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I pretty much bake up a banana bread biweekly but this week I thought I’d try something new. Also I had a huge bag of carrots from Costco to use up (however … these carrots were enormous so I only needed one large carrot to get 2 cups grated!). It’s a little healthier than the classic carrot cake but let’s be honest, the cream cheese frosting on carrot cake is the best part so I went traditional there with full fat cream cheese and butter. Everything in moderation, right?

what you need:

• 2 cups grated carrots
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup greek yogurt
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup quick rolled oats
• 1/2 cup coconut sugar
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

cream cheese frosting (adapted from Two Sisters Crafting)

• 1/2 block (125 g) cream cheese (room temp)
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter (room temp)
• 2 cups icing sugar
• 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp milk

 

what to do:

1. Preheat oven to 350 F (my oven is convection – if you have a traditional oven your baking time will need to increase).
2. In a stand mixer with the paddle attachment (or use a handheld beater), beat eggs, oil and sugar together.
3. In a separate bowl, combine flour, oats, baking powder, baking soda, salt, ginger and nutmeg.
4. Add carrots to wet mixture, mixing well.
5. Add dry ingredients and do not over mix.
6. Fold in greek yogurt.
7. Pour batter into a buttered loaf pan, bake in the centre rack for about 25 minutes. (Or until top is golden brown and not jiggly anymore).
8. Leave for at least 20 minutes to cool in the pan before trying to remove your loaf – otherwise it may break on transfer!
9. Transfer loaf to cooling rack and allow it to fully cool to room temperature before frosting. Plenty of time to make the frosting now:)!

Frosting:

1. With whisk attachment (or again, using hand held beaters) – cream together butter and cream cheese, until very smooth.
2. Add vanilla and milk, beat until smooth again.
3. Add icing sugar, one cup at a time, and beat until smooth.
4. Spread on carrot loaf once the loaf is fully cooled to room temperature. This is important because if the loaf is warm at all it will just melt your frosting right off and you’ll end up with a sloppy mess!
5. ENJOY!