Healthier Carrot Cake

Name: Healthier Carrot Cake
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 35 min
Total time: 45 min
Ingredients: 1 1/2 cup flour (all AP flour or half whole wheat); 1 cup sugar; 2 teaspoons baking soda; 1 teaspoon salt; 1/2-1 cup flaked sweetened coconut (Optional); 1/2 -1 cup walnuts or pecans (divided chopped ); 1/2-1 cup raisins (optional); 2 teaspoons cinnamon; 2 eggs (large ); 2 tablespoons oil; 2 teaspoons vanilla; 3-4 carrots (about 2 cups shredded); 20 oz crushed pineapple (drained); 8 oz lower fat cream cheese (not fat free); 1 teaspoon vanilla; 1 tablespoon milk (and a little more ); 2 cups powdered sugar

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4.33 from 99 votes

This Healthier Carrot Cake is better than many full-fat versions. With only about 270 calories and 7 grams of fat, it fits low-fat and low-calorie diets. You can have your cake and eat it too.

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🥕Ingredients
👨‍🍳How to Make Healthy Carrot Cake
✔️Tips
⬇️How to make this a "for two" friendlier recipe
❓FAQs
Step-by-Step Photo Instructions
📖 Recipe
Pro Tips

This healthier carrot cake is one of the best carrot cakes you will ever eat, plus it won't leave a pool of oil on the plate. It is wonderfully moist and tender crumb—unexpected for a low-fat cake which is usually much denser.

It has about 270 calories and 7 grams of fat per serving and will fit a healthy diet like a low-calorie or low-fat diet.

You would think carrot cake is beyond most home cooks, but the skill level here is only about 3/10. Just work through the easy step-by-step photo instructions, and there are no odd hard-to-find ingredients.

Do you want that great carrot cake taste without "baking the cake"? Try Baked Carrot Cake Pancakes with Cream Cheese Glaze.

For other low-fat recipes you will love, check checkout Healthy Biscuits—Low Calorie & Almost Zero-Fat, , Low-Fat Blueberry Scones, Healthier Chicken Enchilada Casserole, Healthier Low-Fat Sausage Gravy and Biscuits, and Lower Fat Spicy Chicken Alfredo.

Inspired by Super Moist Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting by Gina at Skinnytaste.com with changes to two layers and some adjustments for taste and option.

🥕Ingredients

Flour—AP and whole wheat flour
Eggs
Vegetable oil
Crushed pineapple
Carrots
Walnuts—or pecans, chopped
Coconut—Optional, flaked sweetened
Raisins—optional
Pantry ingredients—sugar, baking soda, ground cinnamon, vanilla extract, salt

Frosting

Cream cheese—lower fat but not fat-free
Vanilla extract
Milk
Powdered sugar

👨‍🍳How to Make Healthy Carrot Cake

In a medium bowl, combine eggs, vegetable oil, and vanilla extract. Mix, then add shredded carrots, chopped walnuts, and drained pineapple.
In a large bowl, mix flour, sugar, flaked sweetened coconut (optional), baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.
Fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until all is incorporated.
Divide the batter between prepared pans and bake until a toothpick comes out clean—about 30-35 minutes.
Cool in the pan briefly, then move to a cooling rack until thoroughly cooled.
Mix frosting of reduced-fat cream cheese, vanilla extract, and milk. Beat on well with an electric hand mixer until smooth, then slowly add 2 cups of powdered sugar.
Construct a two-layer cake with the frosting and sprinkle it with chopped walnuts.

✔️Tips

You can use cake flour or all-purpose flour. You can substitute up to 50% of the flour with whole wheat flour.
The crushed pineapple is used to replace most of the oil. It has minimal effect on the taste but adds some nice texture.
Do not use fat-free cream cheese. You do need a little fat in the frosting.
Nuts are optional, or you can use either walnuts or pecans.
The coconut adds some traditional texture, but skip it if you don't want a bag of coconut in the pantry.
You can make a single-layer cake in a standard 9X13 cake pan with the same ingredient, but it will take 5-10 minutes longer to cook.

⬇️How to make this a "for two" friendlier recipe

This recipe is easy to cut in half and make a single-layer cake and use only one 9-inch round pan.

Use the recipe card and adjust the servings from 16 to 8.
Use the amount of ingredients in the ingredient list, not the instructions—those do not adjust.
Cook for the same amount of time.

❓FAQs

Does carrot cake need to be refrigerated?

Due to the frosting, this cake should be refrigerated for up to 3 days or frozen for 2-3 months.

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Step-by-Step Photo Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350°, not convection.

Spray two 9-inch round baking pans with a good coat of PAM cooking spray.

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 or pecans. Double if you like nuts.

Drain one 20 oz can of crushed pineapple.

mixing shredded carrots into wet ingredients

In a medium bowl, combine 2 eggs, 2 tablespoons oil, and 2 teaspoons vanilla. Mix well, then add the carrots, pineapple, and ¼ cup of nuts. Optionally, also add ½ to 1 cup of raisins.

mixing wet ingredient with carrots into dry ingredients

In a large bowl, mix 1 ½ cup flour (I suggest ¾ cups each of AP flour and whole wheat flour), 1 cup sugar, ½ to 1 cup flaked sweetened coconut, 2 teaspoons baking soda, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1 tablespoon cinnamon. Mix well. Now fold the wet into the dry and keep folding until all is incorporated.

adding the batter into the prepared pans

Divide into 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 the pans on a cooling rack and remove them from the pans and allow them to cool completely (at least 30 minutes).

While the cake is cooling, it is cream cheese frosting time.

mixing cream cheese frosting in a white bowl with electric mixer

Mix 8 oz of reduced-fat cream cheese (not fat-free), 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract, and 1 tablespoon of milk. Beat until smooth, then slowly add 2 cups of powdered sugar while continuing to beat. You may need 1-2 more teaspoons of milk to get the desired texture.

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.