This healthy carrot cake recipe packs all the warming spice flavors of the classic, but with whole wheat flour, Greek yogurt, olive oil, dates, and honey for a lighter, more grown-up approach. To finish things off we skip the cream cheese frosting and opt for a dusting of powdered sugar instead.
Carrot cake happens to be my husband Saba’s absolute favorite, but the extra sweet, frosting-topped American version never quite did it for me. I love the Italian’s take on carrot cake, which has a strong orangey almond flavor and no butter. This healthy carrot cake recipe takes the same lighter, frosting and butter-free approach, but keeps carrot cake’s classic warming spices like cardamom, cinnamon, and ginger.
I took inspiration from my Apple Olive Oil Cake, using olive oil which keeps the cake tender for days and imparts a lovely nuance to the flavor. Whole wheat flour adds a rustic quality, and honey and dates means there’s no refined sugar. (I do like a final dusting of powdered sugar but feel free to leave that off if you’d like.)
Greek yogurt adds the perfect tang to balance the sweetness. I could eat this healthy carrot cake for breakfast lunch and dinner! The best part: it freezes well so you can keep it on hand for healthy snacking.
Table of Contents
Carrot Cake Ingredients
Whole wheat flour, extra virgin olive oil, dates, and honey not only make this carrot cake more wholesome, it also gives it a richer flavor. You’ll need:
- Olive oil: A smooth extra virgin variety with a pleasant flavor is essential (suggestions below).
- Greek yogurt enriches the cake and adds a subtle tang to balance the sweetness.
- Milk: Both whole milk or reduced fat milk will work here.
- Honey sweetens the cake without adding refined sugar. Use the highest quality honey you can get your hands on–I love the Greek wildflower honey from our shop, but a dark honey like manuka would also work well.
- Eggs bind the cake.
- Whole wheat flour adds a nutty, wholesome flavor to both sweet and savory baked goods, from blueberry muffins to pizza dough.
- Baking powder makes the cake rise.
- Kosher salt: Even in sweet recipes, a small amount of salt brings out the flavor.
- Flavor-makers: Ground cinnamon, cardamom, and ginger add warming, sweet spices reminiscent of pumpkin spice. Look for ground green cardamom like the one from our spice shop (as apposed to black, which has a savory flavor).
- Carrots: Smaller varieties tend to be sweeter.
- Medjool dates: Taste like bursts of honey! Dates are also good for you: they’re high in fiber and packed with antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals (see the USDA for the full breakdown).
- Walnuts add a lovely tender, buttery crunch.
- Powdered sugar: A small sprinkling of powdered sugar ties everything together with no frosting necessary, but you can add a drizzle of honey in its place if you’d like to avoid refined sugars all together.
Ingredient Spotlight
I love, love, love baking with extra virgin olive oil, weather with this healthy carrot cake recipe, Italian Apple Olive Oil Cake or Orange Cardamom Olive Oil Cake. It not only boasts healthy fats and antioxidants, it gives the most tender crumb, a lovely fruity flavor, and it stays moist for days.
That said, olive oil has a much more dominant flavor than the fats you would typically bake with like butter or neutral oil. A low quality oil will likely make your cake taste bitter and overpower the nuanced flavors of the spices and carrots.
While a robust, peppery oil like our Spanish Hojiblanca is delicious for savory recipes or salad dressings, for example, I would not recommend it for baking. I typically use either our Arbequina from California or Italian Nocellara, both of which are buttery-smooth and rich but not too bitter or peppery.
- READ MORE: How To Taste Olive Oil: A Step-By-Step Guide To Go From The Basics To The Pros
- TRY IT: See our selection of Extra Virgin Olive Oils at our shop
How to Make this Healthy Carrot Cake Recipe
A few simple swaps takes carrot cake from overly sweet and loaded with sugar to full of wholesome flavor. And with no frosting to whisk and set, it’s even easier than the original!
- Get ready. Preheat your oven to 350°F. Line a 9-inch square baking pan with parchment paper (or coat well with olive oil).
- Combine the wet ingredients. In a large bowl, whisk 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil, 1/2 cup Greek yogurt, 1/2 cup honey, and 1/3 cup milk. Add 3 eggs, one at a time, and whisk to combine with each addition.
