Honey Sweetened Whole Grain Carrot Cake

It was my sister-in-law's birthday at the end of last month and we decided to surprise her with a little family surprise party. I was put in charge of making the cake. This is never a problem because I love any excuse to make a dessert! My sister-in-law is much healthier than I am, and really enjoys using whole grains in everything and not using refined sugar. Since this was her party I decided to make a cake that would be to her liking. When I found this recipe I knew it was perfect for her cake. The only thing I didn't know is whether or not it would taste good. I also like eating healthy things, but they have to taste good! I made a little mini cake to test it out. To my surprise it actually was really good. We even took it over to some friends house and they all liked it too! The only picture I have of it is before we cut it. I decided we shouldn't cut it until the birthday girl got to see it, so sorry for no inside pictures.

Note: This recipe makes 1 8X8 pan. I actually doubled it and divided it between 3 round cake pans. I'm sure the doubled recipe would also work great in a 9X13 pan. I also doubled the frosting. For my 3 layer cake it was enough, but there was no extra and I wish I could have put a little more in between the layers. Also if you are not a huge fan of coconut flavor you can use butter instead of the oil in the frosting. I am not a huge fan of coconut and didn't mind the frosting, but it was getting pretty close to the line of too much for me.

Honey Sweetened Whole Grain Carrot Cake

Ingredients
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons of coconut oil
1/4 cup of honey (I added a few extra tbs for good luck)
2 tablespoons of lemon or 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 baking powder
1/2 teaspoon of salt
2 teaspoons of cinnamon
1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1 1/2 cups of shredded carrots (use your food processor shredding disc)
1/4 cup of chopped walnuts (optional- I opted out)
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 pumpkin pie spice 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.

Honey Sweetened Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients
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!

Recipe Source: Heather Krasovec