Somewhere between healthy enough for breakfast and decadent enough for dessert lies this Oatmeal Carrot Cake Bread. It’s 100% whole grain, no oil or butter, full of carrots, pineapple and raisins and topped off with a perfectly sweetened lightened up cream cheese frosting. A must make when you get a craving for carrot cake!
It’s been a while since I shared any dessert recipes, mostly because I was trying to limit my sweets and I can’t be trusted with them sitting around the house staring at me. If I had a husband who worked in an office instead of down in our basement I would probably make more desserts because I could just pawn them off on him to take to coworkers. Sadly it’s just the two of us and neither of us need a pie, two dozen cookies or worse yet a whole cheesecake sitting around tempting us.
A couple weekends ago I was going through my grandma’s cookbook trying to get some inspiration when I discovered a recipe for Oatmeal Carrot Cake Bread. I loved the idea of making a loaf cake because somehow when you make it in a loaf doesn’t it just seem healthier and maybe not so dessert like? That was me trying to justify to you that it was ok that I ate 3 slices of this cake/bread. Overall the original recipe for the bread wasn’t terribly unhealthy, but I decided I wanted to make a “cake” that could be eaten either as dessert or part of brunch…Easter is just around the corner.
To make my grandma’s recipe more wholesome I replaced all purpose flour with whole wheat, cut back on the sugar and used unrefined coconut sugar instead of brown, replaced two of the eggs with egg whites and completely removed the oil and replaced it with Greek yogurt. The result was a hearty, perfectly sweetened and moist loaf of delicious Oatmeal Carrot Cake Bread!
I made this loaf cake twice because my first attempt at it was on the dry side and nobody wants dry cake. After cutting back on some of the whole wheat flour and adding more liquid the results were delicious! This cake is quite dense because of all the whole grains, but that just means it will fill you up and satisfy you with a smaller portion. The bread is loaded with shredded carrots, raisins and crushed pineapple which also add extra moisture. Of course if we’re calling this Oatmeal Carrot CAKE Bread we should probably top it with cream cheese frosting because carrot cake just isn’t carrot cake without the frosting!
Yields 12-14 slices depending on the thickness of the slice
15 minPrep Time
1 hrCook Time
1 hr, 15 Total Time
Save RecipeIngredients
- 1 cup rolled oats
- 1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons milk of choice, if the batter is too dry add 2 more tablespoons of milk
- 1 1/2 cups + 2 tablespoons whole wheat pastry flour (I use Bob's Red Mill)
- 3/4 cup coconut sugar
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1 1/2 cups shredded carrots
- 1/2 cup raisins
- 8 ounce can crushed pineapple, undrained
- 1/4 cup plain non-fat Greek yogurt
- 1 egg + 2 egg whites
- 1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 4 ounces 1/3 less fat cream cheese, room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- Pinch of salt
- 1/2-3/4 cup powdered sugar depending on how sweet you want the frosting
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Spray a 9x5 loaf pan with cooking spray, line the bottom with parchment paper, then spray the top of the parchment paper with cooking spray.
- In a medium sized bowl combine the oats and milk and let them soak for about 5 minutes while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.
- In a large bowl whisk together the flour, coconut sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg.
- Stir the shredded carrots and raisins into the flour mixture.
- Add the crushed pineapple, Greek yogurt, eggs and vanilla to the oat mixture and whisk together until combined.
- Pour the wet ingredients in with the dry and fold together until just combined with a rubber spatula.
- Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan and bake for 40-45 minutes.
- Check the bread and if it is getting too brown on top cover it lightly with a piece of foil, then bake for another 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Cool the bread in the pan for 10 minutes before inverting it on to a wire rack to finish cooling.
- When the bread is completely cooled top with the cream cheese frosting.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment or with a hand held mixer, beat together the cream cheese, vanilla and pinch of salt until smooth.
- Add in the powdered sugar 1/4 cup at a time until smooth and the desired sweetness is reached.
- Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl between each addition of powdered sugar to ensure a smooth frosting.
Notes
If you don't care for raisins in carrot cake toasted pecans or toasted unsweetened coconut are great substitutions.
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