I make this hearty Carrot Cake recipe more than any other dessert since it’s a hit with everyone! I usually make it as an 8×8-inch, one-layer square cake, but see Notes for instructions on baking muffins, a loaf or as baked donuts.
Carrot Cake
- Total Time: 1 hour 20 mins
- Yield: 8 to 10 (or makes 12 muffins) 1x
Ingredients
- 1½ cups nondairy milk
- 4 ounces pitted dates (7 to 8 Medjools or 14 to 16 Deglet Noor), chopped
- ½ very ripe banana, sliced
- ¼ cup raisins
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (or seeds from 1 vanilla bean)
- 1¾ cups old-fashioned rolled oats
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ⅛ teaspoon ground cloves
- 1½ cups grated carrots (2 to 3 medium)
- ½ cup raisins
- 2 ounces walnuts, chopped (about ½ cup; optional)
- Vanilla or Lemon Frosting (optional)
Instructions
- Place the nondairy milk, dates, banana, ¼ cup raisins, and vanilla into a small bowl, and set aside for at least 15 minutes (so the dates can soften).
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line an 8×8-inch baking pan with parchment paper.
- Grind the oats into flour with a blender. Transfer to a medium bowl, and whisk in the cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, nutmeg, and cloves.
- Place the milk, dates, banana, raisins, and vanilla in the blender, and blend until smooth.
- Stir the date mixture into the bowl of dry ingredients. Fold in the grated carrots, ½ cup raisins, and walnuts (if using).
- Spoon the batter into the pan and spread evenly. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes, or until the top is medium brown. Let cool for 10 minutes before removing from the pan and placing on a cooling rack. Cool completely before serving plain or with Vanilla or Lemon Frosting.
Notes
If you’d like 12 cupcakes or muffins, bake in a muffin pan with parchment paper liners at 350°F for 25 to 30 minutes.
To bake a standard loaf, decrease the milk by ½ cup, line a 9×5×3-inch loaf pan with parchment paper, and bake at 325°F for 50 to 55 minutes, or until the top is medium brown. Let cool completely before serving.
To bake as donuts, see the instructions below (under the photo of the frosted donut).
- Prep Time: 35 mins
- Cook Time: 45 mins
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1/10 recipe, 1 piece
- Calories: 187
- Sugar: 17.3g
- Sodium: 18mg
- Fat: 5.7g
- Saturated Fat: 0.7g
- Carbohydrates: 32.9g
- Fiber: 4.5g
- Protein: 4.7g
- Cholesterol: 0
Above: To make baked donuts, spoon batter into a non-stick donut pan, filling to the top and smoothing batter flat. Bake for 20-25 minutes. If you press on the cake lightly and it bounces back a bit (instead of staying indented), it's likely ready. These continue to set up as they cool.
Cool for 5-7 minutes before removing the donuts from the pan (if left in too long it will be hard to get the donuts out). Using a fork or knife, gently go around the donuts (outside and inner circle) to loosen them from the pan. Even though we're using a non-stick pan, we are not using any oil so we need to help them out a bit. After loosening the edges, invert onto a cutting board (shake a bit if still not coming out the first time) and let cool at least 5-10 minutes more before serving plain or with Vanilla or Lemon Frosting. Makes 10 to 12 donuts.
Wow, this looks fabulous! I have been wanting to get a doughnut pan after seeing so many recipes for healthy doughnuts! I love that this one contains no, refined sugar, oil or flour! Will definitely try these out! 😉
I made this yesterday, but decided to make it into a cake instead, using a silicone bundt pan. It was perfect as a cake!! I baked it for about 50 min at 350 deg. It was delicious and very moist. I too had a little trouble getting the frosting to taste like I wanted. It seemed too lemony to me. I added a little extra cinnamon and a few chopped walnuts. Very good! This will be one of my new favorite recipes for dessert! Thanks!
These are fabulous! I made them as muffins twice already and I used the same base recipe to make another batch with blueberries and buckwheat.
Did you replace the plantain with the blueberries, or add the blueberries? Thanks.
I made these tonight as muffins and they turned out great! I was unsure of the frosting at first because it seemed a bit sour, but together with the muffin it actually tasted delicious.
I have to say this is on par with my other favorite muffin that I've baked, my Peanut Butter, Bannana, and Carrot muffin: http://www.livingplantstrong.com/2012/02/peanut-butter-banana-and-carrot-muffins.html
Thanks for the great recipe!
