Beat your unhealthy carrot cake cravings with a Protein Carrot Cake! This healthy alternative is easy to make, just as good as the real thing, and packed with diet friendly macros!
To fully incorporate the carrots and get the best flavor in this recipe you’re going to need either a food processor or really powerful blender. If you don’t have either, here’s a link to my preferred food processor.
Add right into your food processor or blender 2 large whole eggs, 3 large egg whites, 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract, 1/2 cup of crushed pineapple, 3/4 cup of unsweetened vanilla milk substitute, 2 cups of peeled and chopped carrots, 1 1/2 cups of rolled oats, 2 teaspoons of ground cinnamon, 6 whole pitted dates, 3 scoops of a vanilla protein powder, 1/4 cup of your choice sweetener, 4 tablespoons of coconut flour, 1 teaspoon of baking powder, and 1 teaspoon of baking soda.
Diet tip? Make sure your crushed pineapple is in 100% pineapple juice (no added sugar).
Process or blend all of those protein carrot cake ingredients together until smooth. This should take around 1-2 minutes in your processor or blender.
Take out 2 cake pans, coat them with some non-stick cooking spray, and evenly distribute your mix into your pans. I used some 9” pans today.
Pro tip? Before the oven you could add in some extra or bigger pieces of carrots, chocolate chips, nuts, and so on.
Put your protein carrot cake into the oven on 350F/176C for around 25-30 minutes. Keep in mind that this time can change depending on the size pan(s) you’re using. You can easily check if your cake is done by inserting a toothpick into the center of it and if it comes out clean, it’s done!
Remove your cakes from the oven and let them cool.
Protein Frosting
Every good carrot cake needs a good frosting so here’s one of my favorite protein frosting recipes!
Add into a bowl 1 container of a vanilla Greek yogurt, 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract, 1 tablespoon of your choice sweetener, 10 tablespoons of fat free cream cheese, and 2 scoops of a vanilla protein powder.
Mix those ingredients together until you have your desired protein frosting consistency. I like using a hand mixer to do this.
You can thicken up your frosting even more by either putting it into the fridge for a bit or by adding 1/4 teaspoon of xanthan gum to it!
Once your protein carrot cake has cooled completely, top it with your protein frosting and anything else you want. I went with 1 tablespoon of unsweetened shredded coconut, walnuts, and some carrot slices today. Let us know what you top yours with in the comments below!
Don’t like the protein frosting recipe here? Try one of our other Protein Frosting Recipes!
Protein Carrot Cake with Frosting
What We Used
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Ingredients
Carrot Cake
- 2 Large Whole Eggs
- 3 Large Egg Whites
- 6 Ounces Milk Substitute - or Milk
- ½ Cup Pineapple - Crushed
- 2 Cups Carrots
- 6 Dates - Whole Pitted
- 4 Tablespoons Coconut Flour
- 1 ½ Cups Rolled Oats
- 3 Scoops Protein Powder - Vanilla
- ¼ Cup Sweetener
- 1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- 1 Teaspoon Baking Powder
- 1 Teaspoon Baking Soda
- 2 Teaspoons Ground Cinnamon
- 1 Tablespoon Shredded Coconut - Unsweetened
- Walnuts - or Any Other Nut
Protein Frosting
- 5.3 Ounces Greek Yogurt - Fat Free Vanilla
- 10 Tablespoons Cream Cheese - Fat Free
- 1 Tablespoon Sweetener
- 1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- 2 Scoops Protein Powder - Vanilla
Instructions
- Peel and chop up your Carrots
- Add all of your Carrot Cake ingredients into a blender or food processor
- Blend or process everything together for around 1-2 minutes
- Take out 2 cake pans and coat them with some non-stick cooking spray
- Evenly distribute that mix into your pans
- Bake them on 350F/176C for 25-30 minutes
- Mix all of your Protein Frosting ingredients together until your frosting thickens up
- Coat your cakes once they cool and stack them on top of each other
- Evenly distribute your Shredded Coconut, Walnuts, and a couple slices of a Carrot on top
Video
Notes
- Calories: 1998
- Fat: 30g
- Saturated Fat: 9g
- Sodium: 2527mg
- Carbs: 221g
- Fiber: 35g
- Sugar: 101g
- Protein: 211g
- Calories: 249
- Fat: 3.7g
- Saturated Fat: 1.1g
- Sodium: 315.8mg
- Carbs: 27.6g
- Fiber: 4.3g
- Sugar: 12.6g
- Protein: 26.3g
Nutrition
19 Comments
Leave a Comment
Can I sub almond flour for coconut flour?
Yes, definitely. The almond flour will give it a bit more moisture too.
Just discovered this. Is there a reason you use oats instead of extra flour? Is it a texture thing?
Hi Matthew! Coconut flour tends to absorb more moisture which can dry out recipes. This is why I typically use a mix in bigger recipes.
Hi!Can I mix everything with a hand mixer instead of a food processor?Afraid it won’t mix very well(dont own blender)
You sure can Milica!
How long is the shelf life on this cake with the frosting?
I would say no longer than 5-7 days!
Hi Derek, can I substitute de pineapple? Let me know what I could use instead 🙂 thanks!
Hi Ruth! Add in a tablespoon or two of honey (or brown rice syrup)! 🙂
Hi Derek ! Can I substitute the dates ?
Any dried fruit should work unless you’re trying to lower the sugar?
Would applesauce work instead of pineapple ?
I think so
Now that was a beautiful cake!
Just couldn’t stand proteinpowder (and the typical protein-powder-tasting recepies) at the moment and this looked nice so my friend and I gave it a try.
The result: a super pretty cake, lovely taste, good texture. It survived about 3 days, had it for breakfast and felt pretty decadent eating cake in the morning =)
Best comment on the cake:
my boyfriend (clean eater, but highly sceptical when it comes to protein-baking):
“holy shit! this actually tastes like cake! I mean it looks like a cake. it smells like a cake. It tastes like… ARE YOU KIDDING ME!? YOU CAN’T FEED ME CAKE! MY DIET’S GOING TO HELL RIGHT NOW!”
Fabulous cake! I love how versatile the recipe is, also. Just made half the recipe the first time to make sure I liked it. I have made many protein cakes, but none have come out as well as this one!
Thanks Angie 🙂
This cake is awesome! I would use parchment paper in the future, though, as the cake wanted to stick to the pan.