Celebrate the taste of spring with this delicious refined sugar free carrot cake recipe! With the natural sweetness of pineapple, maple syrup, and honey, it’s a great alternative to traditional carrot cake. Decorate it with my maple-sweetened cream cheese frosting and cute carrot decorations for a tasty and adorable treat! {Vegetarian}
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Healthy Low Sugar Carrot Cake Recipe
If you love carrot cake but are looking to reduce your overall sugar intake, then you’ll definitely want to try out this healthier carrot cake! With only 15 grams of sugar per serving, this healthy carrot cake with pineapple and coconut has around 45% less sugar than your classic carrot cake, which can have anywhere around 35 grams of sugar per serving.
It’s an excellent alternative for carrot cake lovers trying to reduce their sugar intake without compromising on flavor!
For more delicious carrot cake flavors, check out my Carrot Cake Muffins with Pineapple, Carrot Cake Energy Balls, and Carrot Cake Oatmeal Bars!
Why We Love This Refined Sugar-Free Carrot Cake Recipe
- Packed with flavor from the pineapple and coconut
- Doesn’t taste like a healthy cake – it’s moist and delicious
- Healthier alternative to traditional carrot cake to make it higher in fiber and lower in overall calories, sugar, and carbohydrates
- Uses a touch of maple syrup and honey for plenty of sweetness
Ingredient Notes
For the Carrot Cake
- White whole wheat flour: This flour tastes like regular all purpose flour but has extra fiber. You can also substitute regular whole wheat flour.
- Baking soda and powder: To make your cake nice and fluffy.
- Warm spices: Cinnamon, ginger, ground cloves and nutmeg add a warm, cozy flavor that works great with the carrots.
- Melted coconut oil: Adds additional moisture to the cake. Use unrefined for a stronger coconut flavor, and refined for a more neutral flavor.
- Eggs: You’ll need three whole eggs to bind the mixture together and get a good rise.
- Crushed pineapple: Strain a can of crushed pineapple for a super moist carrot cake with pineapple flavors throughout.
- Pure maple syrup & honey: These two sweeteners taste almost like brown sugar when combined. It’s a nice little trick I like to use!
- Almond milk: Use any plant-based or dairy milk (other than skim milk, as it doesn’t have quite enough fat) to thin out the cake batter to get the perfect texture.
- Fresh carrots: You’ll need two cups of grated carrots. Use a box grater or the shredder attachment to your food processor.
- Unsweetened shredded coconut: For a nice bite and flavor without the extra sugar.
For the Cream Cheese Frosting
- Light cream cheese: Neufchatel, or low-fat cream cheese, adds a nice tangy flavor with fewer calories.
- Greek yogurt: Thin out the whipped cream cheese with yogurt. Either plain or vanilla work well.
- Vanilla extract: Vanilla makes every recipe taste like a dessert.
- Maple syrup: Maple adds the perfect sweetness to this luscious cream cheese frosting. Feel free to use honey instead.
Step-By-Step Instructions
Step 1 – Prepare the Carrot Cake with Pineapple and Coconut
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and prepare a 13″ x 9″ baking dish with parchment paper and cooking spray.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt.
- In a large bowl, use an electric mixer on low to mix together the coconut oil, eggs, pineapple, maple syrup, honey, and milk until combined.
- Add the carrots and coconut and mix briefly.
- Add in ½ of the flour, mix until mostly combined.
- Add the remaining flour and mix until just combined. The batter should be the consistency of a thick pancake batter. If it’s too thick, add more almond milk one tablespoon at a time.
- Pour batter into a prepared baking dish, and bake in a preheated oven for 25-35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the centre of the cake comes out clean. Do not overcook the cake. Cool on the countertop at room temperature for 30 minutes while you make the icing, then cover tightly with plastic wrap and place in the fridge until very cold, about 3 hours.
Step 2 – Prepare the Healthy Cream Cheese Frosting
- To make the icing: In a medium bowl, mix the cream cheese briefly until smooth, add in yogurt and mix until smooth.
