Carrot cake is one of the most popular flavors this time of year thanks to a ‘certain bunny‘ that is loved by many! This carrot cake is extremly rich and moist thanks to one special “secret” ingredient…the wonderfully nutritious and delicious~ Pumpkin! All of the traditional flavors of this carrot cake pair perfectly with the taste of pumpkin, and it really takes the ‘moistness‘ of this spice cake to a whole new level! The interesting part, however, is that you can’t taste the pumpkin, but it adds a rich texture that allows this cake to be very moist, yet light at the same time!
One of the reasons I like carrot cake is because all of the warm spices pair perfectly with the sweet and tangy flavors of the cream cheese frosting! This recipe has a whipped cream cheese frosting, so there is even more sweet and fluffy frosting to go around!
If you plan on making a carrot cake for Easter, look no further than my moist carrot cake with whipped cream cheese frosting!
You can also make this recipe into cupcakes!
48 Comments
Andrea M said:
This is beautiful – i love your recipes and so appreciate the addition of the nutritional info! :)
also…Easter is my absolute favorite day of the year – perfect dessert for the menu!!
Angela @ Eat Spin Run Repeat said:
Oooooh wow. Carrot cake and pumpkin loaf are probably 2 of my all-time favourite baked goods, and you just married them together. I think that makes you one of my favourite people!
Rhonda said:
I cannot begin up tell how happy you have made this lady with child. Carrot cake is my absolute favorite and I am ecstatic about trying this healthy version. Thank you, Katie! Blessed be the Name of the Lord!!!
Sarah said:
Yum! I am a big fan of carrot cake with cream cheese icing. This looks delicious!
Watty said:
I so wish that my family liked carrot cake. I’d eat the whole thing myself if I made it! (can I just have a slice please? :)
Amanda- The Nutritionist Reviews said:
This looks awesome! I am bookmarking this recipe!
Kylie said:
Looks delicious! I am wanting to make a carrot cake for Easter!
Deb (SmoothieGirlEatsToo) said:
Love your recipe, your photos, your apron (Anthropologie?) and your curvy plate- I have the same one. And the fact that you include stats. Thank yoU!
Emily said:
!!!!!!! *excitement* !!!!!!! This is wonderfully ironic because last week my husband and I went to a party where carrot cake was served… not a healthy one… But we had a piece, and it was DELICIOUS. Also a LITERAL yummy ache–so rich and delicious, but also oh so bad for me. I’m one to splurge every now and then, but my stomach started hurting after I got about halfway through my slice! Your recipe still sounds so rich and decadent without being a pain in the gut (or an inch to the butt) both literally. THANK YOU! Also, doesn’t carrot cake usually have nuts?
Katie Farrell said:
Thanks Emily! Yes…I actually included 1/4 cup nuts as an Optional Ingredient! :)
mary said:
Perfect! I am always in charge of dessert for our holidays and I have been searching for a yummy carrot cake. Looks great!
Amanda said:
I gotta say, I like carrot cake, but what I am excited about is the cream cheese icing recipe! That is my favorite type of icing, just reading it makes me want to whip it up and just eat spoons of it! It never occured to me to make a fat free version. yay. Also, I love the nuts optional b/c I don’t like nuts in my food so carrot cake w/o the nuts makes it sound that much more delicious! :) Thanks! :)
Kathleen @ KatsHealthCorner said:
THIS IS THE BEST RECIPE EVER!!!! I LOVE IT!!! BOOKMARKED! :D
Maryea {Happy Healthy Mama} said:
Adding pumpkin is genius!! I’m so excited to try your version of carrot cake. It looks so moist and love the health factor. Thank you!
Marci said:
The flavor was really good and I liked how dense and moist it was for a “diet” cake. Thanks for this!
Also, pureed pineapple works really well in carrot cake recipes as a fat substitute instead of pumpkin. I’ve used it before, but I thought the pumpkin worked great too and is probably even better for you!
MARLENE said:
AWESOME RECIPE Could you please put out a printable version? I sure would hate to lose this recipe.
Malika said:
I have a few questions… I want to use truvia sweetner packets and I’m not sure how many would be substantial. Also can soy milk be used instead of almond milk?
Christi said:
I too love your blog and am thankful to have found it! I have just recently begun counting calories and am so happy with my weight loss results but I have such a sweet tooth that most of the time I feel very deprived. I have been looking for a carrot muffin with lots of spice in it that also had pecans and raisins so I think this will be perfect for that purpose. I was wondering if you think this would turn out using applesauce instead of pumpkin? I would like to make these into cupcakes today but don’t have any pumpkin. If the applesauce won’t work that’s fine I can get some pumpkin but I didn’t want to waste all of my other ingredients just in case. Thanks so much and keep up the good work. It is wonderful that you use your platform not only to encourage people to practice better health but also to be a good witness for the Lord. Greetings from Knoxville, TN.
Ellie said:
I’m going to make this TOMORROW! Oh my gosh I’m so excited! Now the only this is how long does this hold out? (like does it have to stay in the fridge or chilled because of the use of cool whip?.. Also I’ve never used splenda but I just bought some and I am curious about how it will taste in this? ONE LAST THING! Would it turn out badly with the use of complete whole wheat flour? Sorry about all the questions but thank you!
Kristin said:
Hello-new reader to your site, so glad I found it! I already made this cake and thought it was delicious. I like to use a mix of Stevia and Splenda because sometimes I end up with an aftertaste from using only Stevia( I use Stevia in the Raw). I’m now looking to make one of your no-bake cheesecakes; everything looks so tempting!
