Vegan Carrot Cake With Vegan Frosting

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This is the best healthy vegan carrot cake recipe you’ll ever make! This dairy-free, lightened-up carrot cake is soft, moist, and beautifully sweet. There’s plenty of cinnamon, allspice, and walnuts in every bite, and it’s topped with a rich vegan cream cheese frosting!

I have a strong affection for carrot cake. I just can’t resist how delicious it tastes and the aroma while it’s baking. This vegan carrot cake isn’t your typical run-of-the-mill carrot cake recipe. Of course, it has bright, tender, grated carrots, but it’s sweetened with maple syrup as well as crushed pineapple, which gives it a ton of moistness.

Whole wheat pastry flour and walnuts add a rich, nutty flavor and a nice dose of whole grains. Each bite will give you a hint of orange flavor from the orange juice in the cake and the orange zest in the homemade icing.

If you’re in the mood for something irresistible, this healthy vegan carrot cake is waiting for you to make it! Take it to all your family gatherings for the holidays or keep it all to yourself at home!

👩🏽‍🍳 Why You’ll Love This Recipe

• Moist Crumb, Totally Delicious: I promise, no one will be able to tell this classic dessert is vegan! It’s moist and perfectly sweet, and tastes just like classic carrot cake!
• Low Calorie: You can enjoy one piece of this vegan carrot cake for only 250 calories, and that includes the icing! Most traditional carrot cake recipes run about 600 calories in a slice of carrot cake.
• Less Sugar: While there is some sugar in this cake, this healthy carrot cake recipe is also sweetened with pineapple, maple syrup, orange juice, and carrots. This is a great alternative to give yourself a special dessert without overloading on sugar. 
• Kid-friendly: Kids will enjoy everything about this cake. Everything from the texture to the natural sweetness of the fruit in the cake to the incredible icing just pleases kids of all ages. The hardest part is going to be keeping the kids from eating several pieces!

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🥘 Ingredients

You don’t need much to make this easy vegan carrot cake. Gather your wholesome ingredients, easily found at any grocery store, and get baking! Here’s a simplified version of the ingredient list for your cake:

For The Cake

• Carrots: Peel the carrots first before finely grating them. Save time by buying pre-grated carrots!
• Orange Juice: As with any ingredient, freshly squeezed is the best. 
• Vanilla Extract: Vanilla brings out all of the sweetness of the fruits and the warm flavors of the spices.
• Olive Oil: Using extra virgin olive oil eliminates the need for butter and helps create a moist non dairy carrot cake!
• Maple Syrup: Maple syrup gives the vegan carrot loaf rich sweetness while also replacing any need for refined sugar.
• Pineapple: Be sure to drain the pineapples to avoid adding excess moisture to the cake. Crushed pineapples are perfect for egg free carrot cake!
• All-Purpose Flour & Whole-Wheat Pastry Flour: These two flours helps give the cake its texture.
• Baking Soda: Baking soda helps to make the cake light and moist.
• Cinnamon & Allspice: These two warm spices add incredible flavor and a heavenly aroma to the cake. 
• Walnuts: Chopped walnuts give a touch of crunchiness to this delicious vegan carrot cake.

For The Icing

• Vegan Cream Cheese:  To keep this carrot cake vegan, use a brand of vegan cream cheese like Miyoko’s Organic.
• Powdered Sugar: Also known as confectioner’s sugar, this helps to give the vegan carrot cake frosting its silky smooth texture.
• Vanilla Extract: Vanilla enhances the tanginess of the cream cheese and the sweetness of the powdered sugar.
• Orange Zest: Zest adds a bright, fruity flavor which is very welcomed in this vegan frosting for carrot cake!

🍲 Ingredient Substitutions

• Oil: Any oil can be used in this vegan version of carrot cake – like melted coconut oil, avocado oil, vegetable oil, or even melted vegan butter. Earth Balance is a good brand for vegan butter.
• Flour: You can try a different mix of flours in this recipe. Instead of all-purpose flour, try using another variety that is gluten-free or try out spelt flour. Instead of the whole wheat flour you could try oat flour, almond flour or cassava flour – or a mix of all three. Just keep in mind that changing the flours will change the texture of your cake!
• Walnuts: While I like walnuts best for this recipe, you can use any kind of nut that you prefer. Pecans or even almonds would taste great. If you have a nut allergy, leave them out!
• Applesauce: I love the bright, sweet flavor of pineapple in this cake but if you prefer more mellow flavor, you can experiment with using apple sauce instead.
• Sugar: Instead of maple syrup, you can use cane sugar, coconut sugar, or your favorite sugar alternative. 

