Recipes

Healthier Carrot Cake

Cake  Dessert 

• 1 lb. carrots
• 1 2/3 c. whole wheat flour
• 2 tsp. baking soda
• 2 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1 1/3 c. brown sugar (don't skimp!)
• 4 eggs
• 1/2 c. vegetable oil

Peel and grate carrots. Mix flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and sugar, then stir in carrots.

Preheat oven to 350. Butter the baking pans (I used two 9-in. rounds).

In a separate bowl, beat eggs until foamy (yes, this will take a while), then gradually beat in oil. Mix the egg mixture with the carrot mixture and pour it into the pans, smoothing the surface.

Place pans on the middle rack and bake for about 15 minutes (test with toothpick). Let cake cool in pan.

My dad has issues with sweets, so he's always pushing me to add less sugar to cakes and stop using white flour. This recipe, adjusted from a Basic Baking cookbook, always hits the spot and disappears so quickly that the only photo I have of it is the tiny piece that remained after my family of 6 had their way with it.

I usually use two 9-inch layer cake pans for this and cut a parchment circle for the bottom to prevent it from sticking (I've only had that problem with this recipe once, but I'm determined to avoid it).

Note: if you decide to use a 9x9 pan or something, adjust the baking time accordingly. Just keep watch and test when it looks firm.

Once the cake is cool, add some light cream cheese frosting to finish it off!