This classic carrot cake is made with wholesome ingredients. It is sweet, perfectly spiced and incredibly easy to make. It makes the perfect treat for your next celebration!
I’m going to be upfront with you here – this carrot cake is not a health food. If you scroll down to the ingredients you will see there is gluten, sugar, eggs and dairy. Essentially all the healthy living blogger no-no’s all in one recipe.
But here’s the deal: 1) Balance. This blog is named after balance, remember? and 2) This is birthday week. Not my birthday, but like everyone else I know is born the first week of March. And by everyone else I mean my brother and my boyfriend. My brother is more of a peanut butter cookie kind of guy. So these cookies are more up his alley. My boyfriend on the other hand, is a big fan of cake. Specifically, carrot cake.
In fact, back when I was brainstorming treat ideas for the Valentine’s Day round-up I asked for his input. The conversation went something like this:
Me: I’m trying to think of Valentine’s Day treat ideas. Any suggestions?
E: Hmmm…carrot cake?
….I mean…bless his heart. I vetoed the carrot cake Valentine idea, but for his birthday I knew exactly what to make.
Since this cake was made in his honor, I didn’t cut any corners to overly healthify it. What I did do, was use ingredients I felt better about giving to my guy. Mainly by swapping the all-purpose flour for whole wheat and granulated sugar for coconut sugar. Most importantly, I ditched the vegetable oil you find in most classic carrot cake recipes. Other than that, this cake is the real deal. No applesauce, no mashed banana. Who am I right
But really, baking a cake is the least I could do to show my appreciation for such a great human. I’m a lucky lady to have such a wonderful best friend, taste tester and partner in crime. He is always there to remind me to chill the F out and enjoy life, is supportive of all my crazy ideas, is a great sport when I try to healthify every food (except this cake) and makes me laugh until I cry on a daily basis.
- 2 Cups White Whole Wheat Flour + more for dusting pan
- 2 Cups Shredded Carrot
- 8 oz. Crushed Pineapple, drained
- ¾ Cup Melted Coconut Oil (cooled)
- 2 Teaspoons Vanilla
- 4 Eggs, room temperature
- 1½ Teaspoon Baking Powder
- 2 Teaspoons Baking Soda
- 1¾ Cup Coconut Sugar
- 2 Teaspoons Cinnamon
- ½ Teaspoon Nutmeg
- ⅛ Teaspoon Cloves
- 1 Teaspoon Salt
- Optional: ½ Cup Raisins
- 8 oz. Greek Yogurt Cream Cheese, softened (or sub light cream cheese)
- 3 Cups Powdered Sugar
- 1 Teaspoon Vanilla
- ¼ Cup Unsalted Butter, Softened
- 1-2 Tablespoons Almond Milk
- Preheat the oven to 350F. Grease two 9 inch round cake pans with coconut oil and dust with flour. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, use an electric mixer to mix together coconut sugar, coconut oil and vanilla. Add in your eggs two and a time, and mix until well combined. Fold in carrots and set aside.
- In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, nutmeg, cloves and cinnamon. Mix until well combined.
- Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture and stir until well combined and a thick batter forms. It is ok if the batter is a little lumpy. Gently fold in raisins if using.
- Divide the batter among the two pans, and bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean (my cake took 25 minutes).
- When done, allow the cake to cool in the pan for 15-20 minutes, or until cool enough to handle. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
- While the cake is cooling, prepare the frosting by combining the cream cheese, butter and vanilla with an electric mixer until smooth. Then, slowly add in the powdered sugar until the frosting comes together. If the frosting is too thick, add almond milk 1 Tablespoon at a time to thin it out. Place frosting in the refrigerator until cake is ready to frost.
- Transfer one of the cake layers to a cake stand and top with a smooth layer of frosting. Top with second layer of cake and smooth on an additional layer of frosting. I like the look of "naked" cakes so I used more frosting in the middle. Feel free to frost the sides and decorate however you like!
- Store cake in a sealed container in the refrigerator.
Your Turn:
- What is your favorite birthday/celebratory treat?
Can we just talk about how I love that this cake is called a “No BS Carrot Cake”? Like, I’ll take two slices please!
Haha girl, I had to keep it real! 😉 so glad you appreciate
This looks so delicious! Great presentation as well 🙂
Thanks Cara!
Love, love, love carrot cake! Great mix of ingredients in your recipe – sounds wonderful! 🙂
Thank you Kelly! This cake was definitely a hit with the Mr. 🙂
This cake would be perfect dessert for Easter. I love a moist cake and your pictures look fantastic. Love the addition of whole wheat flower for a healthier version.
I totally agree – this would be a lovely Easter cake! 🙂
Wow! that looks delicious! Thanks for sharing your recipe 🙂
Thanks Alexis! Hope you love it 🙂
Yum! I loooove carrot cake! While it may not be “health food,” it still has veggies so we can pretend, right?
I like the way you think 😉
Balance indeed! We over “healthified” my daughter’s cake on her first birthday and no one wanted to eat it.
Ah! I have definitely done that before – all with great intentions!
We had a ‘healthy’ carrot cake at our wedding and since our original tasting, I’ve been trying to replicate that recipe… And then I see this and I’m like, forget being healthy because this just looks delicious.
I would so love figuring out how to make a healthy cake! I am sure it can be done, I just knew for my guy he would appreciate the real-deal for his bday 🙂 I definitely would love to continue experimenting though!
Yum! I LOVE carrot cake so to see a healthified version is awesome!
Karin | truncationblog.com
Thanks Karin! Carrot cake is always a crowd-pleaser 🙂
Carrot cake is my hubby’s favorite, so I will definitely be trying this recipe. Looks amazing! Thanks for sharing!
Thanks Marielle! I hope he loves it 🙂
Carrot Cake is my go-to! And that cake stand enter double emoji eyes!
Thank you! I saw it and haddddd to have it.
“No BS Carrot Cake” that is an awesome name. I for one love carrot cake and this cake looks amazing! After reading the ingredients I am going to have to try to make it as well. Although I know for a fact it won’t turn out as perfect as yours pictured but I will give it a try. How did it turn out taste wise with the whole wheat flour? My Favorite birthday/celebration treat would have to be Pineapple Upside Down Cake.
Oooh pineapple upside down cake is always a winner too! I like using white whole wheat flour because it doesn’t have the same taste/texture as regular whole wheat flour. It performs very similar to all purpose flour!
I love carrot cake, it is one of my favorites! You’re right it’s all about moderation. Sure this isn’t healthy, but we have to give ourselves something. Thanks for sharing!!
Exactly! So glad you agree Jenn 🙂
I pinned this. It looks so good! I really like your photography style and I NEED THAT CAKE STAND!!!
Thank you so much Bella! I got it at Marshall’s 🙂
This cake looks amazing! My sisters birthday was today so I’ve been enjoying some cake the past couple days. This post is a great reminder of the importance of balance! I hope your man had a fantastic birthday!
The right kind of balance is so important. He certainly did – I hope your sister had a great birthday as well!
Hollyyyy moly! You KNOW I am IN LOVE with this. That cake stand shot?! Obsessed, for real. (Duh, turquoise.)
Nothing wrong with a little gluten every now and again! 😉
Favorite b-day treat= ice cream, for sho.
YAS girl, YAS. Any excuse to eat ice cream – I’m in. And I’m obsessed with turquoise too. It’s just the best color (#duh). And thank you so much for saying that – I’ll be honest, taking photos of this was a STRUGGLE. With a capital S.