Low-fat and high-protein double-stacked carrot cake – packed with the perfect blend of spices and frosted with whipped cream cheese frosting. Nope, you are not dreaming here!
I am beyond impressed with how this cake turned out on just the first try! I knew for sure I was going to have to experiment a number of times to find the perfect balance of carrots with the wet and dry ingredients, but I just went along with it and pure magic happened!
These are similar in flavor to my Carrot Cake Oat Bars, but more cakey of course. Still very moist and still with that delicious sweet spice. 🙂
The cream cheese frosting is the real star of the show though – I mean it’s frosting right! The secret to getting the cream cheese as smooth as it can be is letting the cream cheese block sit out at room temperature for a bit. This will make blending it and removing any clumps a breeze. 30 minutes or so will do.
For the protein powder, I used Pescience Snickerdoodle. Now I can’t 100% vouch for other brands or flavors, but MAN did that snickerdoodle flavor bring the most perfect sweet *with a hint of spice* flavor to this cake!! There are still other spices included in this recipe, so if you don’t have snickerdoodle, don’t worry – I’m sure vanilla would be just as wonderful as well!
For all Pescience products, you can use my code “LaurenFitFoodie” to save 10%.
As always, if you make, tag me on Instagram (@LaurenFitFoodie) because I would love to see your yummy recreations!
MINI CARROT CAKE WITH CREAM CHEESE FROSTING
Ingredients
Carrot Cake:
- 1/2 scoop vanilla or snickerdoodle protein powder (15g) - I used Pescience
- 2 Tbsp coconut flour (14g)
- 2 Tbsp oat flour (15g)
- 2 Tbsp granular sweetener (24g) - I used Swerve
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg
- 1 tsp baking powder
- Dash of salt
- 2/3 cup grated carrots, loosely packed (60g)
- 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce (60g)
- 1 large egg
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Cream Cheese Frosting:
- 1/4 cup + 2 Tbsp whipped cream cheese (63g)
- 1/4 cup plain nonfat greek yogurt (60g)
- 1 Tbsp granular sweetener (12g) - I used Swerve
- 1 Tbsp unsweetened almond milk (15g)
- 1/2 scoop vanilla protein powder (15g) - I used Pescience
Instructions
For the Carrot Cake:
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray two small ramekins with cooking spray (I used two 2-cup pyrex dishes).
- To a large bowl, add the dry ingredients (protein powder through salt); mix well to combine.
- Add the grated carrots, applesauce, egg and vanilla extract. Using a hand mixer, mix until all ingredients are mixed thoroughly.
- Pour an equal amount of batter into each ramekin and spread out evenly.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
When done, take out and let cool completely before adding the frosting. I would recommend putting it in the fridge for an hour or so after it’s cooled to room temperature before frosting if time allows. If there is still any heat coming from the cake, the frosting is more likely to run down.
For the Cream Cheese Frosting:
- To make the frosting, add all the ingredients to a bowl and mix with a hand mixer to combine.
- When ready, frost the top of one cake, stack with the other cake, then frost the top of the cake and all around the sides.
Notes
Keep cake stored covered in the fridge for up to a week.
LOG IN MY FITNESS PAL
MFP entry: LFF Mini Carrot Cake
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
4Serving Size:
1/4 of cakeAmount Per Serving: Calories: 135Total Fat: 5.5gSaturated Fat: 3.1gCarbohydrates: 10.4gFiber: 2.4gSugar: 3.6gProtein: 10.9g
Hi! Which zero calorie sweetener did you use?
I just used Great Value granulated sweetener! Got at Walmart 🙂
I just made this last night! i didn’t have cream cheese on hand but made the frosting out of yogurt and protein powder and DAMN LAUREN! you out did yourself !! i ate this thing too quickly! and i never liked carrot cake before !
I want to make these into bars, what would the macros be without the icing?
Without the icing, the WHOLE recipe would be 299 calories, 33C/7.5F/23P. Then you would just divide all of those by the number of bars you cut into. I do also have a carrot cake oat bar recipe if you want to check that out!
Hi Lauren,
Can I make the recipe x4 and use 2 round cake pans? I want to make it for a group on Easter Sunday.
Hey Angie,
Yes! Multiple people have told me they’ve multiplied the recipe by 4 and it’s worked well for making a standard double layer cake!
Thank you!
This was AMAZING!! I used less sugar because I’m super sugar sensitive and my fiancé and I gobbled it up. On the menu again for this weekend!
I don’t have oat flour. Could I substitute more coconut flour instead?
Hey Morgan! Coconut flour has different absorbant properties than other flours, so instead of replacing it with more coconut, I would use all-purpose or almond flour in its place instead. You can also always ground up oats into a flour too!
Are you able to use AP flour completely?
Yes! By all means, just substitute gram for gram 🙂
This cake was amazing! It was so moist and didn’t have that protein powder after taste. Its one of my favorite dessert recipes of yours!
This was the best dessert ever. I like that I got to eat the entire cake In one sitting! Definitely will make again.
Carrot cake is my all time fave! Super excited to try this!
So glad to finally have my favorite dessert again!
I love carrot cake and this did not disappoint! I didn’t have applesauce so I used shredded zucchini instead and it worked great. Because I didn’t have snickerdoodle protein powder , I added a little extra ground cinnamon and some ground ginger. I doubled the recipe and baked in a round cake pan. For one layer, 1-1/2 times the frosting recipe worked well, and I added a sprinkle of shredded coconut. Moist, spicy, and satisfying. I only had half a serving and look forward to having more later!
I just made this, soooooooooooooooooooooo good!! I don’t care for the oily carrot cakes, and this was perfect. Tender, carroty, spicy, sweet, cream cheesy, all the important things. I used two 4.5in silicone rounds for baking. Minor alterations: I use Silk Original Soymilk as my milk of choice. For the 1/4c sweetener, I used 20g lakanto erythritol monkfruit blend and 9g regular brown sugar. For the frosting, I used PEScience Cake Pop (my only vanilla option) and about 10g of keto cheesecake powder for extra cream cheese flavor. It was still only 560 cals total even with my added calories, which is amazing. I can’t believe how good it is!! I might add orange zest to the frosting next time for funsies, but honestly, it was perf!