A healthier carrot cake, sweetened with dates and bananas. This date, carrot and banana cake is perfect for any occasion when you want a sweet treat without too much sugar.
I've held back from putting up a carrot cake recipe on Sneaky Veg until now. The reason? Well, it just seemed a bit too obvious. But also because calling carrot cake a healthy option is a bit misleading - it's usually packed full of sugar and butter. It does taste great though doesn't it? So it seemed like it was time to work on a healthy carrot cake option to bring to you all.
We made this for Grandma's birthday and it was enjoyed by all - health conscious grown ups and cake loving little people.
How to make a low sugar cake
It's entirely possible to make a cake with very little added sugar. This recipe for a healthier carrot cake, for example, is sweetened with bananas and dates. The fruit contains plenty of natural sugar and the result is plenty sweet enough. Of course, if you're used to eating very sugary cakes it might take your taste buds a little time to adjust - but they will.
You can make this cake without icing if you prefer - it still tastes great.
However, if you prefer your cake to be iced I've used a very simple cream cheese frosting sweetened with a little honey or maple syrup rather than icing sugar. I make a similar frosting when I make this mini chocolate beetroot cupcakes.
The result is a delicious, moist and flavoursome cake. My kids absolutely love this cake and I love being able to give them a treat without all the added sugar.
Is this healthy carrot cake vegan?
When I first made this cake I wasn't vegan so the original recipe wasn't. However, I have now tested it with flax eggs and it works perfectly. That's the only substitution to the actual cake that you need to make for it to be a perfect vegan carrot cake.
The cream cheese frosting can be made with vegan cream cheese and maple syrup to make it plant-based. I have found that some dairy free cream cheeses can go a bit runny when beaten however - let me know in the comments if you've found a perfect vegan cream cheese to use for frosting.
See my favourite carrot recipes and get some cooking tips.
More healthy cake and sweet treats recipes
- Healthy carrot muffins
- Apple and carrot hot cross buns
- Healthy flapjacks
- Mini chocolate beetroot fairy cakes
- Naturally sweetened apple flapjacks
- Healthy carrot cake bars
- Swede and ginger cake
- Carrot scones
Pin healthy carrot cake with dates and bananas for later
How to make date, carrot and banana cake
You will need a blender or processor to make this healthier carrot cake.
If you have made this recipe I would love it if you’d leave a comment and rating below. Thank you!
Date, carrot and banana cake
Ingredients
- 3 large eggs or flax eggs* for vegan version
- 2 ripe bananas
- 50 g dates** chopped
- 75 g sunflower oil or melted coconut oil
- 50 g ground almonds
- 180 g plain flour wholemeal or white (I used wholemeal)
- 2 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon nutmeg
- 3 teaspoon cinnamon
- 50 g walnuts chopped
- 75 g sultanas
- 300 g carrots peeled and grated (approx 3 medium carrots)
For the frosting
- 200 g cream cheese or dairy free alternative
- 2 tablespoon honey or maple syrup
- Juice of half a lemon
- Walnuts optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180°C (fan)/200°C/gas mark 6. Grease and base line a 20cm round cake tin.
- Whisk the eggs in a medium sized bowl or prepare your flax eggs. Set aside.
- Put the bananas, chopped dates and oil into a blender or food processor and mix until combined and creamy.
- Sift together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon and nutmeg. Stir in the ground almonds.
- Add the eggs and the banana mixture and stir well. Next stir in the grated carrot, walnuts and sultanas until it all comes together.
- Pour it into your cake tin, level the top and bake for 45-50 minutes until a skewer or toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean. Cool in the tin for five minutes then transfer to a wire rack and let it cool.
To make the frosting
- Beat together the cream cheese, honey or maple syrup and lemon juice. Spread the frosting over the top of the cake and decorate with walnuts if desired.
- If iced best stored in an airtight container in the fridge. Uniced this cake can be stored in a cake tin at room temperature.
Notes
HAVE YOU TRIED THIS RECIPE?
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Nook
Could we omit the oil and use apple sauce in its place?
Mandy Mazliah
I haven't tested this so I can't say for sure - let me know if you try it
F.m
Can I freeze the cake for 2 months? And frost it when I’m ready to serve.
Mandy Mazliah
Hi, I haven't tested freezing this recipe but it should work ok
Susan
Thank you for the recipe.. I'm trying different cakes without sugar for my baby's birthday coming up..
Just a doubt.. Would beating the egg whites separately make the cake more fluffy?
Mandy Mazliah
Hi Susan, I haven't tried beating the egg whites separately but I don't think it would do any harm to try. Let me know how it goes.