🔪 How To Make The Best Vegan Carrot Cake

Make this easy carrot cake recipe with minimal effort. Even if it is your first time, you’ll look like a cake expert and have a very good carrot cake! For more detailed instructions and nutrition facts, see the recipe card below. Here is how to make vegan carrot cake:

Mix Wet Ingredients: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a mixing bowl, stir together the carrots, orange juice, vanilla, olive oil, maple syrup, and pineapple until well blended. You can use a hand mixer or a simple whisk or wooden spoon.

Combine Dry Ingredients: In another large mixing bowl, stir together the flours, baking soda, and spices. Mix in the walnuts. 

Mix Wet Mixture And Dry Ingredients Together: Blend the dry ingredients into the carrot mixture, stirring until just mixed. 

Transfer Cake Batter: Pour the batter into a nonstick 8-inch square baking pan lined with parchment paper.

Bake And Cool: Bake for 45 to 60 minutes until a butter knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from the oven, let cool slightly, and remove from the pan so that it can cool on a wire rack.

Prepare Icing: To make the icing, mix the vegan cream cheese, powdered sugar, vanilla extract, and orange zest together.

Ice The Cake: Once the cake has cooled to room temperature, transfer the cake from the cooling rack to a serving plate and spread the icing over the entire cake, including the sides of the cake. Alternatively, you can just dust the cake with powdered sugar and serve. 

💭 Expert Tips

• Avoid overmixing. For best results, don’t overmix the batter. The cake may end up too dense. 
• Grease your pan. Be sure to spray your baking pan with a nonstick spray or use a nonstick pan. If you are removing a cake from the pan, you could take a knife and lightly rub it around the edges to break anything loose from the pan itself. With prepared cake pans, it should easily come out of the pan when you flip it over. If you don’t have a non-stick pan, you can line it with parchment for easy removal.
• Squeeze your own juice. For the best carrot cake, use fresh orange juice instead of something you buy commercially prepared. Fresh orange juice is much healthier and gives this healthy carrot cake the perfect flavor. 
• Use the right tools. The easiest way to grate carrots is in the food processor, using the grating attachment. You can also use a hand grater – it will just take longer. can grate the carrots in your food processor with the grated blade, or you can use a hand grater.
• Choose carrots wisely. For the sweetest carrot flavor, choose medium-sized carrots and peel them before grating.
• Give the cake time. For the perfect vegan carrot cake, let your cake cool completely before frosting it. Otherwise, the frosting might melt off the cake!

📖 Variations

There are a few ways to change up this delicious cake. Check them out:

• Cupcakes Or Muffins: While carrot cake with vegan frosting is already amazing, you can transform it into cupcakes or muffins! Transfer the batter to muffin tins and bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes (or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean). Skip the frosting for muffins, but consider adding in some raisins to the batter.
• Different Toppings: If you are not vegan, you can use buttercream frosting. If you’re not the icing type, it could be subbed out for just a dusting of powdered sugar over the top of the cake. Alternatively, roll the tops in a white sugar and cinnamon mixture.
• Adjust Sweetness: For a sweeter cake, use up to 2/3 cup maple syrup. Just keep in mind the amount of sugar per slice will double (to about 24 grams per slice).
• Layered Cake: For cake layers, double to recipe and use 2 8-inch pans. You may need to double the frosting recipe, as well. You will transfer batter into the prepared pans, and bake according to the instructions on the recipe card! Allow to cool and then ice and layer cake.

🍽 Serving Suggestions

This vegan carrot cake with frosting is so full of flavor it hardly needs anything to go with it! That said, here are a few ideas if you’re looking for pairings.

• Other Sweets: Try pairing this cake with other favorite desserts like vegan vanilla pudding, tofu ice cream, or flaxseed pudding. 
• Beverages:  Sip on oat milk hot chocolate, protein hot chocolate, or a cup of coffee while you enjoy this sweet cake. You can also serve it with a cold glass of milk, or a non-dairy milk like almond milk, coconut milk, or soy milk.

🙌 Dietary Adaptations

While this is already a dairy free carrot cake that meets the standard for vegans and vegetarians, you can make additional changes to expand the inclusivity of the cake! Here are some adaptations to this plant based carrot cake:

• Gluten-Free Option: Replace the all-purpose flour and whole wheat pastry flour with a gluten free flour blend.
• Lower-Sugar Option: For fewer carbs and less sugar, use sugar substitutes for the powdered sugar and the maple syrup. 

🫙 Storage Directions

• To Refrigerate: Let the cake cool completely. Keep the icing separate. Store the cake in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days. Keep the icing in a separate airtight container in the fridge. Right before serving, frost your cake. 
• To Freeze: I don’t recommend freezing the frosting for this cake, but you can make this low-calorie carrot cake ahead of time and freeze it in an airtight container for up to 3 months. To freeze, make sure your cake has cooled completely. Then, wrap tightly in plastic wrap or aluminum foil and transfer to an airtight container. Defrost in the fridge overnight and then warm for 5 minutes in the oven at 350 degrees. Before serving, frost your cake.

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