Whole wheat carrot cake sweetened with honey

This honey-sweetened whole-wheat carrot cake is great on its own for breakfast or topped with honey-sweetened cream cheese frosting for dessert. This is not your typical carrot cake loaded with tons of white sugar. This version really brings out the flavor of the carrot and its natural sweetness.

Ingredients for honey-sweetened carrot cake

1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons coconut oil

1/4 cup honey

2 tablespoons freshly squeezed orange juice

2 eggs

1 spoon of vanilla

3 ounces whole wheat flour, by weight

3 ounces whole oat flour, by weight

1 teaspoon of baking soda

1/2 teaspoon aluminum-free baking powder

1/2 teaspoon of sea salt

2 teaspoons cinnamon

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

1 1/2 cups carrots, grated (use your food processor’s grating disk)

1/4 cup walnuts, chopped

Addresses

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

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

Meanwhile, combine whole wheat flour, whole oatmeal, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and tonka bean in a large bowl. Beat to combine well. Add the grated carrots and walnuts. Stir well.

Add the wet mix to the dry mix and stir until just combined. Stirring too much 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 the honey-sweetened cream cheese frosting

8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature

1/4 cup coconut oil, at room temperature

2 tablespoons of honey

Addresses

Beat the three ingredients until they are very creamy. You can do this with a stand mixer, a hand mixer, or a wooden spoon. I would not recommend the latter unless you are using it as part of your exercise program!