Say goodnight to Auntie Monique." I say, as I'm getting my son, a toddler at the time, ready to go to bed. “Goodnight cake” he responds, looking right past her, actually right through her, to what’s left of the carrot cake sitting on the counter. It was the first carrot cake he ever had and I guess he was smitten. I can't blame him - that’s exactly how I feel about this Weight Watchers friendly carrot cake too.
And with Easter just around the corner, I have carrot cake on the brain. And this Healthy and Light Carrot Cake is just the answer! It's moist, delicious and the best carrot cake I've ever had. The best part is that no one would ever suspect it's WW friendly ! It's one of our all-time favorite desserts and I'm sure it will becomes yours too.
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My bestie was over for her annual birthday dinner that night, and this was her birthday cake. He was pretty crazy about Auntie Monique and didn't like going to bed when she was over, but that night he only had eyes for the cake. So, if you're wondering if this light carrot cake is kid-friendly, along with being low-fat and healthy, I think it’s pretty obvious.
🥘 Ingredients
Unsweetened applesauce replaces the vegetable oil and reduces the calories and fat in this delicious cake. The prune puree and crushed pineapple reduce the sugar and make for a very moist cake!
For this light carrot cake recipe, you'll need:
- cake flour
- baking powder
- ground cinnamon
- salt
- baking soda
- eggs
- canned crushed pineapple
- unsweetened applesauce
- white granulated sugar
- prunes
- real carrots (don't use baby carrots)
- walnuts
- cream cheese (low-fat)
- powdered sugar/icing sugar
- vanilla extract
- canned pineapple rings
*See recipe card for quantities
🔪Instructions
How to make lighter carrot cake:
Make Cake
Prep: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F/175 degrees C. Coat the inside of 3- 8 inch layer pans with cake release (see NOTES) Or use non-stick cooking spray. Spread walnuts in a pie plate and bake for 8 -10 minutes, until fragrant. Cool.
- In a medium bowl, stir together flour, baking soda, cinnamon, baking powder and salt.
- Make Prune Puree: In a food processor, combine 1 cup of pitted prunes with 6 tbsps hot water. Process until smooth
- In a large bowl, whisk together eggs and egg whites. Add sugar, prune puree, and apple sauce and whisk until smooth.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir until blended. Stir in carrots, pineapple, and toasted walnuts.
- Mix until blended.
- Divide the batter among the pans and bake for 30- 35 minutes or until cake tester comes out clean. Let cool for 10 minutes before gently removing from pan.
- Cool for an additional 10 minutes on a wire rack.
To Make Frosting
- In a large mixing bowl, combine cream cheese, icing sugar and vanilla; beat with an electric hand mixer until smooth and creamy
*HINT: Before you start to decorate, take a pastry brush and dust off any crumbs on the cake.
Assembly
- Place the first cake layer on an 8 inch cardboard cake circle (for easy transport) if you plan to move it or place it on the surface you plan to serve it on. Then add some cream cheese icing/frosting as filling. You don't want to use very much, as it's rich and you need to keep most of it to frost the cake. Then add the second cake layer and repeat. Add the third cake layer.
- Crumb coat the cake and freeze for 10 minutes: Add a very thin layer of frosting (as shown) to the cake and smooth. Do NOT leave in the freezer any longer than 10 minutes.** You don't have to do this, but I do find it makes it easier to frost, especially if you want to avoid getting crumbs mixed in the icing!
- Frost/Ice the Cake: Spread the remainder of the icing evenly on the cake: CLICK HERE FOR VIDEO: How to Frost/Ice Carrot Cake Add chopped walnuts to the side of the cake (I did this by literally 'throwing them' at the side of the cake. Then add to top. * This is optional. Pat dry pineapple rings and cut in half. Make sure they are dried well.
- Add 2 pineapple halves, pressed together to the top of the cake - you'll need 5 sets of 2.
- Cut carrots into circles
- Add a slice of carrot to each side of the pineapple.
- Serve or refrigerate until ready to serve. * Can be made in advance and refrigerated for up to 4 days.
💭Top Tip
I use Wilton Cake release (affiliate link) because my cakes come out perfect every time. I highly recommend it!
📖Variations & Substitutions
- Cake Flour -How to make a substitute for cake flour with all-purpose flour
- Walnuts - you can substitute pecans
- Carrot cake cupcakes - fill muffin pan with liners and add batter ⅔ full, dividing batter evenly. Bake for half the amount of time (15 -18 minutes) or until a cake tester comes out clean.
👪 Serving size
This healthy and low-fat carrot cake recipe is 16 servings because it has 3 layers. There is only a light layer of frosting between the layers because it doesn't need it, it's rich and moist on its own. And one piece is totally satisfying. Plus, you can freeze the leftovers- I have done this many times!
🔢WW Points
If you're following the weight watchers program, you know it's going to be a rough week when more than your entire day's worth of WW points is used up on ONE piece of carrot cake. If this sounds at all familiar then you need this Weight Watchers Carrot Cake, especially given that a typical slice of cake at a restaurant has triple the points of this carrot cake (32 points).
This light carrot cake recipe is low points @ 10 WW points, whereas traditional carrot cakes can be 25-35 points!
