Healthy Grain-Free Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
This healthy carrot cake completely from scratch is made with coconut flour for a grain-free and gluten-free dessert everyone can enjoy. Super moist and spicy just enough, this cake is topped with a healthy, low-sugar cream cheese frosting with pecans that adds and extra layer of deliciousness. Let it become your new favorite healthy dessert.
There’s something so comforting about a slice of carrot cake. Moist, lightly spiced, nutty, and just sweet enough. Add some creamy and sweet cream cheese frosting on top and you have a decadent dessert. Carrot cake is a perfect Easter dessert, but it’s also great for any other occasion.
This healthy grain-free carrot cake recipe is a wholesome twist on a classic favorite. Loaded with natural and wholesome ingredients such as fresh carrots, eggs, butter, pecan nuts, and natural sweeteners and without the gluten and extra carbs in wheat, it’s the perfect better-for-you dessert. It’s so good it can even make a special breakfast treat.
A Healtier carrot cake recipe
If you’ve been around, you know my family mostly follow a grain-free diet. A grain-free diet can be beneficial for your gut health, reduce inflammation, help maintain a healthy weight, and so much more. You can read everything about a grain-free diet and its benefits in this post.
Eating grain free doesn’t mean you have to give up baked goods or desserts! This cake is the perfect example. You can find a lot more grain-free recipes including meals, desserts and snacks here.
Baking with coconut flour
When it comes to baking grain-free goods, there are quite a few options to chose from. You can use nut flours such as almond, or grain-free starches such as cassava flour. My favorite, go-to option, however, is coconut flour.
I love baking with coconut flour because it’s naturally gluten-free, has a low carbohydrate content, and a high content of fibers. Coconut flour is also a good source of potassium, manganese, as well as medium-chain triglycerides (MCT), which makes it healthier than other nut flours. Finally, coconut flour is a more affordable option compared to other grain-free flours.
I love Bob Red Mill’s organic coconut flour for all my grain-free baked goods.
If you’re new to baking with coconut flour, note that it’s quite a different vibe compared to regular wheat flour or even to other grain-free flours. The main difference is that coconut flour is super absorbent. It soaks up a lot of liquid and that’s why you typically use small amounts. That’s also why recipes with coconut flour contain more eggs and more wet ingredients.
Making healthy cream cheese frosting without confectioner’s sugar
A classical cream cheese frosting is made with cream cheese, butter, and (a lot of) confectioner’s or icing sugar. Many frosting recipes call for up to 4 cups of icing sugar for 8 ounces of cream cheese. That means that just one portion of cream cheese frosting (without even considering the cake) has up to 40 grams of sugar! That’s a lot of sugar to have all at once, and it can spike blood sugar quickly, and even increase inflammation and weight gain if consumed often.
Another thing I don’t like about confectioner’s or icing sugar is that is contains cornstarch, which is oftentimes GMO.
For these reasons I prefer to make my own cream cheese frosting using (much much less) brown sugar and honey. For this recipe, I also added vanilla extract for extra flavor and enriched the frosting with chopped pecans. The results is a delicious frosting that is still sweet, but much more balanced and less overwhelming than regular frosting. Not to mention, a lot healthier!
Nutritional values of this healthy carrot cake with cream cheese frosting
This carrot cake with cream cheese frosting is delicious, sweet, and indulgent. But hear this out! Compared to a traditional carrot cake with cream cheese frosting, a slice of this cake has about half the calories and almost 5 times less carbs and sugars!
The much lower content of carbs in this recipe is due to swapping coconut flour for wheat flour, as well as reducing the sugar content in both the cake and the cream cheese frosting.
Ingredients for this healthy grain-free carrot cake with cream cheese frosting
For the cake
- 6 eggs
- 3/4 cup (170 grams) butter or coconut oil
- 1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons coconut flour
- 1/2 cup brown sugar (see notes)
- 1/2 cup coconut sugar (see notes)
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 cups finely grated carrots (2-3 large carrots, see notes)
- 1 cup finely chopped pecans (see notes)
Notes
- For this recipe you can use 1/2 cup of brown sugar and 1/2 cup of coconut sugar, or you can use 1 cup of either brown or coconut sugar. If using coconut sugar, you can add 1 extra tablespoon of honey to keep the cake moist.
- Use freshly and finely grated carrots rather than pre-shredded carrots for the best results.
- You can swap out pecans for any other chopped or sliced nuts such as almonds, walnuts or pistachios.