Angela said:
I have made this in the round pans and it was awesome!!! How about making this in a 9×13? Any thoughts on cooking time and temp? Thanks!
Angela said:
oops…nevermind, just saw it in your post.
Olivia said:
I made this the other week for my stepdads birthday….and everyone LOVED IT! (I had also made some Hungry girl cupcakes and they liked the carrot cake better!) Thank you, for becoming a part of my life…after losing 130 lbs. You make it just as delicious to eat healthy!
Holly said:
I made this for a potluck, and everyone loved it! The frosting is so light and creamy, and the cake itself is super moist. Amazing!
Karen said:
Absolutely phenomenal – truly the best carrot cake I’ve ever tasted! I would never have thought it was light. The frosting is perfect, with the lightness of the whip topping and the tangy cream cheese flavor… this is joining my cookbook of all-time favorites!
Nadine said:
Love that this shows every step
Adela said:
Katie, I just wanted to say thanks for creating this website. I love all the pictures and great steps. I made the carrot cake and it was delicious! My whole family loved it! I tried the coconut cake, but it didn’t turn out that good. It was gummy and sticky. I can’t wait to try more recipes! I love to cook and bake. My kids (14,11,8) Love the cooking channel and have asked me to make a cook book for them. So I started taking pictures of the food I make and type out the recipe. God Bless you and your family!
Krista said:
Just a quick question…but I can’t find 8″ round cake pans! Would I be able to use 9″ instead? and would this change the cooking time?? :) Thanks!!! I’m making it tomorrow for a game night!!! Can’t wait to try it…and at only 4 points! yay :)
Krista said:
Thanks for the info! I will probably just make it in a 9×13 pan so I don’t get TOO thin of cakes…I am on WW, so I don’t want to double my point value on it :) I just love how the carrot cake LOOKS when it’s layered…much more picturesque! Until the next time I make it, I’ll be scouring stores for 8″ pans :)
Elise said:
Thank you for this recipe! I had company last night and I cooked this cake. It was a success. I like that the number of WW points is there.
Have a good day.
Elise
Judy said:
I made this cake for my son’s birthday this weekend. WOW!!! So delish!! I will definitely be making this again!
Ange said:
Katie – my husband is the world’s biggest carrot cake fan – and I made this for him last night. He absolutely loved it (and the funny thing is he very much dislikes pumpkin but couldn’t taste it – i told him afterwards of course!)
Just wondering if you have any tips for me – is there anything I can add to make the cake rise a little more? I thought I could possibly make in a smaller pan and that might work for a thicker cake. Also in New Zealand we don’t have cool whip, so I used chilled and whipped evaporated milk. Any tips of what I could add to the evaporated milk to thicken more? It was pretty much amazing as is, so more than happy to make this again! Thank you.
Dashing Dish said:
Hey Ange! Thank you so much! This made my day! :)
I would suggest a smaller pan as you said, but you will have to bake it longer :) if it starts to burn on top of the cake by any chance but isnt baked through, cover it with foil :)
Also, not sure what to say about the evaporated milk … I would maybe add another fat free or low fat cream cheese to the mix maybe! :)
Sonya Schroeder said:
Hey sweetie was just wondering if we do any of your cakes into cup cakes are the WWP still the same?
Sonya Schroeder said:
And can oat flour or coconut flour be used instead? Staying away from the white or wheat flour.
Dashing Dish said:
never tried this one with oat flour…but i think it would work, cant say for sure until i tried it though… sorry! :(
Dashing Dish said:
Hey Sonya! You would have to change the servings to the number of cupcakes you make… so the points would change.
Cassidy Cunningham said:
We made this recipe tonight and it was delicious! Our entire family LOVED it! It was super easy to make and the frosting was absolutely amazing! It’s great to have a low calorie cream cheese frosting because we all love cream cheese!!
Dana said:
Just made this and it was AMAZING! The only things I changed:
half a tub of cool whip (instead of whole)
two 9″ pans (baked for 20 min @ 350)
1/4 C of BOTH raisins and walnuts
I am definitely making this again. Thank you so much :)
Raeme Padgett said:
Any advice on the carrots, mine always seem never cooked and really big and not flavorful? I usually use baby food carrots in mine and then your cake is more moist!
Katie Farrell said:
thanks deb! :) the aprons my moms! :) dont know where it’s from! :) love your blog too! :) xox
Katie Farrell said:
:) SO true about wanting to eat it up with a spoon amanda! Its SOOOO good that it’s hard to keep it on the cake while frosting! :)
Katie Farrell said:
hahahahahah thanks kathleen! :)
Katie Farrell said:
malika …yes to the milk ….and as far as truvia, i have to say, i have never been a fan of the taste of truvia, so i’m not sure what it would equal out to…does it give you any info for sugar sub. in baking on the box or website?
Katie Farrell said:
hey christi! greetings from michigan! :) thanks for the sweet comments! as far as the pumpkin goes, you could definatley try the applesauce, although I would lessen the milk to 1/4 cup, and see if the batter looks too thick, then add an additional 1/4 cup (so it would total 1/2 cup milk instead of 3/4 cup! )
Katie Farrell said:
hey ellie! great ?’s! white flour would work just as well! ww is just ‘healthier’ which is what i’m all about, but it would def. turn out with white! splenda should taste very similar to sugar in baked goods such as this! most people cant tell a difference!
as far as the cool whip goes, it should hold in the fridge just as long as regular frosting! :)
Katie Farrell said:
9 inch pans may work, i just worry that the cakes will come out too thin krista… you could always double the batter (or just have thinner cakes!) :)