As soon as I read through Emily‘s post on her Guilt-Free Carrot Bundt Cake, I knew I had to make it. Carrot cake is without a doubt my favorite kind of cake, as is evidenced in the many carrot-cake inspired recipes I’ve posted (see end of this post for links).
My initial intention of making Emily’s cake morphed into a desire to make a breakfast bread, but I loved the idea of baking the bread in a bundt pan.
My poor, unused bundt pan has been collecting dust for… years.
I think it was waiting for this recipe to come along!
It was worth the wait.
This bread is delicately sweetened with Sucanat, which is unrefined sugar cane that tastes faintly of molasses, and crushed pineapple. I don’t always include raisins and nuts in carrot cake, but this bread would not be nearly as good without them as they add both flavor and texture.
Sifting the whole wheat pastry flour ensures a light consistency, and a modest amount of canola oil combined with buttermilk, carrots, and pineapple keep the bread moist.
I found that the bread tasted even better after a few day of resting (tightly wrapped) in the fridge. The flavor intensified, and the texture softened even further.
The best aspect of this bread? You can eat it for breakfast, snack, or dessert… or even all three in one day 🙂
Carrot Cake Bundt Bread
yield: 12 servingsadapted from Sugar Plum’s Carrot Bundt Cake
- canola oil baking spray
- 1 3/4 cups whole wheat pastry flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ground ginger
- 1/3 cup canola oil
- 2/3 cup low fat buttermilk
- 1/4 cup Sucanat
- 2 large eggs
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups shredded carrots, about 4 medium-sized carrots (preferably organic)
- 1/2 cup finely chopped toasted pecans
- 1/2 cup raisins soaked in boiling water for 10 minutes to rehydrate
- 8 oz crushed pineapple in juice, reserve juice
- 1/2 cup old fashioned oats
Directions:
- Heat oven to 350°F.
- Lightly coat the inside of a bundt pan with canola oil baking spray.
- In a medium mixing bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and ginger.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, (or a large mixing bowl), beat together oil, buttermilk and Sucanat until well combined, about 1 minute. Beat in eggs and vanilla extract until well combined, about 1 more minute. Stir in grated carrots, pecans, raisins, pineapple, reserved pineapple juice, and oats until well combined.
- With a rubber spatula, fold in flour mixture until just combined. Spread cake batter into prepared pan.
- Bake for about 35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the bread comes out clean.
- Cool for 10 minutes on a wire rack. Place wire rack over the top of the budnt pan and invert so that the bread is right-side up on the rack. Remove pan and let bread cool completely.
- Bread is even better after a few days in the fridge. Tightly wrap cooled bread in plastic wrap and chill.
According to Spark Recipes: @ 12 servings, each serving has 231 calories, 11.1 grams fat (1.2 saturated, 3.2 polyunsaturated, 6.0 monounsaturated), 4.5 grams fiber, 6.5 grams sugar, 4.6 grams protein
Other carrot cake-inspired recipes from Healthy Food For Living:
