Cute Mini Carrot Layer Cakes (no refined sugar or flour!)
These mini carrot layer cakes are so cute and so easy to make. Not only are they so cute, but they’re made with whole wheat flour and lightly sweetened with honey, making them a healthier option than your usual carrot cake. Topped with cream cheese frosting (that’s also sweetened with honey), these mini carrot cakes are fun to make and sure to become another favorite in your house.
Mini Carrot Cakes
Carrot cake is such a classic treat. It’s loved for it’s warm spices and orange carrot speckled crumb, and is famously paired with cream cheese frosting. Unfortunately, carrot cake is also known for being loaded with a boatload of refined sugar and frosting that’s so sweet you can’t even taste the tang of the cream cheese anymore (un-tangy cream cheese frosting really irks me, for real).
That stops here!
These mini carrot layer cakes are all you love about carrot cake without the overdose on sugar, oil, and refined flour. And the best part, they’re tiny cute little cakes that will make everyone ooh and ahh when they see them.
Ingredients
For the carrot cake
Scroll to the bottom for exact measurements. Here I’ll just give a run down on what you’ll need to make these mini carrot cakes.
For perfectly cute mini carrot cakes you’ll need:
- White whole wheat flour
- Baking powder
- Baking soda
- Cinnamon
- Cloves
- Kosher salt
- Avocado oil
- Honey
- 1 Egg
- Vanilla extract
- Grated carrots
For the Cream Cheese Frosting
To make the cream cheese frosting, you best get your hands on some:
- Cream cheese
- Butter
- Honey
- Vanilla extract
- Salt
See, nothing crazy here. Just some good ol’ wholesome ingredients to make some delicious little carrot cakes.
“Oh no, I don’t have all the ingredients!” I got you, here are some substitution and swap ideas
- White whole wheat flour – can also use normal whole wheat flour, all purpose flour, or 1:1 gf flour
- Honey – can also use maple syrup or any granulated sugar (if using granulated sugar, still combine it with the wet ingredients like the recipe says)
- Avocado oil – can use any neutral oil (I like oil based cakes because they stay moist longer than ones made with butter, and I don’t have to worry about stuff being at room temp. Ain’t nobody got time to remember to get an egg to room temp)
How to Make Mini Carrot Layer Cakes
It is really easy to make these mini carrot layer cakes. For the cakes, all the equipment you need are two bowls, a whisk, and a rubber spatula. An electric hand mixer is nice to have for making the cream cheese frosting, but if you think you got the muscle to whip it up by hand, more power to you.
- Prep: Heat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Make a parchment sling in an 9 x 13 baking dish.
- Mix Dry Ingredients: In a medium bow, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, and salt. Set aside.
- Whisk together wet ingredients: In a large bowl, whisk avocado oil, honey, egg, vanilla extract, and grated carrots.
- Combine dry with the wet: Pour the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and fold together gently.
- Bake it up: Pour batter into the baking dish and bake for 10 – 12 minutes or until set in the center (the cake is thin, so keep an eye on it, it can over bake easily).
- Assemble and frost: Cream together the frosting ingredients. Cut the cooled cake into 6 rounds. Plop about 2 tablespoons of frosting on top of 3 of the rounds. Place remaining rounds on top, then frost the outside.
- Marvel at the cuteness and eat: Let the frosted cakes set up in the fridge for about 30 minutes, then serve and enjoy!
Tips for the Best Mini Carrot Cakes
Here are some tips to make these mini carrot cakes turn out oh so good:
- Don’t over mix the batter: Continuing to mix the batter even after there are no more dry patches of flour can cause gluten formation and make the cake tough. To ensure a tender cake, mix only just enough.
- Bake until just set and firm in the center: this cake is thin, so it can over bake easily. Keep an eye on the cake. If it isn’t done at 10 minutes, put it bake in the oven, but stay close by. Check doneness every minute (after the first 10 minutes of baking) to make sure you don’t bake the cake too long and dry it out.
Tah dah! You’re all set to bake up some cute mini carrot layer cakes. Have fun baking!
Cute Mini Carrot Layer Cakes
Equipment
- 9 x 13 baking dish
- Large Bowl
- Medium Bowl
- Electric hand mixer
Ingredients
Dry Ingredients
- ¾ cup + 2 TBS white whole wheat flour (100 g)
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- ¼ tsp cloves
- ¼ tsp kosher salt
Wet Ingredients
- ⅓ cup avocado oil (73 g)
- ⅓ cup honey (95 g)
- 1 whole egg
- ½ TBS vanilla extract
- 1 cup shredded carrots (118 g) about 2 carrots
Cream Cheese Frosting
- 6 oz cream cheese (170 g) room temp
- 3 TBS butter (42 g) room temp
- 2 TBS honey (40 g)
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
- pinch salt
Instructions
- Put the rack in the center position of the oven. Heat the oven to 350℉. Make a parchment paper sling in a 9 x 13 baking dish.
- In a medium bowl, add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, and salt. Whisk ingredients until fully combined.¾ cup + 2 TBS white whole wheat flour, 1 tsp baking powder, ½ tsp baking soda, 1 tsp cinnamon, ¼ tsp cloves, ¼ tsp kosher salt
- In a large bowl, add the avocado oil, honey, egg, and vanilla extract. Whisk until it is uniform in color and consistency. Stir in shredded carrots.⅓ cup avocado oil, ⅓ cup honey, 1 whole egg, ½ TBS vanilla extract, 1 cup shredded carrots
- Pour the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Fold together with a rubber spatula until just combined.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan and spread into an even layer.
- Bake until the cake is set in the center. About 10 – 12 minutes.
- Let the cake cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then using the parchment sling, remove the cake from the pan. Invert onto a wire rack, remove parchment paper, and let cool completely. That should only take about 20 – 30 minutes.
- While cake cools, make the cream cheese frosting. Using an electric hand mixer, beat the cream cheese and softened butter together until smooth. Add the honey, vanilla, and salt. Beat everything together until smooth and fluffy.6 oz cream cheese, 3 TBS butter, 2 TBS honey, ½ tsp vanilla extract, pinch salt
- Place the cooled cake on a cutting board. Using a drinking glass with a 4" opening or a 4" cookie cutter, cut out 6 rounds from the sheet of cake.
- On 3 of the cake rounds, put about 2 TBS of frosting on each and smooth into an even layer. Place the other 3 cake rounds on top of the frosted rounds.
- Frost the layer cakes with a thin layer of frosting to help trap all the crumbs (called a crumb coat). Put the cakes into the fridge for about 20 minutes to help set the frosting. When the crumb coat is set, frost the cakes with a thicker layer of frosting. Chill cakes again to help the final layer of frosting set.
- Enjoy!