- Add in 4 tablespoons maple syrup and vanilla extract, beat on medium-high until no lumps remain. Taste and add another tablespoon of maple syrup if needed. If your icing is lumpy, push it through a fine mesh strainer with a silicone spatula. Cover and place in refrigerator.
- When cake has cooled completely, pour icing over cake and spread evenly. Place in fridge tightly wrapped until ready to slice and serve. For an extra clean presentation, cut cake before icing.
Optional Carrot Cake Decoration
If you want to spruce up your carrot cake, you can top it with toasted coconut flakes, chopped walnuts, chopped pecans, finely grated carrot or orange zest. Or, if you want to get really fancy, you can make cute little carrot toppers.
To Make Fondant Carrot Toppers (Optional)
Colored fondant can be purchased in small packages at craft stores such as Michael’s. Note that although fondant is edible, it does not taste very good, so it’s mostly used to enhance the presentation and up the cuteness factor.
- Roll a small piece of orange fondant into a cone shape, make horizontal marks with a sharp knife.
- Roll a tiny piece of green fondant into a thin rope, cut and affix to carrot by pressing on with a toothpick or the tip of a small knife. Allow to air dry for at least 15 minutes.
- Place decoration on immediately before serving, the moisture from the icing will cause the colors to bleed out of the fondant.
Keep scrolling to the recipe card below for the full printable recipe!
Expert Tips
- The icing is very soft, and will be the consistency of yogurt, which makes it drip beautifully over the slices of cake. If you prefer a thicker icing, you can try replacing the yogurt with ricotta cheese.
- You can bake this cake in 2 8” or 9” cake pans for about 20-30 minutes. This icing recipe will not work for a layer cake though, as it’s a loose icing and not a thick frosting that the cake can rest on. Baking this in a 9”x13” baking dish is recommended.
- The cake is best served nice and cold the next day, but can be served same day.
- If you’d like the carrot to almost completely disappear into the cake, after grating it, pulse in the bowl of a food processor 3-5 times until carrot is finely minced.
- The cake is light and crumbly, but also very moist. The spices are light, and do not overwhelm your palette. The maple syrup in the icing tastes lovely with the yogurt and vanilla, but honey works as well.
Recipe FAQs
Yes! Cake recipes are easy to adapt to muffins. The baking time will vary, but they will take approximately 15-20 minutes. Be sure to test it with a toothpick before removing them from the oven. I have yet to try this, so if you do, let me know how it goes!
This recipe should work well if you use a 1:1 replacement gluten-free flour.
It’s certainly healthier than your average carrot cake. This cake has 15g of sugar compared to 35g in most recipes. One serving is only 247 calories and has the benefit of extra nutrients like vitamins A, C and potassium from the added fruits and veggies. It even has 4 grams of fiber (thanks to the carrots and whole wheat flour) and 7 grams of protein, which is more than an egg. It’s nutritious enough to enjoy for breakfast every once in a while. Best of all, it tastes good, too!
Storage Guidelines
Refrigerator: After serving, store leftover carrot cake in an airtight container in the fridge. It will last for 2-4 days. Exposure to air in the fridge will dry the cake out.
To freeze: Although you can freeze the cake, the frosting will not thaw well due to the yogurt. You can freeze unfrosted cake in a freezer bag for 1-3 months. Thaw in the fridge overnight and then frost with a fresh batch of frosting.
Carrot Cake Add-Ins
Want to make your carrot cake even more delicious? Get creative and add 1/2 cup of these additional add-ins.
- Chopped pecans
- Chopped walnuts
- Raisins
- Dried cranberries
- Candied ginger pieces
- Dried apple
Serving Suggestions
This low sugar carrot cake is the perfect sweet treat to follow your Easter dinner or to enjoy on a special occasion. It pairs well with a hot Apple Spiced Tea or this Turmeric Latte with Almond Milk.
Recipe Variations
- Grab the muffin tin: Enjoy this cake as healthy carrot cake cupcakes, perfect for sharing.
- Save some for later: Bake this cake in 2 round pans and freeze the second for easy portion control.
- Make sugar free carrot cake bars: Pour the cake batter into a larger pan for thinner, bite-sized bars. Just be sure to reduce the baking time since the thinner layers will cook much faster.
