Easy Gluten Free Carrot Cake

This easy gluten free carrot cake has all the flavor and moisture of the classic recipe. This recipe is also dairy-free and refined sugar-free so you can comfortably indulge without regret!

Best Carrot Cake

My husband loves carrot cake so I make one at least once a year either for his birthday or for Father’s Day. But this easy carrot cake recipe is so simple to whip up, you might find yourself making one every weekend!

I’ve been making this recipe for quite some time, but only recently started making it gluten free, dairy free and refined sugar free. Because I was so familiar with the process, it was fairly easy to alter the recipe. This gluten carrot cake is soft, moist (dare I use that word), and absolutely delicious with lots of warm spices.

“But what about the carrot cake icing?” This cake is so rich that it doesn’t need any cream cheese frosting. This is also why it works as an anytime cake or even a great coffee cake.

Loving this recipe? Try my Gluten Free Short Crust Pastry Dough recipe for more baking fun!

Why You’ll Love This Gluten Free Carrot Cake Recipe

• Easy to Make: Despite its rich and decadent flavor, this recipe is very simple. Simply combine the wet ingredients with the dry ingredients, pour, and bake!
• Crowd Pleaser: When I’m entertaining, I love to have a dessert that everyone can enjoy, even those with dietary restrictions. This vegan carrot cake is also gluten-free, dairy-free, and refined sugar-free.
• Family Friendly Recipe: It’s a great recipe to get the kids involved. My children love helping with each step and even scooping the batter into a pan.

Gluten Free Carrot Cake Ingredients

So what makes this carrot cake different? For this carrot cake, I used melted coconut oil, coconut milk and coconut sugar in place of regular oil, milk, and cane sugar. I also substituted the regular all purpose flour for measure for measure gluten free flour.

Dry Ingredients

• Measure for measure gluten free flour: For gluten free baking you need a soft, loose batter versus the thicker batter that you would find in regular carrot cakes. Gluten free cup for cup all purpose flours have been making life so easy. For this recipe I used Betty Crocker All Purpose Gluten Free flour. It takes all the guesswork out of gluten free baking.
• Coconut sugar: It has a unique flavor profile, often described as a caramel or butterscotch-like taste.
• Salt: This enhances the other flavors.
• Baking soda and baking soda: These leaveners help the cake rise.
• Spices: I love cake that has lots of warm spices. Ground cinnamon, ground cloves, freshly grated nutmeg and ground ginger add such warmth and flavor to the cake that it feels like a warm hug on a cool day. You can substitute all the spices for two teaspoons of pumpkin spice.

Wet Ingredients

• Melted coconut oil or other cooking oil:
• Coconut milk:
• Unsweetened apple sauce: This adds moisture to the cake without using excess oil, fat, or eggs.
• Golden Raisins: Add rinsed raisins for a naturally sweet flavor.
• Grated carrots: You can’t have carrot cake without carrots. For this recipe, I use two average sized carrots grated using the small shred side of a cheese grater. You can also grate the carrots on the large shred side if you want to see shreds of carrot in the finished cake, either works.
• Eggs:
• Vanilla extract:

See recipe card for quantities.

How to Make Carrot Cake

Preheat your oven to 350 °F.

In a mixing bowl, combine all the dry ingredients (excluding the coconut sugar) and set the mixture aside.

In a large mixing bowl, blend the coconut sugar with all the wet ingredients, ensuring a thorough mix.

Now, add the dry ingredient mixture to the wet ingredients.

Stir well until you achieve a batter with a consistency similar to pancake batter.

Scoop or pour your finished batter into a greased baking tin and let the oven to its thing! You will notice that because this cake uses coconut sugar it is browner than your typical carrot cake. So don’t use how brown it is as an indication of doneness. Instead, insert a toothpick into the center of the cake.

Once done, take the cake out of the oven and allow it to cool completely before removing it from the baking tin and serving.

I know you are going to be tempted to eat this cake hot out of the oven. The smell of the cake baking just makes you want to dig into it as soon as it is done baking. Try to resist and allow the cake to cool before removing from the baking pan. Allow the cake to cool completely before cutting into it or it may fall apart.

Recipe Substitutions & Variations

• Nuts: Some recipes include toasted pecans or walnuts. I’ve also seen shredded coconut. All of these add a nutty flavor and more texture.
• Carrot Cake Muffins: Pour the batter into a muffin pan and bake for about 20 minutes. This recipe should yield 24 small muffins.
• Carrot cake recipe with pineapple: Add crushed pineapples for added sweetness and moisture.

Tips for the Best Gluten Free Carrot Cake Recipe

• Freshly grated carrot is your best bet for this cake. Store bought shredded carrots do not melt as easily as the fresh carrots and tend to stay chunky in the finished carrot cake.
• Add the sugar to the wet ingredients before combining them with the dry ingredients. Sugar dissolves more effectively in liquids than in dry ingredients. By incorporating sugar into the wet ingredients, you promote its dissolution, preventing a gritty texture in the cake.
• You can make this cake up to 2 days in advance and it will still taste great. I find that day old carrot cake has more flavor.

Frequently Asked Questions

Save it for Later