This irresistible Weight Watchers Carrot Cake yields 16 slices, and every slice is solely 4 factors! When you look on the WW app, you’ll see that many restaurant or grocery retailer carrot desserts are between 15 – 30 factors per serving, so with the ability to make this home made carrot cake recipe for a fraction of that quantity is superb.
This dessert is normally high-point as a result of it has a excessive flour-to-sugar ratio and plenty of oil within the cake batter. The frosting prices simply as a lot due to the cream cheese and sugar. Nevertheless, with just a few changes, this traditional cake may be lightened up. It is a wholesome carrot cake with applesauce; it’s utterly oil and butter-free.
In the meantime, the home made frosting makes use of reduced-fat cream cheese as a substitute of normal and is sweetened with natural honey as a substitute of powdered sugar. I added chopped walnuts and pineapple items to my cake batter, however you possibly can all the time use pecans or add raisins or shredded coconut (I do know everybody loves their carrot cake with particular add-ins!).
When you’ve by no means made a carrot cake from scratch, now could be your likelihood. Though it seems to be fancy and perhaps even like a problem, it’s really really easy. For the longest time, I shied away from making this dessert as a result of I assumed shredding the carrots can be tedious. However I used to be pleasantly stunned after I lastly made one and realized it was a lot simpler than I had made it out to be.
Why You Ought to Strive This Recipe
- It’s nice for celebrations. Whether or not you want one thing for the vacations, a birthday celebration, or one other sort of celebration, this carrot cake will win everybody over. You possibly can enhance the highest nonetheless you need for a tremendous show —and get 16 slices out of the cake!
- It’s completely moist. This easy carrot cake is so tender and moist due to the applesauce, pineapple items, and carrots. You received’t even discover that it’s lacking oil.
- It’s a simple carrot cake recipe. It is a easy recipe that anybody could make. You possibly can even flip it right into a household baking mission and have everybody assist out with the prep and adorning.
Recipe Overview
- Serving Dimension: 1 slice (95g)
- Variety of Servings: 16
- Time to Prepare dinner: 40 minutes
- WW Factors Per Recipe: 4 factors per serving, 65 factors for all the recipe (Click on right here to view the recipe within the WW app. WW login is required)
Components in Weight Watchers Carrot Cake
Carrot Cake Recipe
- 2 ⅓ cup All-purpose flour
- 2 tsp Baking powder
- 1 tsp Baking soda
- ¾ tsp Cinnamon
- ½ tsp Nutmeg
- 1 cup Unsweetened applesauce
- 1 ⅓ cup Zero-calorie sweetener (use your most popular 1:1 sugar substitute)
- 3 Eggs
- 1 tsp Vanilla extract
- 3 cups Shredded carrots
- ⅓ cup Chopped walnuts (or pecans)
- ½ cup Pineapple tidbits or chunks, drained
- ½ tsp Desk salt
Cream Cheese Frosting Recipe
- 8 oz reduced-fat cream cheese, softened
- 4 tbsp natural honey
- ¾ tsp vanilla extract
- 4 tbsp Nonfat plain Greek yogurt
- Cinnamon to style
Directions for making Weight Watchers Carrot Cake
- Preheat oven to 350F. Make the batter: In a single bowl, combine the moist components, and in one other bowl, combine the dry components. Go away the carrots, nuts, and pineapple separate.
- Stir the dry components into the moist and blend to mix. Subsequent, add the carrots, nuts, and pineapple and stir to create the batter. Will probably be thick; should you let it sit a couple of minutes, it turns into extra spreadable.
- Switch half of the combination to a parchment-lined 9-inch spherical pan. When you’ve got two pans, you possibly can bake each directly, or you possibly can reserve the remaining batter and bake the 2 desserts in batches.
4. Bake the desserts for half-hour, then cowl and bake for about 10 extra minutes or till the middle comes out clear with a toothpick or knife inserted within the middle. Enable the desserts to chill fully.
5. Make the frosting: Combine the yogurt and cream cheese till clean, then add the honey, vanilla, and cinnamon. Alter the sweetness if wanted. The frosting might be slightly on the skinny facet; permit it to relaxation within the fridge for 10-Quarter-hour to agency up extra.