Aalisha
Thank you so much for this fabulous recipe! I used buckwheat flour instead of regular flour and honey instead of maple syrup for the frosting and it tasted amazing. The cake was so moist and delicious. Love how healthy and yet yummy this dessert is 🙂
Mandy Mazliah
I'm so glad you enjoyed it Aalisha - I'll try it with buckwheat flour next time too
Jo
This recipe looked promising, unfortunately for me, it did not rise at all and after 1 hour my knife still came out with uncooked mixture on it. In the end I had to leave it in the oven for nearly 1hr 30 and once out it was hard on the outside and barely cooked in the middle. I make 'healthy cakes' regularly and although it seems like it has turned out ok for others I cannot recommend it
Mandy Mazliah
Hi Jo - so sorry that it didn't work for you. I've made this cake with lots of times with great results. It might be worth checking your baking powder - this might help https://www.davidlebovitz.com/how-to-tell-if-baking-powder-is-still-good/ - but I'm not sure why it didn't cook in the middle
Anna
I made this for my daughters 1st birthday yesterday, it was delicious!! Perfect cake for a toddler, naturally sweetened whilst still tasting yummy. I omitted the walnuts, didn’t want any possible choking hazards, and made a mascarpone topping with 2 tsp vanilla essence and tbsp icing sugar (I read you could use maple syrup instead). I have a feeling this cake won’t be around for long!
Mandy Mazliah
Happy birthday to your daughter! I am so happy to hear that you all loved the cake.
Hayley
Any suggestions on what I could substitute the almond meal for to make this school friendly? Looks delicious!
Mandy Mazliah
Hi Hayley, I haven't tried but I think you could probably use ground oats or extra flour. Let me know how it goes!
Alice
I just used more whole meal flour instead of ground almonds (also making for school) and it worked just fine.
Reallly yummy!
Mandy Mazliah
Glad you enjoyed - great to know that it works with more flour!
Maggie Paterson
I use recipes as a guide only. I made double quantity to make a 10” cake. I used 6 small bananas, six medium eggs, only two teaspoons of cinnamon (as I am not too keen on it). I followed the rest of the recipe, doubling up. As I found I didn’t have enough carrots I supplemented half with organic apples. I only had wholemeal self raising flour, so I put 1 teaspoon of baking powder instead. This was my first try at carrot cake, and I have to say it was absolutely delicious! As it contains no nasty refined sugar my two-year-old granddaughter will be allowed to have a taste too. I will keep the frosting in a separate dish, so that I didn’t have to keep the cake in the fridge and will either dollop the frosting at the side of the cake or drizzle before serving.
Mandy Mazliah
That's great Maggie - I love the sound of your substitutions, I bet apple would be delicious.
Mohakon
Complete disaster 😔 I bake every week so I try to find new exciting recepies. The cake never baked inside. I was keep checking with a toothpick but wasn't good even after 1.45 hour. And didn't rise at all. And I had fresh baking powder.
Mandy Mazliah
Sorry to hear that - I'm not sure why that would be the case as I've made this plenty of times and it's always cooked fine.
Maria
I changed the whole wheat flour for coconut flour ... it ended up amazing ! So moist 😉
Great recipe
Mandy Mazliah
That's great to know that it works well with coconut flour Maria - so glad you enjoyed it
Corina Blum
I love carrot cake and it can be a really healthy recipe like this one. It looks so impressive too - I think the new photos are great and make it look so so tempting!
Jane Saunders
Carrot cake is amongst my favourite type of cake, but I've never thought to add dates, even though I love them too. As you say, it's a great way to cut the most unhealthy sugar out of our treats. Genius.
Mandy Mazliah
The dates are plenty sweet enough - it still tastes really good without the added sugar
Heidi Roberts
Dates are so fantastic to put in a cake - they keep it so moist!
Mandy Mazliah
They really are a great addition aren't they
Sisley White
Your photography is so gorgeous! I am so hungry now. It's been bookmarked to make as this is write up my street for cakes.
Mandy Mazliah
Thanks so much!
Jere Cassidy
I love the addition of dates and bananas especially since I like their flavors and textures, and the fact you use these to replace the sugar in the cake is even better. Everything sounds yummy and that cream cheese and maple syrup icing sounds divine.
Mandy Mazliah
Thanks Jere - the icing really adds that extra special touch
Beth
Yum going to try tonight!!! Love no sugar recipes and great to see you adapting US recipes- the cup thing always confuses me!!!!!
Mandy Mazliah
Thanks - would love to hear what you thought if you did try it! I have some cup measures, you can sometimes pick them up in pound shops, but I find it so much easier when the recipe is in grams!
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Sneaky Veg
Thanks so much for commenting. I've added the blog to your website!
Eat Your Veg
Oh what a lovely recipe! I'm so with you on the whole carrot cake myth of being healthy, it's usually soooo not. But this is perfect, packed full of so much goodness and natural sugar. I LOVE the Green Kitchen Stories blog too!
Sneaky Veg
It's so lovely isn't it! If I ate a recipe from there every day I'd be the healthiest person out there I think. Yes, this carrot cake is really good and a much healthier option that is usually is.
apsara
Awesome combination, I need to try! One question- what are the ingredients in whole meal self raising flour?
Sneaky Veg
It's wheat flour and has raising agents added to it - I think it would be worth trying this as a flourless cake, maybe with ground almonds instead of flour. Let me know if you make it!
apsara
Is it whole wheat? I ask because it says wholemeal. I havent had much luck with almond flour for cakes, since I only make eggless, it does not rise.
Sneaky Veg
It just says whole meal wheat flour, I'm not sure what the difference is!