🍽Equipment
For this healthy and light carrot cake, you'll need an electric mixer, a food processor and 3-8 inch round layer cake pans (affiliate links)
🌡️Storage
Store this light carrot cake in the fridge for up to 4 days in an airtight container (if exposed, it will dry out). This is not the cake I would recommend making very far in advance; the day before you plan to serve it is ideal. And once you cut it, press saran wrap over the cut section, to retain moisture.
Leftovers of this weight watchers cake also freeze well in an airtight container for up to 3 months. You can also make it ahead and freeze it to serve later, it's just better if you don't frost it before you freeze it (if possible.) Although, I've frozen leftovers and they are fine (the texture of the cream cheese frosting changes a little but it's still good!)
❔Frequently Asked Questions
The answer is yes and no. Not all carrot cake is created equal, nor are they all healthy. There are lots of carrot cakes out that there are healthy and many that aren't. A lot of carrot cakes are laden with fat and sugar and some are not. You have to look closely at the ingredients, calories and fat. And remember: it's still CAKE and cake is cake. It's not salad.
The answer is yes if you keep it in the fridge too long (2+ days), especially once it's been cut.
So, if you are looking for a healthy and lighter carrot cake, give this one a try. It's moist, delicious, kid friendly and no one would ever suspect it's Weight Watchers friendly!
My son is now 12 and I hadn't made this light carrot cake in many years. So when I did, he just couldn't get enough of it and was surprised to find out how healthy it was. I actually had to make the kids their own carrot cake because they couldn't wait for me to photograph this one! It's still his favorite cake.
And as he was heading up to bed that night, I could have sworn I heard him whisper 'goodnight' to the cake 🙂
And if you still have carrots on the brain, then give my other healthy carrot recipes a try:
Award-winning Creamy Carrot Soup
📋 Healthy and Light Carrot Cake Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 ½ cups sifted cake flour
- 2 teaspoon baking powder
- 2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 2 large egg whites
- 2 large eggs
- 18 ounce can crushed pinepple thoroughly drained
- ⅓ cup unsweetened applesauce
- 1 cup white granulated sugar
- 1 cup prune puree (see below)
- 2 cups grated carrots
- ¼ cup walnuts chopped
Frosting:
- 12 ounces low-fat cream cheese
- ½ cup icing sugar/powdered sugar
- 1 ½ teaspoon vanilla
Decorations/Garnish (optional)
- 5 pineapple rings, cut in half I use canned pineapple
- ½ carrot sliced into rings
- ½ cup chopped walnuts approximately
Instructions
Make Cake
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F/175 degrees C. Coat the inside of 3- 8 inch layer pans with cake release (see NOTES) Or use non-stick cooking spray.
- Spread walnuts in a pie plate and bake for 8 -10 minutes, until fragrant. Cool.
- In a medium sized bowl, stir together flour, baking soda, cinnamon, baking powder and salt.
Make Prune puree
- In a food processor, combine 1 cup of pitted prunes with 6 tbsps hot water. Process until smooth.
- In a large bowl, whisk together eggs and egg whites. Add sugar, prune puree and apple sauce and whisk until smooth.
- Add the flour mixture to the egg mixture and stir until blended. Stir in carrots, pineapple and toasted walnuts.
- Mix until blended.
- Divide the batter among the pans and bake for 30- 35 minutes or until cake tester comes out clean. Let cool for 10 minutes before gently removing from pan.
- Cool for an additional 10 minutes on a cooling rack.
To Make Frosting
- In a mixing bowl, combine cream cheese, icing sugar and vanilla; beat with an electric mixer until smooth and creamy
Assembly
- Before you start to decorate, take a pastry brush and dust off any crumbs on the cake.
- Place the first cake on an 8 inch cardboard cake circle (for easy transport) if you plan to move it or place it on the surface you plan to serve it on.
- Then add some cream cheese icing/frosting as filling (see photo). You don't want to use very much, as it's rich and you need to keep most of it to frost the cake. Then add the second cake and repeat. Add the third cake.
- Crumb coat the cake and freeze for 10 minutes: Add a very thin layer of frosting (as shown) to the cake and smooth. Do NOT leave in the freezer any longer than 10 minutes. *** You don't have to do this, but I do find it makes it easier to frost, especially if you want to avoid getting crumbs mixed in the icing!
- Frost/Ice the Cake: Spread the remainder of the icing evenly on the cake (SEE VIDEO IN NOTES)
Garnish/Decorations (optional):
- Add chopped walnuts to the side of the cake (I did this by literally 'throwing them' at the side of the cake. Then add to top. * This is optional
- Pat dry pineapple rings and cut in half. Make sure they are dried well.
- Add 2 pineapple halves, pressed together to the top of the cake - you'll need 5 sets of 2.
- Slice peeled carrot into circles.
- Add a slice of carrot to each side of the pineapple.
- Serve or refrigerate until ready to serve. * Can be made in advance and refrigerated for up to 4 days.
Dave
Made this for Easter, very nice cake. Went over well with the young and old. Even our son who has declared carrot cake to be yucky liked this one.
Terri Gilson
I'm so glad you guys enjoyed it, Dave (and that your son liked it too!) It's also one of our faves 🙂
Terri