Carrot cake is one of my favorite desserts. It’s hard to believe that a cake this delicious contains a few healthy ingredients. Unfortunately, many of the recipes out there contain calorie laden sour cream and butter. With my simple dairy-free substitutions, I was able to pare off a few calories while adding nutritional content.
My recipe uses coconut oil and only brown sugar to sweeten it. In addition, I also substituted sour cream frosting with dairy-free yogurt frosting.
Carrot & Coconut Cake with Dairy-Free Yogurt Frosting
Finally, a delicious Dairy-Free version of Carrot Cake that can also be easily adapted to Gluten-Free.

Credit: Food Network Magazine Jan. 2018; Dairy-Free adaptation by Gourmetmarichef
Ingredients
- 1½ c. King Arthur Unbleached Flour*
- 1 tsp. baking powder
- ¼ tsp. baking soda
- 1 tsp. cinnamon
- 1 tsp. fresh minced ginger
- ½ tsp. fine mediterranean sea salt
- ¾ c. packed brown sugar
- ½ c. Kite Hill™ plain artisan almond milk yogurt
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs
- 2 tbsp. rice milk
- 1/3 c. melted coconut oil
- 1 ½ c. grated carrots (approx. 3-4)
- ½ c. unsweetened shredded coconut, a bit more for the frosting
- ½ c. toasted chopped pecans
*for a gluten-free alternative: Use Gluten Free Pillsbury Best™ all purpose flour blend
Frosting recipe:
- 2 or more c. powdered sugar
- 2 tbsp. Kite Hill plain artisan almond milk yogurt
- 2 tbsp. dairy free butter
- 2 tbsp. more or less rice milk
- 1 tsp. vanilla
Directions
preheat oven to 350°
- Grease a cake pan and place on the side.
- Whisk the first 6 ingredients in a large bowl, making a well in the center.
- In a smaller bowl, whisk the next 6 ingredients together.
- Pour the blended ingredients from the smaller bowl into the well of the larger bowl and stir.
- Fold in the grated carrots, shredded coconut, and chopped pecans.
- Spoon the batter into the cake pan.
- Bake until the cake is golden and a knife inserted in the middle comes out clean, 30-40 minutes.
- Make the frosting: combine the powdered sugar, almond milk yogurt, dairy free butter, rice milk and vanilla until creamy and spreadable. You may have to use more powdered sugar or rice milk to get the right consistency.
- Spread the frosting evenly on the cake.
- Top the cake with shredded coconut.
Carrot Cake is my Favorite too!!! Yummy!!!
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