Rustic, sweet and heavenly fragrant, Carrot Cake with tangy Cottage Cheese Frosting is super HEALTHY and easy to make dessert. It's nutritious, made with whole wheat flour, loaded with nutrients, refined sugar-free and low-calorie. The family favorite spring cake!
Carrots are in season so let's overdue with carrots, shall we... ;) Last week I made some raw Carrot Cake Energy Balls, which are like tiny versions of real carrot cake. So today I thought, well why not give you a recipe for the real deal... The Carrot Cake - my version... a healthier version.
If you tried my Carrot Cake Energy Balls, I’m 100% sure you will love this carrot cake too. Well, to be completely honest, this recipe is a quite classic one but I modified it a bit, to be more nutritious and healthier. SO this Carrot Cake is made without unnecessary/empty calories.
This cake is made from whole grains – whole wheat flour, and it’s naturally sweetened with fresh carrots and honey. Instead of cream cheese, that is usually used for making a carrot cake frosting, I used cottage cheese. Cream cheese is full of fats and loaded with additives while cottage cheese contains less fat, and it’s full of healthy proteins.
Also instead of using butter to bind the ingredients in frosting, I used super healthy coconut oil. With mentioned small modifications, I turned classic fatty and sugary carrot cake into nutritious and HEALTHY spring dessert in which you can enjoy without thinking of unnecessary calories, unhealthy sugars, and fats. Great, isn’t?!
I spiced this Carrot Cake with warm spices – cinnamon and nutmeg that gave the cake an overwhelming scent and flavor. Carrots nicely softened the biscuit in the oven and turned this cake into a moist and flavorful beauty that matched perfectly with sweet and sour cottage cheese frosting.
This Carrot Cake may be simple... but it's absolutely my favorite spring dessert. Rustic, sweet and heavenly fragrant, moist and made with all HEALTHY ingredients. AND it's sooo easy to prepare. I love it!
My husband isn't the biggest carrot cake fan (Yeah I know!... like WHAT?!) ... but this Carrot Cake passed his ultimate test. Carrots are so cleverly hidden in a batter that you won't even noticed it. Still, carrots enrich this cake with natural sweetness and give the wonderful texture.... and, of course, all of its nutritional and healthy benefits.
I hope you liked this recipe, and I really hope you'll make this Carrot Cake many times this spring. Actually, carrots are in season throughout the whole year, so you can enjoy in this healthy Carrot Cake whenever you want.
Enjoy!
Carrot Cake with Cottage Cheese Frosting
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cup whole wheat flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon nutmeg
- 4 eggs
- 2 tablespoon extra virgin coconut oil melted and cooled
- 5 tablespoon honey
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2-3 tablespoon milk cow's low-fat or plant milk
- 2 cups raw carrots grated
For frosting
- 1 cup cottage cheese
- 2 tablespoon Greek yogurt
- 2 tablespoon honey
- 2 tablespoon extra virgin coconut oil melted and cooled
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 356F (180C).
- In a bowl, mix the dry ingredients - flour, baking powder, baking soda and spices.
- In a separate bowl whisk eggs. Add melted but cooled coconut oil, honey and vanilla. Mix well.
- Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and mix thoroughly. Stir in grated carrot and mix well with a spoon. Add milk if the mixture is too thick.
- Pour the mixture into the baking pan and bake for 25-30 minutes (check with a toothpick, if it comes out clean the cake is ready). Remove from the oven and allow to cool. During that time, prepare the frosting.
Frosting
- Mix all ingredients with the electric mixer until the mixture is smooth.
- Let the mixture set for 20 minutes in the fridge.
- Spread on top of the cooled cake.
- Keep in an airtight container refrigerated until serving.
Notes
Nutrition
Sonia Ramlal says
Hi Natalie,
Looking forward to trying your Carrot Cake recipe. Sounds delish!
Thank you for sharing.
I just have one question as I am new to baking carrot cakes, do I pour the batter into a greased pan or a greased and floured pan before baking?
Looking forward to your reply:)
Natalie says
I prefer greasing the pan and flouring it before pouring the batter. That way I'm sure batter won't stick. But just greasing is fine too. :) Enjoy the cake!
Jo says
Hi Natalie,
The recipe looks lovely however coconut oil isn’t healthy.It is high in trans fat.The cottage cheese icing looks great though.
Thanks Jo
Natalie says
Hi Jo! Coconut oil is in fact saturated fat, and (animal) saturated fats are kinda bad. But still, there's a bit difference between other saturated fats (animal ones) and coconut oil. Coconut oil is PLANT based oil. I use virgin coconut oil meaning it's not processed (refined) like other plant-based oils (vegetable oils etc). Also, coconut oil may have a bad reputation, but again many studies showed that it has some really strong anti-inflammatory properties. So it may be named "bad" but still not as bad as other fats and other unhealthy stuff people eat every day.
I think the key to a healthy life is to eat all in moderation with the exception of highly processed foods and trans fats, fast food and sugary food. I ditched those LONG time ago... it changed my life completely. And while I use coconut oil in my baking and cooking, I also use other monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats that keep my body in balance. For example, I use extra virgin olive oil every day in my salads. Also flaxseed oil and walnut oil.
Carre says
I cannot wait to try this! So glad to find a recipe substituting cottage cheese for cream cheese!
Natalie says
I'm glad you like it Carre. Enjoy!
Kirsten says
Thank you for creating a delicious healthy version of my fave cake that is also easy to make and has ingredients that I actually know what they are. So glad your page came up on my google search! Winner with my husband and son too, and they are a tough crowd!
Natalie says
Thank you SO MUCH Kirsten for this lovely comment :) I'm glad you and your family liked the cake. All my recipes are very simple and made with ingredients you can find in any store.. Healthy eating should be just like that - accessible, simple and easy ;)
Marsha | Marsha's Baking Addiction says
I absolutely love carrot cake! I love your healthy version!
Natalie says
Thank you Marsha :* I'm glad you like it.
Maggie Unzueta says
Ooooh my! Your carrot cake looks delicious. Must pin this for later. :)
Natalie says
Thank you Maggie :)