6. Apply half of the frosting to the highest of one of many desserts.
7. Place the opposite cake on high and unfold the remaining frosting on high. Add crushed nuts or different most popular garnishes, and revel in!
Variations and Substitutions
- Carrot Cake with Raisins: You possibly can add raisins to the batter as properly! You solely want about ⅓ – ½ cup. Consider you’ll need to regulate the recipe within the WW recipe builder to find out the brand new factors quantity.
- Carrot Cake with Coconut: Add shredded coconut to the batter or toast it and use it as a topping! That is particularly scrumptious should you maintain the pineapple within the batter. It is a nice add-in in case you have additional factors to make use of up.
- Gluten-free Carrot Cake: Use a cup-for-cup GF all-purpose mix as a substitute of utilizing the conventional flour within the recipe. Test the opposite components to ensure they aren’t made in a facility that processes gluten.
- One Layer Straightforward Carrot Cake: Reduce the recipe in half and make a single 9-inch spherical cake. Solely make half the frosting, too, and use it to coat the highest of the cake! You possibly can lower this cake into 8 slices since it’s shorter.
- Sweetener vs. Sugar: If you wish to use granulated sugar as a substitute of sweetener, use the identical quantity. It’ll enhance every slice to 9 factors.
Ideas and Tips for Making The Greatest Carrot Cake
- I recommend making the desserts the night time earlier than after which assembling the cake the following day. The flavors within the cake actually meld along with this technique, and also you don’t have to fret about ready lengthy sufficient for the desserts to chill since they are going to be able to go. Ensure to wrap them in a single day.
- In case your desserts are domed after baking, you possibly can lower the tops to degree them out earlier than assembling the cake.
- Use recent carrots as a substitute of pre-shredded carrots should you can! Generally, the pre-shredded carrots may be dry, and you really want that moisture for the cake. The recent carrots are simply higher high quality normally.
- Cowl the cake when storing it, in any other case it’s going to dry out. You’ll need to retailer it within the fridge as a result of the frosting is perishable. I additionally advocate not slicing it upfront. Preserve the moisture locked in and slice simply earlier than serving!
- Watch out to not overmix the batter as a result of it’s going to have an effect on the feel of the cake. You solely want to combine till the carrots, nuts, and pineapple are evenly dispersed.
Carrot Loaf with Cream Cheese Frosting
WW Carrot Cake Bars with Cream Cheese Frosting
Carrot Cake Donuts
Cream Cheese Frosting Recipe
Forestall your display from going darkish
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Preheat oven to 350F. Make the batter: In a single bowl, combine the moist components, and in one other bowl, combine the dry components. Go away the carrots, nuts, and pineapple separate.
-
Stir the dry components into the moist and blend to mix. Subsequent, add the carrots, nuts, and pineapple and stir to create the batter. Will probably be thick; should you let it sit a couple of minutes, it turns into extra spreadable.
-
Switch half of the combination to a parchment-lined 9-inch spherical pan. When you’ve got two pans, you possibly can bake each directly, or you possibly can reserve the remaining batter and bake the 2 desserts in batches.
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Bake the desserts for half-hour, then cowl and bake for about 10 extra minutes or till the middle comes out clear with a toothpick or knife inserted within the middle. Enable the desserts to chill fully.
-
Make the frosting: Combine the yogurt and cream cheese till clean, then add the honey, vanilla, and cinnamon. Alter the sweetness if wanted. The frosting might be slightly on the skinny facet; permit it to relaxation within the fridge for 10-Quarter-hour to agency up extra.
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Apply half of the frosting to the highest of one of many desserts. Place the opposite cake on high and unfold the remaining frosting on high. Add crushed nuts or different most popular garnishes, and revel in!
Serving: 95gEnergy: 168kcalCarbohydrates: 25gProtein: 5.1gFats: 5.7gSaturated Fats: 2gLdl cholesterol: 39mgSodium: 284mgPotassium: 172mgSugar: 7.7gCalcium: 76mgIron: 0.6mg
Vitamin data is mechanically calculated, so ought to solely be used as an approximation.