Kristin
Kristin, yeah, I think the lemon in the frosting throws some people, but you can leave it out if you want. I love it, and you are right: in combo with the cake, it's wonderful. I was trying to emmulate that tanginess that traditional cream-cheese frosting has. It's not quite the same, but it's better than no frosting (if you're into frosting) 🙂
Would you mind telling the amount of dates in weight? I don't have easy access to medjool dates, but have the other kind. How much should I use? I am so excited to try the recipe.
Hi Elna, 5 medjool dates is about 120 g or 5 oz. Medjools are very wet/sticky and sweet, so if you use another date like deglet noir, they are drier and less sweet, so you may want to adjust for that.
this was the best carrot cake I ever ate, and that includes the non-vegan recipes from the old days. thanks so much for sharing your wonderful recipes
Hi Tina, you're so welcome! This is one of my favs too! 😉
I didn't have any lemons handy, and it was too late at night to go pick one from the tree, so I just used orange juice instead. It worked grea!
Great tip, thanks Dana!
I wonder if instead of grated carrots I could use pulp from the juicer from making carrot juice? Any idea how I would make up for the reduced moisture content?
I went ahead and made a double batch of muffins using carrot pulp from the juicer instead of grated carrots (and substituting allspice for ground cloves, which I don't have). They are great and very moist. Delicious.
Soy yogurt?!!!! Do share please.
I just made this and it is DELISH! Thank you!
I'd like to make this recipe for a diabetic friend's birthday cake. She allows herself to have a banana on occasion. Do you think this would be OK for her situation?
Hi Karen, I think so since it's not very much. She could try applesauce instead as well, about 1/2 cup. 🙂
I made these into muffins recently for a girls game night. The girls all loved them, and I ate the 2 leftovers the next day!! They are so delicious and it's hard to believe they are not bad for you!! LOVE THEM! Thanks for the recipe!
I also made these into muffins! I used muffin papers and would recommend waiting until they are completely cooled before trying to peel them out of their papers - I tried while they were still even the tiniest bit warm and the edges of the muffins wouldn't come off the papers. THESE WERE ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS, by the way!!!
Bonnie, I also tried muffin papers and was also disappointed in how they stuck a little too much. Good tip! So glad you enjoyed them 😉
I have since invested in a silicone muffin pan, which makes these (and any other muffin recipe) an absolute breeze. Also, it makes it so there is no paper waste!
hi, mine were mushy and wonder what happened. I'm a new vegan and not much of a baker, so am learning for sure and will keep trying til I get it right!
Hi Molly, it sounds like maybe they just needed to cook longer. Depending on the pan size and type, your oven, time of cooking time can vary. These are moist naturally, so taste best after they have completely cooled.
Cathy, wondering how I should store the leftovers? Made these this morning & my kids' loved them.
Hi Lisa, yes, I'd keep them in the fridge. And maybe in the future frost them as you eat them, then the cake won't get soggy. So glad the kids liked them--I know winning kids over can be a tricky business when it comes to new foods. Yay! 🙂
Hi Cathy, thanks so much for this recipe! I've made it several times and the icing is fantastic!! I just bought a Wilton whoopie pie pan (for no other reason than it was really cute! ha) and I'd love to try it with this recipe. Do you think the icing would still come together if I reduced the water to make it bit thicker?
Yes, that would work and also putting the frosting in the fridge or freezer first for a while. 🙂
I made it as a carrot cake (I made it in a bundt pan, baked for 45-50 mins); it was great, and even better the next day.
This sounds amazing, I like carrot cake with pineapple in it, is there a way to work that in without it becoming too moist?
Hi Wendie, yes...add a 1/2 cup of crushed pineapple (with juice) in place of a 1/2 cup of the non-dairy milk, and then if you still need more liquid, add a bit more of the non-dairy milk.
What if you used finely chopped dried pineapple instead of some of the raisins? Or as a topping sprinkled on the frosting?
That would be great! 🙂
The cake is in the oven now, but just had to say how yummy that frosting is! Hope there is some left for the cake! I added extra lemon juice and used some plain unsweetened homemade soy yogurt.
Yum! 🙂
We(my kids and I) made this and put it in a bundt pan. It turned out soooo good. So excited to try your other recipes! One note: If you buy bulk dates (like I did for the first time today) do not forget to de-pit them! Our cake was a bit, uh crunchy!!!!
