Best Ever Carrot Cake Recipe (With Less Sugar)

With a tender crumb and superb spice flavor, taste testers could not tell that this healthy carrot cake recipe is made with 50 percent less sugar than traditional carrot cake recipes. Perfect for special occasions, a birthday cake or just because.

Jump to:

• The Ingredients
• The Method
• Leftovers and Storage
• Make it Your Own
• Alternate Baking Pans
• Cupcakes:
• Serving Ideas
• And if you liked this recipe...
• Recipe Card
• Comments

It never ceases to amaze me how simple ingredients can be combined to taste so incredible.

And classic carrot cake is a perfect example of that. Regular whole wheat flour, eggs, carrot and spices blended together in the right way somehow become this crowd pleasing dessert.

It's like magic.

And the best part with this particular recipe is you don't even need a separate bowl for wet and dry ingredients- the whole batter is made in one bowl. Extra magic.

Top it off with some tangy cream cheese frosting for the perfect complement to the sweet taste of the cake.

The Ingredients

• Whole Wheat Flour- I like to use whole wheat to add some whole grains but all purpose flour can be used instead.
• Brown Sugar- You can use coconut sugar for a more natural sweetener.
• Pumpkin- Ensure you use canned (or homemade) pure pumpkin- not pumpkin pie filling. Unsweetened apple sauce, drained crushed pineapple or Greek yogurt will also work.
• Avocado Oil- Melted coconut oil, olive oil or vegetable oil can be used.
• Grated Carrots- For best results, be sure to use fresh carrots and shred them yourself. It is not necessary to peel before grating but you can if you prefer.
• Large Eggs
• Cinnamon
• Ginger- This can be omitted if needed, but I highly recommend using it!
• Allspice- This can also be omitted if needed, but I recommend using it if you have it on hand.
• Nutmeg- This too can be omitted if needed, but I highly recommend using it as well.
• Baking Soda
• Baking Powder
• Salt
• Vanilla Extract
• Cream Cheese Frosting or Maple Cream Cheese Frosting

The Method

1. Mix wet ingredients. In a large bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients and brown sugar until combined.

2. Add dry ingredients. Whisk in the spices, salt, baking soda and powder until mixed. Stir in the flour until just mixed (don't overmix!).

3. Fold in carrots. Use a rubber spatula to mix in the shredded carrots.

4. Bake. Line a 9x9 inch square baking pan with with parchment paper or silicone liner (see below for alternate cake pans) and pour the cake batter into it. Bake in a 350 F preheated oven for 25-30 minutes until the center of the cake lightly springs back to the touch and a toothpick poked in the center contains just a few moist crumbs.

5. Cool. Allow the cake to cool for at least two hours by setting the baking pan on a wire rack at room temperature. Remove from pan if preferred and serve, store or decorate.

6. Frost. Luscious cream cheese frosting and spiced carrot cake are a match made in heaven so I highly recommend spreading a batch of this 3 ingredient cream cheese icing on top!

7. Serve.

Leftovers and Storage

Make Ahead: This cake tastes better the next day! You can make the cake and the frosting portions up to 2 days ahead. Store the frosting in the refrigerator and the cake in an airtight container at room temperature. Or decorate the cake with frosting and store in the refrigerator for up to 2 days ahead of serving.

To Store: Unfrosted cake can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days. Frosted cake should be stored in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.

To Freeze: Frosted or unfrosted cake can be frozen for up to 3 months.

Make it Your Own

Incorporate Add Ins- Are you an everything but the kitchen sink kind of carrot cake lover? If so, you can add up to ⅓ cup each (or up to 1 cup total):

• Shredded Coconut Flakes
• Chopped Nuts (toasted pecans are a great idea!)
• Raisins

Use a Different Frosting- While I'm partial to cream cheese frosting with carrot cake, you could choose to leave it unfrosted or use one of the following instead:

• Whipped Cream
• White Chocolate Frosting
• Coconut Cream Frosting (dairy free option)
• Buttercream

Use Pineapple- If you're a fan of pineapple carrot cake, you can substitute partly drained, crushed pineapple for the pumpkin.

Alternate Baking Pans

You can definitely adapt this recipe to make all sorts of shapes and sizes! However, you may need to double the recipe in some cases, which is easy to do. Simply click the (2x) icon on the recipe card and it will do the math for you.

See below for notes, bake times and whether or not you need to double the recipe for a variety of cake pan sizes and shapes.

*Also, please not that your cake pans for layer and sheet cakes need to be at least 2 inches deep.

Layer Cakes:

TIP: Cut parchment to size to fit in the bottom of your cake pan. That will make the removal of the cooled cake so much easier (and prettier!).

• 6 Inch
  • 2 Layers
    • Divide the batter between 2 cake pans and bake for 24-28 minutes.
  • 3 Layers
    • Divide the batter between 3 cake pans and bake for 18-23 minutes.
• 8 Inch
  • 2 Layers
    • Divide the batter between 2 cake pans and bake for 18-23 minutes.
  • 3 Layers
    • Double the recipe (2x on the recipe card) and divide the batter between 3 cake pans. Bake for 24-28 minutes.
• 9 Inch- You will need to double the recipe (2x on the recipe card)
  • 2 Layers
    • Divide the batter between 2 cake pans and bake for 27-32 minutes.
  • 3 Layers
    • Divide the batter between 3 cake pans and bake for 18-23 minutes.

Sheet Cakes:

• 8x8 Inch Square
  • The cake will be slightly thicker so increase the bake time to 30-35 minutes.
• 9x13 Inch Rectangle
  • Double the recipe (2x on the recipe card) and bake for 40-45 minutes.

Bundt Cake:

• Double the recipe (2x on the recipe card) and grease a 10-12 cup bundt pan. Bake for 55-65 minutes.

Cupcakes:

• Line a muffin tin with 12-14 liners. Fill each ½-2/3 full and bake for 18-22 minutes.

Want to make Healthy Carrot Cake Muffins instead? Use carrots in place of the zucchini in these Honey Spice Zucchini Muffins.

They are naturally refined sugar free. If you have it on hand, try using pure maple syrup in place of the honey (it pairs wonderfully with the flavor!)

Serving Ideas

Carrot cake is a classic spring time dessert and is perfect for an Easter brunch (maybe with some Honey Lemonade and fresh fruit).

It also makes a great birthday cake, snack cake or any time treat.

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And if you liked this recipe...

...you might also like:

• Chocolate Zucchini Bread
• Honey Blueberry Oat Muffins
• Spice Zucchini Muffins

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