These raw carrot cake bites with cashew cream cheese frosting are vegan, gluten-free, and refined sugar-free for a wholesome and delicious dessert everyone can enjoy. A fan-favorite, I think you're going to love them.
Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links.
Today we are going to explore the world of RAW desserts.
Back when I started this blog, I became a bit of a raw dessert connoisseur. Raw desserts can be a bit intimidating for beginners. I know this first hand; I used to be terrified of them. However, as anyone will tell you, they are surprisingly simple to make.
In 2012 I started experimenting with raw desserts and I was amazed at how a few simple ingredients could create endless flavor combinations with the most decadent and delicious tastes and textures. Better yet, there is quite a lot of room for trial and error since you can test and taste as you go. This is obviously different than most baking allowing even beginners to make incredible raw desserts.
Throughout the years, my raw desserts have been some of my most popular recipes. Such as:
- Chocolate Hazelnut Cheesecake Bars
- Mint Chocolate Ice Cream
But my most popular raw dessert recipe to date (and the 2nd most popular recipe on this blog next to my vegan blueberry muffins) are these Raw Carrot Cake Bites. Made with a base of walnuts, carrots, and dates, these cake bites are packed with flavor and nutrients for a dessert we can feel GREAT about biting into.
Recommended Ingredients and Equipment
Ingredients & Substitutions
- Carrots
- Walnuts
- Medjool Dates - Make sure to use Medjool dates over regular dates; they are juicier and sweeter than normal dates giving this cake both a deliciously moist texture while sweetening naturally.
- Unsweetened Shredded Coconut - This is sometimes called desiccated coconut. Make sure to use unsweetened.
- Spices - You will need a blend of cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and salt
- Cashew Cream Cheese Frosting - This is a combination of raw cashews, raw agave nectar, vanilla extract, lemon juice, salt, and coconut oil.
Recommended Equipment
For this recipe, I highly recommend a Vitamix. These blenders can be pricy, but my Vitamix is, by far, the most used gadget in my kitchen. Most other blenders are simply not powerful enough to create a cream out of cashews.
You will also need an 8x8 baking pan, a food processor, an offset spatula, and a sharp knife. (<<affiliate links)
Check out the full list of my recommended kitchen tools and gadgets.
How to make Raw Carrot Cake Bites
Like I said earlier, raw desserts can be quite simple to make. There is a lot more room for trial and error and there is a seemingly endless combination of flavors and textures with just a handful of basic ingredients.
Step One - Shred the Carrots
By hand or in your food processor, shred the carrots. You want 2 ½ cups of shredded carrots for this recipe which is about 3 large carrots.
Step Two - Carrot Cake Base
To make the carrot cake, start by blending together the dates and walnuts in your food processor. Blend them until the walnuts and dates have broken down into a uniform crumb; it should sticks together when pressed between your fingers.
Once we have our base, we add the carrots, coconut, spices, and salt. Process again until all the ingredients are well incorporated into a uniform cake.
At this point the cake base will be quite soft; it sets up in the freezer. Transfer the cake to a prepared cake pan and freeze.
Step Three - Cashew Cream Cheese Frosting
To make the cream cheese frosting, throw everything into the blender, liquids first, except the coconut oil. Blend until silky smooth and then, with the motor running, slowly add the coconut oil until it is completely incorporated.
Pro Tip: If you don’t have a high-powered blender, you can soak the cashews for about 6 hours ahead of time and they will blend up fairly well.
Step Four - Frost the Cake
The cream cheese frosting will be quite pourable at this point. Pour it onto your chilled cake. Using an offset spatula, spread it evenly over the top then wrap the cake plastic wrap and freeze for at least 2 hours to let the cake set up.
Serving and Storing
Serving - Keep the cake in the freezer for at least 2 hours before serving. When you are ready to serve, pull the carrot cake out and let it thaw 10-20 minutes (depending on how frozen it is) before slicing. Slice with a sharp hot knife, cleaning it off between each use for clean cuts. The cake should be served immediately. It will soften if left out too long at room temperature.
Storing - The uneaten cake should be stored in the freezer. Tightly wrap it in plastic wrap and store it for up to 2 months.
Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links.
