An all-time favorite in our house, this is the best carrot cake recipe! With some healthier ingredient swaps it is moist, delicious, and the perfect dessert. This recipe is so good you will want to eat it for breakfast!
The best carrot cake recipe
I am a girl who loves carrot cake. In fact, it’s one of my husband’s favourite cakes too. So it goes without saying I have tried a lot of different recipes and combinations, but hands down this recipe is our favorite. It’s perfect for Easter and excitingly spring-y!!
Another reason why this is the best carrot cake recipe is that you make it into whatever version you want. I like to bake it in a sheet pan but you can easily use two 8×8 pans or make it into muffins! More on that later!
Let’s run through the ingredients you need or can use for this recipe. I’m always a fan of recipes that can be easily adapted for different dietary needs!
Ingredients required for this recipe
This carrot cake recipe is such a basic wholesome recipe that every bite you take will make you feel like you are doing something good for yourself. It is flavourful but not overly sweet or heavy.
Main ingredients in the best carrot cake recipe:
Coconut Oil – Instead of butter or margarine I have included coconut oil in the recipe. It adds moisture to the cake and healthy fats. If you don’t love the taste of coconut you can always use unscented coconut oil instead.
Coconut Sugar – Another healthy swap! Coconut sugar does not raise your insulin levels the way conventional sugar does. The majority of sugar is also made by GMO sugar beets so using coconut sugar is a great alternative. It has a deep rich flavour and is a perfect compliment to the carrots in this recipe!
Eggs – The most nutritious eggs come from free-range hens that graze out on a pasture. Free-range eggs have less cholesterol and more vitamins and are always a great choice.
Flour – Your options for flour here depend on your preference. You can interchangeably use Organic White wheat, Gluten-Free flour, Almond Flour, or Oat flour. The flavour you choose slightly alter the taste but all are great options. For this recipe, I used this gluten-free flour.
Carrots – Of course the start of the show I always use organic carrots for this recipe.
If you like this recipe try:
Peanut Butter Oatmeal Blondies
Perfect Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp
Let me know below if you love this recipe as much as I do and don’t forget to follow me on social media for my latest tips and tricks for healthy and stylish living.
The Best Carrot Cake Recipe {GF, DF}
Ingredients
- 1 cup coconut oil, melted
- 1 1/4 cups coconut sugar
- 4 large eggs
- 2 cups Gluten-Free Flour, (Or almond Flour or GF Oat Flour)
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 cups grated carrots
Healthy Cream Cheese Frosting
- 1 8 oz. block cream cheese, (or df cream cheese)
- 1/4 cup plain Skyr (or greek) yogurt, (or df plain yogurt)
- 1/4 cup maple syrup
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease two 8-inch round cake pans, one baking sheet, or muffin tins with coconut oil.
- Whisk together the coconut oil, coconut sugar, and eggs in a large bowl. In another bowl sift together the dry ingredients: the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Add the flour mixture to the egg mixture and stir to combine. Gently fold in the carrots with a spatula.
- Divide the batter between the prepared pans or sheet pan and bake until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. About 25 minutes. Let cool 10 minutes in the pans on a cooling rack. If using 2 8-inch pans, after cooling 10 minutes, run a knife around the edge and remove cakes to cool completely on the rack.
- For the frosting: In a large bowl beat ingredients until smooth. Spread over cake when cooled.
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