I remember the day {eons ago} when I attempted to make carrot cake for a boyfriend and I aspired to make it even healthier so I used olive oil verses vegetable oil or canola oil {blech, eww and ick}.

Were you thinking I meant those terms of endearment in reference to the vegetable oil?  Well in fact, I meant them towards the olive oil’s taste I used in the carrot cake.  Not my wisest moment of “healthifying” a cake!

If you bake you know using an aromatic and flavorful oil like olive will hijack the taste of it’s companions! Oh man and it robbed those sweet carrots something fierce {blech}!

Poor guy, and I didn’t end up marrying that fellow. By the time I met Tom, my cooking skills became more “dateable” and “tasteable”!  Thank God, because he was meant for me…..he never lets me throw away my recipe rejects before he tries to salvage it and consume it.

Mercifully, I think growing up in a family of 6 kids he got used to eating the leftover rejects and now my jilted recipes only seem to deepen our love so much we are celebrating 20 years of marriage on April 20th!!!

As a kid I was under the assumption vegetable oil was good for us.  As it turns out, any oil that is derived from a plant, as opposed to an animal, can be called such.

If it is labeled vegetable oil, at least in United States, you can bet it is pure soybean oil with small percentages of corn, canola, peanut, olive, sesame, safflower, cottonseed or palm oil.

Not exactly what I was thinking of as healthy, especially with the looming concern of GMO’s and bad fats. With the knowledge of food science these days it is wise to veto the so called vegetable oils!

That is why I love using raw unrefined coconut oil for high temperature cooking {like 350 degrees} and it is the perfect choice for baking because it brings out the sweet flavors accompanying the other ingredients {unlike the trusted olive oil}.

To clarify, I do use avocado oil often for high temperature cooking as well because it doesn’t overpower the recipe. I hope you enjoy my healthy version of carrot cake and have a blessed Easter!

Isn’t this vintage Easter Bunny and cart the cutest thing ever!

Coconut Carrot Cake {paleo, refined sugar, dairy & gluten free}

 

Print

Prep time

10 mins

Cook time

25 mins

Total time

35 mins

 

Author: Dawn Rofrano

Serves: 14-16

Ingredients

• 1½ cups almond flour
• ½ cup unsweetened shredded coconut
• ½ cup ground flax
• ½ cup coconut sugar
• ½ tsp. baking soda
• ½ tsp. baking powder
• ¼ tsp. pink Himalayan sea salt
• 1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
• or 1 tsp. cinnamon
• few dashes of nutmeg
• 3 eggs
• 1½ cups shredded carrots
• ½ cup tepid water
• ¼ cup melted coconut oil
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• Frosting optional:
• 1½ cups soaked cashews
• 5.4 oz. can coconut cream
• ¼ cup coconut oil
• ¼ cup coconut butter
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/16 tsp. stevia for sugar free
• or ¼ cup honey
• omit coconut butter to use honey

Instructions

1. In a mixer or big bowl cream eggs, water, coconut oil, vanilla and shredded carrots.
2. Add almond flour, flax, sugar, coconut, baking powder & soda, salt and spices.
3. Mix ingredients until blended well.
4. In a lightly greased square 8x8 dish/pan pour evenly batter and bake 350 for 25 min.
5. Check cake after 20 min. with a toothpick and if it comes out clean it is ready!
6. To make Frosting: Soak cashews for at least 1 hour but 4 hours is best.
7. Add all ingredients into a food processor except stevia and pulse until creamy.
8. If using honey for extra sweetness be sure to omit coconut butter.
9. Allow cake to cool before frosting.

Notes

This carrot cake is moist and sweet but if your crowd has a super sweet tooth adding ¾ cup of coconut sugar {instead of ½ cup} will do the trick. About 3 large carrots or 7-8 small shredded carrots equal 1½ cups shredded. I love using my food processor to shred but a hand held shredder works fine. If you would like to make this cake sugar free add ¼ cup coconut butter and omit the coconut sugar and add a few dashes of stevia. The frosting is creamy and sweet with the stevia but if sugar is not an issue honey may be more palatable for newbie clean eaters. We love adding So delicious coco-whip for a dairy free topping when we are ready to eat the cake. I used a tablespoon of the shredded carrots and baked it with 1 tsp. coconut oil, dash sugar and cinnamon for 8 minutes and topped the cake. Please use organic when you can.

3.2.2802

Share!

Facebook

Twitter

Pinterest