More Raw Dessert Recipes
- Chocolate Hazelnut Cheesecake Bars
- Mint Chocolate Ice Cream
- Coconut Cream Pie
- 3-Ingredient Pecan Pie Tartlets
Raw Carrot Cake Bites
Ingredients
Carrot Cake
- 2 ½ cup shredded carrots, about 3-4 large carrots
- 1 ½ cup raw walnuts
- 1 cup Medjool dates, pitted
- 1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ tsp. ground ginger
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- pinch of salt
Cashew Cream Frosting
- 1 cup raw cashews
- ¼ cup water
- 3 tablespoon maple syrup or raw agave nectar*
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- juice of ½ lemon
- pinch of salt
- ⅓ cup coconut oil, melted
- walnuts and extra cinnamon, for finish
Instructions
- Line an 8x8 baking dish (or equally sized pan) with parchment paper letting the edges hang over the sides of the pan.
- By hand or with a food processor using the grating attachment, shred the carrots. Place them in a large bowl and set aside. Clean out the food processor and switch to the blade attachment. Blend together the walnuts and dates into a uniform crumb; it should sticks together when pressed between your fingers. Add carrots, coconut, spices, and salt and blend again, scraping down the sides as needed, until the carrots are fully incorporated.
- Press the cake into the prepared pan, smooth over the top, and place in the freezer while making the cream cheese frosting.
- To make the cream cheese frosting, combine cashews, water, agave nectar or maple syrup, vanilla, salt, and lemon juice in a high-powered blender. Blend until silky smooth. Add coconut oil and blend to combine. Pour onto the chilled cake and smooth the top. Cover in plastic wrap and freeze for at least 2 hours.
- When ready to serve, remove the cake from the freezer. To release it from the pan, pull up the sides of the parchment paper. Top with walnuts and dust with cinnamon. Let it thaw 10 minutes at room temperature.
- With a hot, sharp knife cut cake into 2 x 2-inch pieces. If the cake is very frozen, let it thaw an additional 15 minutes before serving.
Hi, I’m Sarah. I’m a 14-year (and counting) vegan, professionally trained photographer, former pastry chef, founder of My Darling Vegan, and author of the
suzi says
we dont soak the walnuts, do we? and the dates are dry as well? making this for a passover dinner tonite and bet it will be well received!! no flour, no yeast , no problem!!
Sarah says
I didn't soak them because they don't want to be puréed just minced. If you're using medjool dates, which are softer, there would be no need to soak but with cheaper dates it wouldn't be a bad idea. Hope the family likes them!
suzi says
absolute hit!! thanks so much and i will be sharing : )
Jess says
Hi - this recipe looks awesome and I'd love to try it, however since I'm kind of new to exploring the world of raw eating, can you please explain how I soak the cashews and why? (Is it simply just soaking them in water or a solution of some sort?
Sarah says
just soaking them it water. this softens the cashews so that when you puree them they are smoother. Otherwise, you would not get the creamy smoothness needed for cashew cream. good luck!
Kristin says
This looks amazing! I'm going to make this tonight for sure. I've been limited with my foods since discovering I have a candida problem. Thanks for posting!
Anne Mette says
I'm having family over for my birthday on sunday, and thought I would make this cake. It looks delicious!
But the vanilla you mention for the Cashew Cream Frosting - is it the powder, extract, seeds from a vanilla bean or...?
Sarah says
It's vanilla extract. Thanks for pointing that out. I will clarify in the recipe.
Natti says
Wow I am going shopping and making this today! I love carrot cake but feel the ones in the cafes are too big and full of sugar. This looks amazing and I'm betting its going to taste amazing as well! One question though for a person who is off sugar should I skip the agave nectar?
Sarah says
If you aren't doing any type of sweeteners, I'm not sure how you'd replace the agave in the cashew cream. You could try adding a few stevia drops to the cream to sweeten it. or replace agave with maple syrup, but that is also a sugar you may be trying to avoid. Those are my best two suggestions. Good Luck!
Shawnap says
Thank you for the wonderful recipe! I used almonds in place of the walnuts as that was all I had. It tasted great though and this is a recipe that anyone could enjoy.
t says
LOVED IT! i was thinking of trying it with cardamom instead of cinnamon next time ...
anyhow, i think that 1 tbsp of natural fat (cold pressed coconut oil is supposed to have some positive effects, so definitely a plus! :)) and natural sugar are still better than a bag of candy or a slice of cake and everything-that's-in-it that you can eat in a blink of an eye ... and definitely MORE tasty! 🙂 it's also more filling so at least you can't eat so much (though i had to take the plate away from my family)
Kelsey says
Just made these tonight! Are you meant to store them in the freezer all the time?
