Vegan Carrot Bread – No Added Sugar

Made with nothing but wholesome ingredients such as carrots, dates, applesauce, raisins, whole wheat flour and flax, this Vegan Carrot Bread might be healthy, but no one will ever know. Even kids will love it!

Here’s a carrot bread that contains nothing but wholesome ingredients and no added sugar or animal products whatsoever… some may think that it must taste and feel like pure cardboard in your mouth, but trust me, nothing could be further from the truth. If anything, this cake has even more flavor and texture than any carrot bread or cake I’ve ever eaten.

It’s crazy moist, dense, plenty sweet, slightly spiced… tasty enough to pass for dessert, but healthful enough to eat as a snack, or even as part of breakfast!

One of the things that I’m most excited about with this carrot bread recipe is the fact that it doesn’t even contain eggs. I’ve only just started experimenting with vegan baking and quite frankly I am totally impressed with the results I have been getting. To be honest, I’d been reading about using ground flax seeds as an egg replacement for years, but for some reason I was extremely skeptical that it would work all that great… plus, I never really bothered because I’d always been a firm believer that eggs were good for me. Now I’m not so sure anymore… 

After experimenting with flax egg replacement it for a little while, I have to admit that I absolutely love it! In fact, I think I even prefer flax eggs to the real deal. It’s consistently produced baked goods that had a perfect texture, were extra moist and held super well, too.

I’m definitely a fan. A super excited fan! And I think the chickens are, too! 

To start, preheat your oven to 350°F, then grease and flour a one pound loaf pan.

Next, prep your ingredients: in a large mixing bowl, combine the dry ingredients and mix them well with a flat whisk until evenly combined then set aside.

In a small bowl or measuring cup, whisk together the almond milk and ground flax seeds (you could also use ground chia seeds if you preferred) then let that sit to thicken while you take care of the rest of the wet ingredients.

Grab a second large mixing bowl and in it, combine the grated carrots, unsweetened applesauce, grated fresh pineapple (you could also use canned crushed pineapple, if that was easier for you), date paste, vanilla extract and melted coconut oil. You might want to add that coconut oil last to avoid it clumping up when it comes in contact with cold ingredients…

Stir your wet ingredients with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula until all the ingredients are well combined, then pour in the thickened milk mixture.

Stir this milk mixture in until it’s well incorporated…

Now add the dry ingredients in, all at once…

Stir delicately until the dry ingredients are almost combined but a few patches of flour remain visible and then add some chopped walnuts, dried apricots and raisins to the batter.

Give the batter a final stir, until all the new additions are fully incorporated, and then transfer it to the prepared loaf pan.

Spread the batter evenly all the way to the edge of the pan and garnish the top with a handful of chopped walnuts, if desired.

Bake your carrot bread in the preheated oven for 70 to 75 minutes, or until the top is nice and golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center of the loaf comes out practically clean.
Remove the bread from the oven and place it on a cooling rack to cool for about 30 minutes, or at least until the pan and cake can be safely handled with your bare hands.

Remove the carrot bread from the pan and let it cool completely before slicing. Although if you were in a hurry and couldn’t wait to have a taste, you could get away with slicing it after about an hour, but be ready to deal with a very delicate and moist bread at that point. It does handle much better after it’s had a chance to chill for several hours, or even get a good night sleep!

Store your finished carrot bread in a cool dry place in an airtight container, where it will keep for up to a week. If you manage to make it last that long… 

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5 from 3 votes

Vegan Carrot Bread

Prep Time: 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour hour 10 minutes minutes

Total Time: 1 hour hour 25 minutes minutes

Made with nothing but wholesome ingredients such as carrots, dates, applesauce, raisins, whole wheat flour and flax, this Vegan Carrot Bread might be healthy, but no one will ever know. Even kids will love it!

Servings: 12 slices

Ingredients

US Customary - Metric

Dry Ingredients

• 2-1/2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt, I use Himalayan salt
• 1 tbsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp ground ginger
• 1/8 tsp ground clove

Wet Ingredients

• 1 cup almond milk
• 3 tbsp ground flax seeds, or ground chia seeds
• 2-1/2 cups grated carrots, about 3 large
• 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 1/2 cup grated fresh pineapple, (or canned crushed pineapple, drained)
• 1/2 cup date paste
• 1/2 cup coconut oil
• 1 tbsp pure vanilla extract

Add-Ins

• 3/4 cup chopped walnuts, plus more to garnish, if desired
• 1/2 cup dried apricots , roughly chopped
• 1/2 cup raisins

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 350°F; grease and flour a one pound loaf pan.
• In a large mixing bowl, combine the dry ingredients and mix well with a flat whisk until evenly combined; set aside.
• In a small bowl or measuring cup, whisk together the almond milk and ground flax seeds; set aside.
• In a second large mixing bowl, combine the grated carrots, applesauce, grated pineapple, date paste, vanilla extract and melted coconut oil and stir well with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula until all the ingredients are well combined.
• Pour in the milk mixture and stir to combine, then add dry ingredients all at once and stir delicately until almost combined but a few patches of flour are still visible.
• Add the chopped walnuts, dried apricots and raisins and mix until well combined and transfer the batter to the prepared pan.
• Spread evenly to the edge of the pan and garnish the top with chopped walnuts, if desired.
• Bake in the preheated oven for 70 to 75 minutes or until the top is nice and golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center of the loaf comes out practically clean.
• Remove the bread from the oven and place it on a cooling rack to cool for about 30 minutes, or at least until the pan and cake can be safely handled with your bare hands.
• Remove the carrot bread from the pan and let it cool completely before slicing.
• Store in a cool dry place in an airtight container for up to a week.

Nutrition

Calories: 325kcal, Carbohydrates: 44g, Protein: 6g, Fat: 16g, Saturated Fat: 8g, Sodium: 343mg, Potassium: 526mg, Fiber: 7g, Sugar: 13g, Vitamin A: 3350IU, Vitamin C: 6.4mg, Calcium: 118mg, Iron: 2.1mg

Course: Bakery

Cuisine: American, Vegan

Author: Sonia! The Healthy Foodie

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