- Skip the frosting: I love this healthy carrot cake and think it tastes great even without the frosting!
- For even lower sugar: You can use sugar-free maple syrup instead.
More Healthy Treats
- Healthy Baby Smash Cake Recipe
- Refined Sugar Free Chocolate Cake
- Sweet Potato Bars
- Healthy Pumpkin Cake with Applesauce
- Oat Flour Cupcakes
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Healthy Refined Sugar Free Carrot Cake {with Pineapple}
Ingredients
Dry ingredients:
- 2 1/4 cups white whole wheat flour, spooned and levelled
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Wet ingredients:
- 3 tablespoons coconut oil, measured then melted
- 3 large eggs
- 1/2 cup crushed pineapple, drained
- 1/4 cup pure maple syrup
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons unsweetened almond milk (or use regular milk)
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 heaping cups finely grated peeled fresh carrots
- 1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut (optional)
For the cream cheese frosting:
- 6 ounces light cream cheese, softened
- 1/2 cup plain or vanilla Greek yogurt
- 4-5 tablespoons pure maple syrup
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350℉. Line the bottom of a 13”x9” baking dish with parchment paper and spray sides with non-stick cooking spray. If you don’t have parchment paper, simply spray the bottom of the pan as well.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, nutmeg, and salt.
- In a large bowl, use an electric mixer on low to mix together the coconut oil, eggs, pineapple, maple syrup, honey, milk and vanilla until combined. Add the carrots and coconut and mix briefly. Add in ½ of the flour, mix until mostly combined. Add the remaining flour and mix until just combined. The batter should be the consistency of a thick pancake batter. If it’s too thick, add more almond milk one tablespoon at a time.
- Pour batter into prepared baking dish, and bake for 25-35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the centre of the cake comes out clean. Do not overcook the cake. Cool on the countertop for 30 minutes while you make the icing, then cover tightly with plastic wrap and place in the fridge until very cold, about 3 hours.
- To make the icing: In a medium bowl, mix the cream cheese briefly until smooth, add in yogurt and mix until smooth. Add in 4 tablespoons maple syrup and vanilla extract. Beat on medium high until no lumps remain. Taste and add another tablespoon of maple syrup if needed. If your icing is lumpy, push it through a fine mesh strainer with a silicone spatula. Cover and place in refrigerator.
- When cake has cooled completely, pour icing over cake and spread evenly. Place in fridge tightly wrapped until ready to slice and serve. For an extra clean presentation, cut cake before icing.
Notes
- The maple syrup in the icing can be substituted for honey.
- Any milk you like can be substituted for the almond milk, but I do not recommend using skim milk.
- The icing is very soft, and will be the consistency of yogurt, which makes it drip beautifully over the slices of cake. If you prefer a thicker icing, you can try replacing the yogurt with ricotta cheese.
- You can bake this cake in 2 8” or 9” cake pans for about 20-30 minutes. This icing recipe will not work for a layer cake though, as it’s a loose icing and not a thick frosting that the cake can rest on. Baking this in a 9”x13” baking dish is recommended.
- The cake is best served nice and cold the next day, but can be served same day.
- Store covered tightly in the refrigerator for about 3 days. Exposure to air in the fridge will dry the cake out.
- If you’d like the carrot to almost completely disappear into the cake, after grating it, pulse in the bowl of a food processor 3-5 times until carrot is finely minced.
- The cake is light and crumbly, but also very moist. The spices are light, and do not overwhelm your palette. The maple syrup in the icing tastes lovely with the yogurt and vanilla, but honey works as well.
Nutrition
This recipe was originally posted in March 2023 and based on the recommendation of some readers, was updated to include some extra spices in March 2025. The post and formatting were also revised.
Hi, is there anything you’d recommend to take the pineapple out? My dad is allergic
You could try subbing in unsweetened applesauce for the crushed pineapple. Keep me posted on how it goes if you try it out!
I have been searching high and low for a lower sugar carrot cake. Most have 2 cups of sugar in the cake and 3-4 cups in the icing! So glad I found yours. Can’t wait to try it!
So happy you found the recipe! Hope you enjoy the carrot cake if you try it out!