Very tasty, but be aware, these are pretty fattening! I'm sure it's better than eating processed sugary treats but there is still a large amount of fat in this, too much to call it healthy, in my opinion. But it IS a dessert. Desserts aren't supposed to be healthy right?
Just for your information:
1 tablespoon of coconut oil has 14g of fat
1/4 cup walnuts has 20g of fat
1 oz cashews has 12g of fat
those are only single servings, but for this recipe you use wayyyyyyyy more than that. But that is the problem with raw cooking! All those nuts really add up the fat quick! And I don't care if it's considered good fat. Fat is fat.
But they were still tasty! I had a little slice!
Sarah says
I'm glad you liked them. I do know they are full of fat, which is like you said, true of many raw desserts. That is why I make them bite-sized, as I do with most my raw desserts. The recipes should make 15 or 16 servings. That makes each bite have 1 tbsp of walnuts, 1 tbsp of cashews, and about 1 tsp coconut oil. So that might make you feel a bit better.
I do believe that raw desserts are among the most decadent of desserts, which also means smaller portions. But two bites of something wonderful is much better than a bowl full of processed, mediocre dessert.
Anyway, thanks for writing and trying them out!
Tracey - Biome says
Sarah - you are so clever! Just posted this also on our Pinterest collection of raw & vegan recipes. That cashew cream frosting sounds so delicious. There is an incredible raw food wave sweeping the blogosphere. How lucky we are to live in this age when we can share all this brilliant foodie ingenuity!
Shelly Somers says
Hello,
We are trying follow a raw way of life and our daughter has multiple allergies. I have been pouring through all the delicious desserts for her, so as she will be able to enjoy a Valentine's Day Party at school without all the scary food she can't eat (not that we would partake anyway). Our biggest problem is nuts and everthing raw has Cashews, a huge allergen for her. Any ideas. We would be ever so grateful. I realize this is really short notice. That's my life 🙂
Sarah says
Here is my raw chocolate almond fudge recipe: http://www.thesweetlifeonline.com/2013/01/17/raw-chocolate-almond-marble-fudge/
it does have almond butter, but you could just make the chocolate part for chocolate fudge if she is allergic to almonds. I will be coming out with an ebook soon that has a couple other nut-free raw recipes but for now this is all I have. Good Luck!
Iren Parusheva says
Amazing recipe i am going to try this one today 🙂
Diana says
Another amazing recipe! I didn't have agave nectar, so I substituted equal amount of maple syrup. It was delicious! I have one question. Why do you have to soak the raw cashews over night? Can you soak them longer than over night or not soak them at all?
Sarah says
I soak them to soften them so that they grind up to a smoother paste. You shouldn't soak them more than about 8 hours because it's not good for the cashew, but you should definitely soak them for 4 hours at least.
Beth says
These. Look. Amazing.
I can't wait to try them. I am trying to incorporate more raw food into my diet and these just simply look amazing!
CC says
I just made this. It is soooooo yummy! Thank you for the recipe! I have been looking for a raw vegan dessert recipe that is actually good!
Deb says
One word: Yum!!!!
And, I didn't even think I was a fan of carrot cake!
I wanted to share my fun variation on this recipe, which turned out so well:
I used a circle shape silicone chocolate mold to make these. I put a carrot cake layer iced with the cashew cream in each of the individual circles, and then froze them for a few hours...and then popped them right out! They were as fun to make as they were to eat!
Something tells me these are not going to last long!
Anya says
Oh wow. I just made these. I couldn't wait for a whole 2 hours to try it, so I tried it after the cake only spent an hour in a freezer. Oh wow, it was beyond delicious!!! So moist, so flavourful and so delicious. Everything you want a carrot cake to be and more. It was my fist time trying the cashew frosting, and it just blew my mind. I couldn't stop licking the food processor!! I'm just amazed. I can't believe this is healthy. This recipe is definitely going on my go-to dessert recipe list. I just might never make the regular carrot cake again!