And I had better luck with it than you did, I prefer pineapple personally.
Dan
Sheila B
Made this the other day in a 9" x 13" pan. Didn't rise very much, but all the same, it was very delicious! I am calling them carrot cake brownies! I also used egg substitutes and artificial sweetener to make it more low fat and low sugar. Hubby really liked it. This is a keeper. Thanks.
Roland
As we had a lot of carrots, was looking for a carrot cake recipe. Many recipes required a lot of oil, which I didn't want to do.
Tried this recipe and it was awesome! Our kids even wanted seconds and have it in their lunch box.
I skipped the nuts, and replaced the pineapple with apple sauce. It was a bit too wet, think 1 cup apple sauce is sufficient. Also decreased sugar to 1/2 cup.
Didn't make the frosting to decrease sugar intake.
Well done. Will make it again.