Thanks Betsy! Yes, date pits are extrememly hard, like a rock, so always be sure to remove all of them first. Sometimes I count out the number of dates I need and after dicing them all, I make sure I have the same number of pits on my cutting board before tossing them out.
Any idea on the calories?
I don't usually calculate nutritional breakdowns, but you can plug the recipe in here to find out: http://cronometer.com/ 🙂
Do you think this could work with another gluten-free, whole-grain flour? I'm sensitive to oats, but would love to try these donuts!
Sure Lee. I haven't tried any other, but check out gluten-free carrot cake recipes and see what they use and then just substitute. 🙂 And let me know if it works and what you used.
I made these last night and they are so delicious! They came out a little too moist, so I flipped them over and baked a little longer. Perfect! 🙂
Also I offered one to my sad eating DH and he loved them. He did think they taste similar to carrot cake.
Thanks so much for a delicious treat!
Do you have a biscotti recipe by chance?
Great to hear Laina! I don't have a biscotti recipe, but I'll look into it. 🙂
I bought a donut pan JUST for this cake. Made it this weekend and the kids were so excited to eat "cake" for breakfast! I do not put icing on it either, just stick it in my bundt pan. I need more recipes like this! Genius!
Yay! Glad to hear it Betsy! 😉
I have made these probably a dozen times now, they are one of my absolute favorites!!! I make them as muffins (no frosting) and I add Vegan Chocolate Chips. Everybody who has ever had them has loved them. I usually try to chop and soak the dates overnight otherwise I have found they are still a bit chunky which isn't a bad thing. Maybe the batch of dates I have are just extra hard.
This is another great recipe of yours--thank you! It's spring break, and the fourth batch of carrot cake is in the oven 🙂 I don't have a donut pan and didn't want to mess with sticky muffin papers (knowing we'd just have to eat them warm) and so I've made it in an 8x8, about 45 minutes+ of baking. The adults love it as is; the kids add powdered sugar on top. Not perfect, I know, but still better than some other kind of sweets, right? Thanks again! This is a keeper.
Yay! Thanks Heidi! 😉
I want to make this recipe but I'm on Weight Watchers and wondered how I would get the nutritional values- fat/fiber/carbs and protein content?
thanks
Hi Patti, you can caluculate it in Cron-o-meter if you like: http://cronometer.com/ You'll need to put in the recipe first. It's a little tricky the first time, but it's a worthwhile site if you do these calculations periodically. My site does not have these breakdowns, but may add them in the future. 🙂
Cathy, this recipe is award winning! I made mini carrot muffins for my Business class presentation and the class loved them! I hope you create a cookbook like Chef Ramses did! Miss you guys!
Yay!! Thanks Margaret! 😉 I am working on a cookbook; that's what I'm doing right at this moment in fact, editing soup recipes, wheee! 😉
Thumbs up for this. My girls made it for mother's day dessert (as muffins) & we just 'had to' taste them to make sure they were edible (yum). Thanks Cathy. We are loving our new whole-foods plant-based lifestyle (12 months now) and enjoy finding new recipes to thrive on.
Everyone, keep up the good work, it is definitely worth it for amazing health improvements. If you are just starting out, keep going - it's the best thing once you find your groove.
Hi Grant, thanks so much for the comment! I love that image of your daughters testing the muffins first. 🙂 And great advice about finding your groove, thanks!!
I made these muffins and they are delightful!
Cathy, thank you, thank you, thank you! Good karma for all eternity! I made these as muffins and this is the BEST carrot cake I have ever had! I can't believe these are vegan, sugar and oil free. I added 3 TBSP ground flax seeds. Looking forward to trying more recipes. 🙂
I read through the comments and didn't see this, but what size cake pan could be substituted as you indicated in your notes above? I only see the baking time. I see a bundt pan referred to in the comments, but I don't have one of those, just the square or round ones.. ?
Hi Cheryl, I use a 9x9-inch square pan; but you could also use a single layer 9" pie pan. 🙂
Cathy, I'm a big fan of your site.
And this donut is a huge hit!!! I've mad this 5 times.
I love the original (in muffin, pound cake tin, bunt), but kids like my 'chocolate version'
where I replace 3/4 cup of oats with carob powder & add orange peel to the non-dairy milk in the blender.
Thank you so much for your generosity sharing your yummy recipes.
