Healthy Vegan Carrot Cake Recipe - Simply Plant Based Kitchen (2024)

Healthy Vegan Carrot Cake Recipe - Simply Plant Based Kitchen (1)Healthy Vegan Carrot Cake Recipe - Simply Plant Based Kitchen (2)

I think my favorite part of a WFP diet is that I can have my cake and eat it too. In other words, I can eat dessert and STILL lose weight and improve my health. I don’t have to feel guilty because it is made from whole food plant based ingredients! It makes it really easy to stick to this way of eating for life knowing that I can really enjoy DELICIOUS foods and especially dessert!

As you may know, being “vegan” does not necessarily equate to good health. The term vegan refers to not eating meat or dairy products. A vegan can eat processed foods and oils and not have as much health benefit. However, a whole foods plant based diet is focused on eating the most nutrient dense foods – whole foods. No meat or dairy (or very limited) and no processed foods including oils. This recipe does not contain any butter, eggs, white flour, or sugar. Instead it uses banana, dates, raisins, and oat flour as its base. It tastes great and won’t raise your blood sugar like regular carrot cake!

My oldest son is my pickiest eater, but he loves this carrot cake recipe. It makes me happy that I can get some vegetables into him without a fight! My husband tried it last night for the first time and he said he was very surprised at how good it was. Score!

Make Oat Flour from Old-Fashioned Oats in your blender

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This recipe calls for old-fashioned oats to be ground in your high powdered blender. Old fashioned oats are also called rolled oats. Don’t use quick oats or steel cut for this recipe. I have a Vitamix blender and it takes literally seconds to do this! It’s really easy to do, but you could always buy oat flour in your local grocery store baking aisle as well. You could also try using a food processor, but personally haven’t, so let me know in the comments if you do and it works.

You’re going to love the icing, too. It is SO yum! Feel free to use the icing recipe on any dessert recipe you have! The coconut flour can be left out if you want to have to a vanilla only flavor.

Related readingTop 6 Reasons you should be come a Nutritarian

Making your own fresh shredded carrots

I highly recommend using organic carrots. They really do taste better. I don’t buy a ton of organic fruits & vegetables, but I do for the carrots. Hopefully you have a food processor so you can shred the carrots really easily. I always peel mine and cut off the tops and then throw them in the processor with the “shred” disk. Any extra shredded carrots I don’t use for the recipe, I keep in a ziplock bag for salads!

I don’t recommend buying the bags of shredded carrots you see in the salad section. Those are dry & not very fresh. This will affect no only how moist your cake is, but also the nutrient density!

Ripen bananas in 30 seconds

Also, I learned that If you don’t have ripe bananas, you can microwave them for 30 seconds to ripen them up! That’s what I had to do this last time because my banana was slightly green. Make sure you poke holes all over the banana with a knife. I did 2 rounds of 30 seconds in the microwave on high.

My youngest isn’t a fan of walnuts, but I am and of course he needs to eat them for the healthy omega-3s, so I chop them up super fine so he doesn’t even notice.

Definitely go easy on the cloves. I think I did a little bit bigger pinch that I should have this last time, as it was very strong! Still good though!

It keeps for up to 5 days in the refrigerator, although it will probably be gone before then!

Healthy Vegan Carrot Cake Ingredients

Turn this Carrot Cake into Muffins!

This recipe can easily be use to make muffins or cupcakes. Just fill a muffin tin 3/4 of the way with this carrot cake batter. Use a silicone muffin mold so that you don’t have to use oil or muffin liners.

Other WFPB Dessert recipes you might like

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Healthy Vegan Carrot Cake Recipe - Simply Plant Based Kitchen (3)

If you try this recipe let me know what you think in the comments!

Healthy Vegan Carrot Cake Recipe - Simply Plant Based Kitchen (4)

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Healthy Vegan Carrot Cake with Coconut Vanilla Icing

This whole food plant based recipe is dairy free and oil free.

