Light Carrot Cake: Moist and Flavorful with Less Fat and Sugar

This amazingly flavorful Carrot Cake is healthier than tradition carrot cake recipes and tastes even better without the heavy oilness in most recipes.

Out of the blue J walked out of class one afternoon and immediately asked if we could make carrot cake. I was exhausted, but carrot cake is my favorite so it didn’t take much to convince me.

I pulled out a recipe I’d created awhile ago from a combination of recipes so I could update the photos and put it in the new recipe format.

Since it was before Valentine’s Day I used a heart shape pan, plus some mini cupcakes to keep me from devouring too much at once. Well, that was the plan.

Everyone loved them, and no one noticed that these have far less oil and added sugar than most carrot cake recipes. I actually like it better than many heavier carrot cake recipes.

But the absolute best part of this recipe is the Pineapple Cream Cheese Icing. Seriously, I could eat it straight. But I didn’t. I mean if there happened to be a little bit extra I might have spread some on some crackers, but its not like a stuck my finger in the container and ate it like that. At least not in front of witnesses.

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Light Carrot Cake with Pineapple Cream Cheese Icing

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Ingredients

 

• 1 1/2 cup flour
• 1 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup sweetened flake coconut
• 1/3 cup pecans (finely chopped - extra for decoration if desired)
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 3 tablespoons canola oil
• 1/2 cup egg substitute or egg whites
• 2 cups grated carrots
• 1 1/2 cup canned crushed pineapple (drained with juice reserved for icing)
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 8 oz reduced fat cream cheese
• 3 cups powdered sugar

Instructions

 

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 13 x 9 pan or line 24 cupcake tins.
• In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, coconut, pecans, soda, salt and cinnamon with a wire whisk.
• In a separate bowl combine oil and egg substitute/whites. Stir egg mixture, carrots, and pineapple into flour mixture.
• Put in prepared pan or cupcake tins. Bake until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean (approximately 20 minutes for cup cakes, 30 minutes for cake). Cool completely on a wire rack.
• Combine butter and cream cheese with a mixer on medium speed until smooth. Add powdered sugar and a teaspoon of pineapple juice. Add additional pineapple juice as needed.
• Spread frosting on the cake. Top with chopped nuts if desired.

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Until next time, happy eating.
~Audrey