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

Jump to Recipe Print

Cooking time: 35

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.

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.

🥕Ingredients

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

Jump To (scroll for more)

🥕Ingredients
👨‍🍳How to Make Healthy Carrot Cake—Step-by-Step
✔️Tips to get it right every time
Carrot and Low-fat Recipes
⬇️How to make this a "for two" friendlier recipe
❓FAQs
📖 Recipe
Pro Tips

Featured comment from Gs:
"Awesome recipe. I was so surprised to read the recipe… a cake without butter or much fat!"

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.

👨‍🍳How to Make Healthy Carrot Cake—Step-by-Step

1. Preheat the oven to 350°, not convection.

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

3. Peel and shred 3-4 medium carrots to get about 2 cups of carrots. A little more or less should be okay.

4. Chop ½ cup of walnuts or pecans. Double if you like nuts.

5. Drain one 20 oz can of crushed pineapple.

mixing shredded carrots into wet ingredients.

6. 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.

7. In a large bowl, mix 1 ½ cups 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.

8. 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, remove them from the pans, and allow them to cool completely (at least 30 minutes).

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

mixing cream cheese frosting in a white bowl with electric mixer.

10. 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.

11. 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.

12. Add the final ¼ cup of chopped nuts to the top.

For more details, keep reading. See the Recipe Card below for complete instructions and to print.

✔️Tips to get it right every time

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 ingredients, but cooking takes 5-10 minutes longer.

Carrot and Low-fat Recipes

Try Baked Carrot Cake Pancakes with Cream Cheese Glaze for a carrot cake taste made quick and easy. Or try some so GlazedCarrots,

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

Treat the dog with Low-Fat Homemade Dog Treats.

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

This recipe is easy to cut in half, making a single-layer cake using 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.