- Combine the dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, whisk together 2 1/4 cups whole wheat flour, 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder, 4 teaspoons ground cinnamon, and 1/2 teaspoon each salt, cardamom, and ginger.
- Make the batter. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix gently with a wooden spoon until just combined.
- Finish the batter. Gently fold in 2 cups finely grated carrots, 6 finely chopped dates, and 1/3 cup chopped walnuts. Pour the carrot cake batter into the prepared pan.
- Bake. Bake in the heated oven until a toothpick inserted in center of the cake comes out clean, about 55 to 60 minutes. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool completely in the pan.
- Finish and serve. Sprinkle on a light dusting of powdered sugar, if desired. Cut into 9 or 12 square pieces. Enjoy!
How to Serve Healthy Carrot Cake
This carrot cake is delicious on its own, perhaps with coffee or Black Tea as an after-dinner treat or morning indulgence. If you’d like to dress it up, toast it in your toaster oven or oven until warm. Top with a dollop of Greek yogurt, drizzle of honey, chopped walnuts, and a sprinkle of cinnamon.
How to Store Carrot Cake
This healthy carrot cake has no frosting, so you can store it at room temperature. Allow it to cool completely and store, wrapped in plastic or in an airtight container, for up to 3 days.
Freezing Instructions
Once cooled completely, cut into squares in the tray. Cover and freeze in its baking tray (if it’s freezer safe) or transfer to a freezer-safe tray. Let it freeze until solid (about 4 hours). Then remove and wrap each square individually in plastic wrap and a final layer of aluminum foil. Thaw the pieces you need in the fridge overnight.
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Healthy Carrot Cake
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1/2 cup Greek yogurt
- 1/3 cup milk
- 1/2 cup honey
- 3 eggs, at room temperature
- 2 1/4 cup whole wheat flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
- 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
- 2 cups finely grated carrots (Peeled or scrubbed, from about 2 large carrots. You can use food processor to very finely chop instead.)
- 6 Medjool dates pitted and finely chopped (you can use food processor)
- 1/3 cup chopped walnuts
- Powdered sugar, for dusting (optional)
Instructions
- Get ready. Preheat your oven to 350°F. Line a 9-inch square baking pan with parchment paper (or coat well with olive oil).
- Combine the wet ingredients. In a large bowl, whisk the olive oil, yogurt, milk, and honey. Add eggs one-by-one and whisk to combine.
- Combine the dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, salt, and spices.
- Make the batter. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix gently with a wooden spoon until just combined.
- Finish the batter. Gently fold in the carrots, dates, and walnuts. Pour the carrot cake batter into the prepared pan.
- Bake. Bake in the heated oven until a tooth pick inserted in middle of the cake comes out clean, about 55 minutes to 1 hour. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool completely in the pan.
- Finish and serve. Dust with powdered sugar, if desired. Cut into 9 or 12 square pieces. Enjoy!
Notes
- Shop this recipe: Visit our shop to browse quality Mediterranean ingredients including the olive oil, cardamom, and honey used in this recipe.
- To store: Because this healthy carrot cake has no frosting, you can store it at room temperature. Allow it to cook completely and store, wrapped in plastic or in an airtight container, for up to 3 days.
- Freezing instructions: Once cooled completely, cut into squares in the tray. Cover and freeze in its baking tray (if it’s freezer safe) or transfer to a freezer-safe tray. Let it freeze until solid (about 4 hours). Then remove and wrap each square individually in plastic wrap and a final layer of aluminum foil. Thaw the pieces you need in the fridge overnight.
Nutrition
*This post has recently been updated with new information for readers’ benefit.
Tried this with gluten free flour and the texture was not great. I used 1:1 flour mix, which usually works.
Thanks for sharing your experience, Verity. I’m so sorry that the gluten free flour didn’t work for you here.
This just isn’t sweet enough for me.