Course Dessert

Cuisine Gluten Free, Nutritarian, Vegan, Whole Food Plant Based

Keyword Carrot Cake, dairy free, Dessert, Eat to Live, Gluten Free, Healthy, no oil recipe, Nutritarian, Vegan, whole food plant based

Prep Time 45 minutes minutes

Cook Time 40 minutes minutes

Total Time 1 hour hour 25 minutes minutes

Servings 9

Calories 264kcal

Author Kim Murphy

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 cups unsweetened almond or soy milk
  • 4 1/2 ounces pitted dates, chopped
  • 3/4 cup raisins
  • 1/2 cup sliced ripe banana
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 1 3/4 old-fashioned rolled oats not quick oats
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • 1 pinch ground cloves
  • 1 1/2 cups shredded carrots organic tastes best
  • 1/2 cup finely chopped walnuts

Coconut Vanilla Icing

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees and lightly spray a 8 X 8 baking dish with cooking spray or use a silicone baking pan.

  • In a medium bowl, combine dates, 1/4 cup of the raisins, banana, vanilla, and milk. Soak for 15 minutes.

  • Peel 3 medium organic carrots and cut off the tops. Using a food processor, shred 1 & 1/2 cups of carrots. You may have a some extra left over. You can save the extra in a ziplock bag in the refrigerator for salads.

  • Using a high powered blender, blend oats until they become flour. Pour oat flour into a large bowl. Add baking soda, baking powder, nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves and stir until combined.

  • Pour the date liquid mixture into the high powered blender and blend until smooth. Pour smooth date mixture into oat mixture and combine. Add 1/2 cup of raisins, walnuts, & shredded carrots and stir until well combined.

  • Pour batter into baking pan and cook for 40 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Let cool for 10 minutes.

Coconut Vanilla Icing

  • While the carrot cake is cooking, place dates, cashews, and vanilla extract in the blender. Cover with just enough water and let soak for 45 minutes.

  • Blend until smooth and creamy. Add the coconut flour (if desired) and blend again. If it is too thick you can add more water and if it is too watery you can add more coconut flour.

  • After cake has cooled, spread icing over cake.

Nutrition

Serving: 1piece | Calories: 264kcal | Carbohydrates: 43g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 10g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Sodium: 204mg | Potassium: 589mg | Fiber: 6g | Sugar: 23g | Vitamin A: 3585IU | Vitamin C: 3mg | Calcium: 129mg | Iron: 2mg

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Healthy Vegan Carrot Cake Recipe - Simply Plant Based Kitchen (2024)

FAQs

What is a substitute for carrots in carrot cake? ›

Baking (Carrot Cake)

For baking, try grated parsnips, rutabaga, or zucchini. If using zucchini, squeeze out some water. These alternatives are all featured in spice cakes similar to carrot cake, so they will produce a similar result.

Is carrot cake healthier than regular cake? ›

Carrot cake isn't really any less healthy than a white cake or a chocolate cake. Arguably, it's slightly more healthy because of the addition of carrots and sometimes pineapple. However, it does contain a cup of oil and two cups of sugar, and that's just in the cake.

Why is carrot cake so calorie dense? ›

Carrot cake usually contains more saturated fat than fruit cake thanks to the frosting, which is typically made from cream cheese. The higher fat content also means it's higher in calories. Carrot cake is lower in fibre, so may not be as filling.

How many calories in a piece of vegan carrot cake? ›

Cafe Indigo Sliced Vegan Carrot Cake (1 slice) contains 100g total carbs, 98g net carbs, 28g fat, 6g protein, and 680 calories.

Is it better to make carrot cake with butter or oil? ›

Vegetable oil produces a more moist, tender cake than butter. Yes, butter generally tastes better, but it makes the cake come out a little firmer than I like. Don't worry—there's plenty of butter in the frosting to make up for it.

