Honey Sweetened Whole Grain Carrot Cake

This Honey Sweetened Whole Grain Carrot Cake is great by itself served for breakfast, or topped with Honey Sweetened Cream Cheese Frosting for dessert. This isn’t your ordinary carrot cake loaded with tons of white sugar. This version truly highlights the flavor of the carrot and its natural sweetness.

Ingredients For Honey Sweetened Carrot Cake

1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons of coconut oil

1/4 cup of honey

2 tablespoons of freshly squeezed orange juice

2 eggs

1 tablespoon of vanilla

3 ounces of whole wheat flour, by weight

3 ounces of whole grain oat flour, by weight

1 teaspoon of baking soda

1/2 teaspoon of aluminum free baking powder

1/2 teaspoon of sea salt

2 teaspoons of cinnamon

1 tonka bean, ground (this spice can be hard to find- skip it if you don’t have one)

1 1/2 cups of shredded carrots (use your food processor shredding disc)

1/4 cup of chopped walnuts

Directions

Heat your oven to 350 degrees F. Grease an 8 x 8 baking dish and set aside.

You want your coconut oil to be in a liquid form for this recipe. That happens at 76 degrees F. If your oil is not warm enough to be liquid, heat it until it is. Be careful not to let it get hot, as it will prematurely cook the eggs in the next step.

Put the coconut oil, honey, orange juice, eggs and vanilla extract into the work bowl of your favorite food processor fitted with a multipurpose blade. Process for two minutes.

Meanwhile, combine the whole wheat flour, whole grain oat flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and tonka bean in a large bowl. Whisk to combine well. Add the shredded carrots and walnuts. Stir well.

Add the wet mixture to the dry mixture and stir until just barely combined. Too much stirring will result in a tough carrot cake. Transfer to the greased baking dish. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 35 to 45 minutes.

Ingredients for Honey Sweetened Cream Cheese Frosting

8 ounces of cream cheese, at room temperature

1/4 cup of coconut oil, at room temperature

2 tablespoons of honey

Directions

Beat all three ingredients together until well creamed. You can do this with a stand mixer, hand mixer or with a wooden spoon. I wouldn’t recommend the last one unless you are using it as part of your exercise program!