Hello, I made this cake and flavor wise it was very good, not very sweet but flavorful. The only issue was that it came out very dense, do you think I overmixed the batter or is it supposed to be dense? Thanks
Hi, Joanna! I’m Summer and I work here at The Mediterranean Dish. So glad you enjoyed the carrot cake recipe. Without being in your kitchen it’s difficult to say. However, carrot cakes are kind of a dense cake to begin with, and yes, you are correct. Overmixing, batter can create dense cakes. When you overmix batter you develop the gluten in the flour causing the cake to feel dense.You want to stir just until combined. You could’ve also added too much flour depending upon how you measure. Do you scoop it into your measuring cup and level or dip the measuring cup into the bag of flour?
Can I put coconut milk or any plant based milk instead of regular milk?
Hi, Fara! I think either would be okay here, but it’s not something we’ve officially tested. If you give it a try, please stop back an let us know how it turned out for you!
Love your healthy baking with yummy recipes. Going to make correct cake. And let you know the results.
Can’t wait to hear!
Love your healthy baking with yummy recipes. Going to make correct cake. And let you know the results.
Hi! I have just popped my cake in the oven and noticed that I did not add the honey!!! I suppose I could drizzle it over the top when it comes out of the oven.
The problem is that the honey is never mentioned in the instructions, only in the list of ingredients, so it is easy to forget it. Maybe you should add it for idiots like me!
Hi, Ester! I’m Summer and I work here at The Mediterranean Dish. We are so sorry for the oversight. Thank you for letting us know! We have corrected the recipe so it reflects the addition of the honey. I hope drizzling it over the top does the trick! You could also make a simple syrup with the honey (1 part water to 1 part honey) use a skewer to poke holes in the cake and drizzle it over the top to let it “soak” the cake. Good luck!
Hello, am I able to use sea salt and fresh ginger instead?
Hi, Ana. We’ve never officially tested these substitutes, but I think they would work fine. Enjoy!
Question: Would this recipe be followed exactly the same using white flour?
Hi, Rowen. Likely not. If you want to substitute white flour for the wheat, you may need to adjust the amount white flour used, the amount of liquid in the recipe, and even the baking time. It’s not something we’ve tested before with this recipe, so it’s a bit hard to give specific advice. You may just have to do a little experimenting… maybe even starting with 1/2 whole wheat and 1/2 white flour. If you do end up giving it a try, we’d love to hear how it turned out for you!
Hello, what’s dark honey ?
Hi, Mart! A few examples of dark honey are Buckwheat Honey and Manuka Honey.
I made this and it finished with a bitter aftertaste. I am wondering if I made mistake or which ingredient would cause bitterness. Thank you.
Hi, Mike! Sorry to hear it was bitter. Try drizzling a little honey over the next slice and see if that helps. My guess is it was either the carrots or maybe your olive oil was expired. I know sometimes carrots can taste bitter instead of sweet. Early season carrots and small carrots tend to taste sweeter than larger late season carrots. Olive oil is a fat and if it’s old it can go rancid, which can also create a bitter taste.
Hi,
Can I replace Baking powder with Bicarbonate of Soda?
If answer is Yes, how many grams?
Thank you
Hi, Jelena. No, we don’t recommend using Bicarbonate of Soda in place of the baking powder here.
I made this cake for my mom’s birthday, everyone loved it! She’s diabetic and it’s nice to have a treat she can enjoy. The only thing I noticed is that one of the ingredients is honey, but the instructions do not mention when to mix it in. I mixed it in with the wet ingredients before adding the dry ingredients. Maybe the recipe can be edited so others won’t have the same problem.
Thanks for the heads up, Angelica. We’ll take a look at that.
Hi Suzy,
Would it possible to bake into large size muffins? I am looking for options to take to work for those who leave very early and eat breakfast at the office.
Bel.
Hi, Bel! I feel like that would work, but I have never tried it myself. If you do, I’d love to hear how it turned out!
Can’t thank you enough for this amazing recipe! <3
So glad you enjoyed it!
Can I skip the dates? I’m trying to make is as low sugar as possible, while still making sure it tasted good. And can I replace some of the olive oil with apple sauce? Thanks!
We haven’t tried it without dates, Sonali, so I am not sure the flavor will work out as well. But you can replace a bit of the olive oil with apple sauce if you need to.