What is a low carb substitute for carrots? ›

Many options are available if you're looking for low-carb alternatives to carrots on the keto diet. For example, you can replace carrots with low-carb vegetables like celery, cucumber, or bell peppers.

What is the healthiest cake in the world? ›

What Type of Cake is Healthy?
  1. Angel Food Cake. Angel food cake is healthy because It does not contain egg yolk and butter. ...
  2. 2 . Flourless Chocolate Cake. ...
  3. 3 . Protein Mug Cake. ...
  4. 4 . Homemade Strawberry Shortcake. ...
  5. 5 . Sugar-Free Carrot and Date Cake. ...
  6. 6 . Pineapple Upside-Down Cake. ...
  7. 7 . Cheesecake. ...
  8. 8 . Red Velvet Cake.

Are vegan cakes healthier than normal cakes? ›

Because the ingredients of vegan cakes contain fewer calories than those of regular cakes, you have a lower tendency to gain weight while eating them. However, this depends on your amount of consumption. Like any other thing, eat vegan cakes in moderation.

Are vegan cakes more healthy? ›

So, vegan cakes are generally healthier because they: don't contain cholesterol. are mostly lower in saturated fat (unless they contain a lot of palm or coconut oil) are made without eggs and dairy, so they're generally lower in total fat and calories.

Does vegan cake have more calories? ›

In truth, vegan cakes might not even contain fewer calories than non-vegan ones. While they lack butter and other dairy products, it is not a given that they contain less saturated fats. In fact, some vegan substitutes for butter, like cocoa butter or coconut oil, can have similar amounts of saturated fats.

Is white or black carrot cake healthier? ›

A Health Breakfast to Start The Day Right

If you hunger for a plate of fragrant carrot cake or chye tau kueh, choose the plain white carrot cake (402 Calories) over the black, (556 Calories); it's just as delicious, but over 100 Calories lighter.

Is angel food cake healthier than regular cake? ›

Angel food cake gets its lift from beaten egg whites. No egg yolks and no butter mean the cake contains no fat. And without the fat, the cake is also lower in calories than say pound cakes, cupcakes or ice cream. A homemade angel food cake isn't difficult to make and tastes far superior to most store-bought varieties.

Does carrot cake count as a serving of vegetables? ›

This suggests that a whole cake contains more than eight portions of carrots, so a largish slice ought to count as one of your five-a-day. We can argue about whether the carrots lose some volume during the cooking process, but you could easily compensate by just eating another slice!

Does vegan cake have less calories? ›

Again, it all depends on the ingredients used. Vegan cakes, like non-vegan cakes, use a mix of calorific ingredients that don't help your daily calorie intake. There is a consensus among nutritionists that there is little difference in the calories between dairy and vegan dairy alternatives.

How many calories in a carrot cake without frosting? ›

Carrot cake, not frosted, store bought (1 large cupcake) contains 20.7g total carbs, 20.5g net carbs, 6.8g fat, 2g protein, and 152 calories.

Does carrot cake taste the same without carrots? ›

The misinformation contained in these three sentences boggles the mind. Carrot cake is self-evidently not a pie. Carrots absolutely enhance the flavor of carrot cake—it's not like all their flavor compounds evaporate while the cake is baking.

What can I substitute carrot top for? ›

Carrots, parsley, cilantro, and dill are all in the same botanical family, so they make easy substitutes for each other. Try using carrot tops in a familiar recipe if you are uncertain about their flavor. Generally, carrot tops are a bit more fibrous than parsley, and mature carrot tops are tougher than younger tops.

Why were carrots used in cakes? ›

With strict rationing in place limiting the availability of sugar, even urban families took pride in planting a garden at home. When it was time for a treat, they could rely on carrots to give their cakes a little bit of sweetness and flavor, saving sugar for the soldiers on the front lines.

Can baby carrots substitute for carrots? ›

The peeling and washing process also can diminish the flavor a bit and slightly decrease the nutrition, but luckily, they are still great to eat and share similar nutrition benefits to regular carrots.

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