Thanks! 🙂 Wow, very creative!
I made the muffin version the last weekend, and they were a big hit! My fiancee is still telling me how great they are! I had to double the amount of dates in both the muffins and frosting because he never thinks anything is sweet enough, but that is a small price to pay to get him to stop eating refined sugar and butter-laden crap from the store. Thank you so much! I can't wait to try your other recipes! The Oatmeal Raisin cookies are on deck for this weekend...
Thanks Gira! 😉 You may want to add more dates to the cookies too; I've also been adding 2T almond butter to them so they're a bit softer.
Cathy, Thank you so much for this recipe! It is seriously one of the best cakes I have ever had. Wondering if there is any way to convert it into a plain vanilla cake? Or if you will maybe have a recipe for that in the future?
Thanks Tiffany! 🙂 I do need to work on one of those; others have asked too.
Thank you for your healthy recipes I can have my clients try! Wonderful!
This looks delicious! Did you use the mini donut pan or the regular one.
Hi Laina, regular. 🙂
Thanks! I've been looking around for a donut pan, but couldn't find one. So last night I finally made them as muffins.
These are so - totally off the charts delicious! I even made them without the frosting.
Thanks so much for such a delicious recipe. I just sent it on to a friend. 🙂
For the frosting you just mention "dates" not "Medjool dates." Do you mean to use the smaller Deglet Noor (or other small variety) of dates in the frosting? I have both Medjool and Deglet Noor at home (thanks Costco!). I looked through all the comments but couldn't find an answer. I'm going to be trying this recipe for the first time this weekend for my husband's birthday and didn't want to mess it up. Thanks!
Medjool dates. 🙂 Thanks!
This recipe is delicious! I have made it as a carrot cake a couple of times and loved it. But now that Fall has started, I was looking around for a good vegan, refined-sugar-free apple cake recipe and suddenly had the inspiration to adapt this one. All I did was take out the carrots and instead put in 1.25 cups of diced apples. It turned out great! Thank you for such a healthy, tasty and versatile recipe!
Wow, great idea! Thanks! 😉
Great recipe! I just made it in a 9" square pan for the second time. The first time I made it the icing was a little strong on the lemon for me. So this time I cut the lemon juice back to 2 tablespoons and it was perfect! Carrot cake has always been a favorite for me and I love having this healthy option to enjoy! I'm looking forward to trying your pumpkin pie recipe for Thanksgiving next week. I'm looking forward to your cookbook when it comes out.
Thanks so much, Mary! 😉
just curious... how many carbs per serving?
I don't know, but you can input the recipe in Cron-o-meter to find out if you like. 🙂
loved this recipe!! my kids enjoyed it and so did I! I posted a picture and tagged you both on FB and Instagram! Hope you saw them! Thanks again!
Would the muffins be good for breakfast sans the frosting? I don't like things too sweet in the morning.
Yes, really good! 🙂
very good! Thank you ; a keeper
A terrific nut substitution is Macadamia for every nut in this recipe. Its flavor melds well with both carrot and vanilla. And its Omega 3 profile is healthier than an any other nut.
Ener-g makes a sodium free baking soda. I haven't used it yet...looking for it...maybe Whole Foods?
I was asked to bring a carrot cake for family Christmas dinner. You are my 'go-to' chef and I found this. I doubled this recipe and baked it in a bundt pan. Oh my goodness, not only did everyone (I'm the only plant-based eater) LOVE it, but I went home without having any extra! It was all eaten that night. Cathy, this is really yummy and I thank you for all of your healthy and fabulous recipes that I (and others!) enjoy so much. Hope you had a wonderful holiday season!
Yay! 🙂 Thank you Kathleen!
Kathy, if using oat flour, will the amount be the same? And if I want to double this recipe (thinking about making a 2-layer cake), is there anything that needs to be done differently? I'm not a baker so I do apologize for the silly questions ^_^. Thank you in advance!
Ground oat flour is the same measurement as whole rolled oats. I think just doubling the recipe is fine. If you're concerned, just make two separate bowls of batter, one for each layer. 🙂
Thank you so much! I can't wait to make this for my husband's birthday next Mon! =D
Cathy, I just ate 9 carrot muffins. 9. Yikes, hurts so good. These are absolutely amazing! Perfection! 🙂 I think I better reserve any of your baked goods for birthday and Christmas alone or I'm in trouble!