An easy, quick carrot bread recipe made with whole wheat flour, spiced with cinnamon, ginger, and allspice, and sweetened only with maple syrup - perfect for breakfast, snacks and even a healthy dessert.
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease an 8x4-inch loaf pan with softened butter using a pastry brush (or line the pan with parchment and grease only the ends).
Mix the dry ingredients in a large bowl: flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and allspice.
In a small bowl or glass measuring cup stir together the wet ingredients with a fork: yogurt, maple syrup, butter, and egg. Pour this into the dry ingredients and mix just until the flour is combined. Fold in the carrots along with the nuts (if using) - the dough will be thick.
Spread the dough in the prepared pan, using a spatula to smooth the top evenly. Bake for 55 to 65 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Cool in the pan for 10 minutes and then turn out onto a metal rack to cool completely.
When cool, make optional glaze:
Combine softened cream cheese** and maple syrup with a whisk until smooth. If needed, use a bit more syrup to thin more, 1 teaspoon at a time.
Use a spoon to pour evenly over the loaf.
Refrigerate to set glaze.
Notes
*Regular, white whole wheat, and whole wheat pastry all work (whole wheat pastry will give you the lightest texture - the bread in the photos was made with regular whole wheat).**If your cream cheese isn't fully softened you will get lumps in your glaze that will be impossible to whisk out.Note on the nutrition amounts: the numbers were calculated on how the bread is illustrated in the photos - with the optional nuts and glaze.