For the cream cheese frosting
- 8 ounces softened cream cheese
- 2 tablespoons (28 grams) softened butter
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup finely chopped pecans (optional)
How to make this healthy grain-free carrot cake with cream cheese frosting
Make the cake
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- While the oven preheats, place the butter or coconut oil in your 9×13 inch pan and place it into the oven until melted. Set apart to cool off.
- Grate the carrots finely using a box grater or a food processor with a grater attachment.
- Finely chop the pecans using a knife or by pulsing them a few times in a food processor. Set apart grated carrots and chopped pecans.
- In a large bowl combine eggs, melted and cooled butter (or coconut oil), sugar, honey, and vanilla extract. Whisk together well.
- In a separate bowl combine coconut flour, salt, cinnamon, baking powder, and baking soda. Mix together.
- Add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and whisk well until incorporated and smooth. Don’t over mix.
- Fold in grated carrots and chopped pecans.
- Pour into the prepared pan and bake in the oven for about 35-40 minutes, or until ready. If you’re unsure, poke the cake with a toothpick in the middle. If the toothpick comes out clean, the cake is ready.
- Allow the cake to cool completely before frosting.
Make the cream cheese frosting
- Place softened cream cheese and butter in a large bowl or stand mixer. Whip together with a hand mixer or with the stand mixer for a few minutes.
- Slowly add sugar and pour in vanilla and honey. Keep whipping until nice and fluffy, but don’t over-whip!
- Fold in finely chopped pecans, if you want. You can also sprinkle the pecans on top of the frosted cake, if you prefer.
- Frost the cooled cake and enjoy!
Notes
- Allow the cake to cool completely before frosting!
- You can bake this cake in a 9×13 inch dish, or in two round 8 inch pans and turn this into a layered cake with frosting in the middle and on top. You can also use this recipe to make delicious carrot cake cupcakes!
If you try this recipe and love it, I would love if you gave it 5 stars and let me know in the comments down below. Thank you!
More grain-free recipes with coconut flour
Coconut Flour Brownies (Grain-Free, Gluten-Free)
Coconut Flour Pie Crust Recipe (low-Carb, Grain-free, Gluten-free)
Coconut Flour Birthday Cake (Low-Carb, Grain-free, Gluten-free)
Cinnamon Roll Cake with Coconut Flour (Grain-free, Gluten-free)
Pumpkin Coconut Flour Cookies with Raisins (Grain-free, Gluten-free)
Coconut Flour Gingerbread Cookies (Grain-free, Gluten-free)
Fruit and Chocolate Christmas Cake with Coconut Flour (Grain-free, Gluten-free)
Pumpkin Swirled Chocolate Loaf (Grain-free, Gluten-free)
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Healthy Grain-free Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
Equipment
- 1 carrot grater or food processor
- 1 Stand mixer or hand mixer
Ingredients
For the cake
- 6 eggs
- 3/4 cup (170 grams) butter or coconut oil
- 1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons coconut flour
- 1/2 cup brown sugar see notes
- 1/2 cup coconut sugar see notes
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 cups finely grated carrots 2-3 large carrots, see notes
- 1 cup finely chopped pecans see notes
For the cream cheese frosting
- 8 ounces softened cream cheese
- 2 tablespoons (28 grams) softened butter
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup finely chopped pecans optional
Instructions
Make the cake
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- While the oven preheats, place the butter or coconut oil in your 9×13 inch pan and place it into the oven until melted. Set apart to cool off.
- Grate the carrots finely using a box grater or a food processor with a grater attachment.
- Finely chop the pecans using a knife or by pulsing them a few times in a food processor. Set apart grated carrots and chopped pecans.
- In a large bowl combine eggs, melted and cooled butter (or coconut oil), sugar, honey, and vanilla extract. Whisk together well.
- In a separate bowl combine coconut flour, salt, cinnamon, baking powder, and baking soda. Mix together.
- Add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and whisk well until incorporated and smooth. Don’t over mix.
- Fold in grated carrots and chopped pecans.
- Pour into the prepared pan and bake in the oven for about 35 minutes, or until ready. If you’re unsure, poke the cake with a toothpick in the middle. If the toothpick comes out clean, the cake is ready.
- Allow the cake to cool completely before frosting.
Make the cream cheese frosting
- Place softened cream cheese and butter in a large bowl or stand mixer. Whip together with a hand mixer or with the stand mixer for a few minutes.
- Slowly add sugar and pour in vanilla and honey. Keep whipping until nice and fluffy, but don’t over-whip!
- Fold in finely chopped pecans, if you want. You can also sprinkle the pecans on top of the frosted cake, if you prefer.
