An Unfortunate Fact.

Referring to “carrot cake” as “carrot bread” does not, in any way, make it more healthy.

Bummer, right? Dude, I know.

Cakes are full of fat and sugars. So if you want to make something healthier, you have to cut down on those. I’ve been using this adapted version of a recipe from the Mayo Clinic website to make a slightly healthier version of the traditional Carrot Cake Posing As A Quick Bread. You don’t need a lot of sugar when you’re using carrots; combined with the raisins in this recipe, you’ve got plenty of natural sweetness. This isn’t a toothachingly sweet like carrot cake can sometimes be;  it is mostly savory, but with a hint of sweetness. Whole wheat flour makes it filing, but the generous amount of carrots and raisins prevent it from drying out.

Why are we talking about this? Because I cleaned out my fridge, that’s why. Or, more specifically, I started to clean out my fridge and found some sad looking carrots. I subsequently decided that I’d cleaned the fridge enough for one day and wanted to make some carrot bread.

It straddles the line between cake and quick bread but for our purposes today, let’s call it bread.

Yuck. I know. Icky wimpy carrots. But a quick shave with the veggie peeler and a pass over the grater, and you’d never know.

There’s a hint of spice and warmth that comes from the orange zest, juice, cinnamon and ginger.

This is extremely easy to veganize, too. I alternate depending on whether or not I have eggs in the fridge.

Carrot-Spice Quick Bread

makes 1 loaf

Adapted from the Mayo Clinic Website

Ingredients

• 1-1/2 cup whole-wheat flour
• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt (optional)
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/3 cup vegan margarine or butter, room temperature. Applesauce can also be substituted, but monitor baking time closely as it may bake more quickly.
• 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/3 cup soy (or regular) milk
• 4 tablespoons orange juice
• 1 egg or equivalent vegan Egg substitute, beaten
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon orange zest
• 1-1/2 to 2 cups shredded carrots
 (4-5 medium carrots)
• 1/3 to 1/2 cups raisins (to your own tastes)
• 1-2 tablespoons demura sugar (optional)

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 F

Sift the dry ingredients together in a medium bowl.

Cream the margarine and brown sugar. Add in the milk, OJ, vanilla, orange zest and egg (one ingredient at a time.) Blend on medium speed until the mixture is well blended. Slowly add the dry ingredients. Mix until thick and creamy.

Using a wooden spoon, beat in the carrots and raisins. 
Spoon batter into a greased 8 1/2×4 1/2×2 1/2 loaf pan. Sprinkle with demura sugar, if using. The demura creates a sweet, thinly crispy crust on the surface of the bread. Bake for 50-55 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Cool in pan 10 minutes. Remove from pan and allow to cool completely on a wire rack.
If you want to slightly (or majorly) unhealthify your healthy carrot spice bread, try spreading on a bit of cream cheese. Or, vanilla yogurt. Or, um, vanilla ice cream.

Keeps well for about a week, wrapped and stored in the fridge.