This healthier carrot cake is perfection! Gluten free and dairy free, it’s packed with spice and flavor all while being lower sugar than your average cake with a refined sugar free option.
I’ve been making this paleo carrot cake for years with rave reviews from friends (it’s often requested as the dessert I bring to parties and get togethers) and I finally got around to photographing it and getting it on my website. If these pictures don’t do it justice, then let me explain to you why you need this carrot cake in your life!
This gluten free cake is filled with just the right amount of spice and carrot, all while being low sugar, dairy free, and fully grain free. I offer a fully refined sugar free option, as well. My secret ingredient is a tiny bit of orange zest and juice. I find that amplifies the spices and carrot perfectly.
Something I love about this gluten free carrot cake is that it is lower in sugar than your average cake and tastes way more grounding and earthy. I already don’t love overly sweet desserts, but part of why carrot cake is so great is that it’s made with such a grounding root vegetable. I want to be able to taste that and feel whole upon eating it. This carrot cake does just the trick!
Paleo Carrot Cake
Ingredients: The dry ingredients in this cake consist of a mix of grain free flours, baking powder, baking soda, and the best blend of spices. These spices include cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and nutmeg. The best sugar to use in this recipe is brown sugar, but you can sub in coconut sugar for a refined sugar free option.
The wet ingredients include eggs, olive oil, applesauce, vanilla extract, orange juice, orange zest, and shredded carrots.
Add-ins: The best add-ins are walnuts, in my opinion. The added crunch is the perfect balance with this soft cake and creamy frosting. I’m not a huge raisin fan, but you can certainly add in some raisins if desired.
Icing: My favorite icing is this dairy free cashew buttercream from The Minimalist Baker. There was no point in trying to remake something that is already perfect. I do provide an alternative with dairy free yogurt, powdered sugar, vanilla extract, and lemon juice that is also quite delicious and a bit easier to make.
Homemade powdered sugar: If you are making my icing which includes powdered sugar, you can make your own at-home coconut sugar powdered sugar to keep this cake refined sugar free. All you have to do is blend 1 cup of coconut sugar with 1 Tbsp of tapioca or arrowroot starch.
How to Make This Cake
As an American, I rarely ever weigh ingredients, I always just measure them. I know, that’s not precision baking! But we Americans are useless and never learned how to weigh ingredients ;). Well, not for this recipe! I tested so many other carrot cake recipes and made this cake so many times before getting it right. I found that weighing the ingredients truly gives this cake the best texture.
If you don’t have a kitchen scale, I have provided cup measurements, but I highly suggest weighing your ingredients if possible.
Paleo Carrot Cake
Ingredients
Cake
- 110 grams Tigernut flour or almond. This is about 1 cup
- 70 grams arrowroot or tapioca starch cassava flour works in a pinch. This is about 1/2 cup
- 30 grams coconut flour this is about a scant 1/3 cup
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp ground ginger
- pinch of cloves
- pinch of nutmeg or mace
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup brown sugar or 3/4 cup coconut sugar
- 1/2 cup applesauce
- 1/3 cup olive oil
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 Tbsp fresh orange juice
- 1/2 tsp orange zest
- 2 Tbsp milk of choice *may not need
- 1.5 cups peeled and shredded carrots about 2-3 carrots
- 1/2 cup walnuts, plus more for decorating optional
- 1/2 cup raisins optional
First Icing Option:
Second Icing Option:
- 1 cup yogurt of choice Thicker yogurts work best, like Greek yogurt or Forager cashew yogurt.
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar make your own at home powdered coconut sugar to keep refined sugar free (see notes above)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 Tbsp lemon juice
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F.
- Shred your carrots first and set aside. The easiest way to do this is in a food processor.
- Sift all your dry ingredients together in a bowl. This include the flours, baking powder and soda, spices, and salt.
- In a large bowl or stand mixer, combine all of the wet ingredients and sugar- eggs, applesauce, oil, vanilla, orange juice and zest, and sugar. Beat on medium until well combined.
- Add your dry ingredients to your wet and beat on low until just combined. Using the paddle attachment if using a stand mixer. If the batter seems way too thick, add your milk. I find this really depends on the brand of flours that you are using, so you may not need the milk if you are using the same brands I have linked.
- Fold in your carrots and walnuts/raisins if using.
- Let batter sit while you line a 8×8 or 9×9 baking dish with parchment paper.
- Evenly spread batter into baking dish and bake for 35-40 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean.
- Let the cake cool completely before icing the cake. If making the first icing option, be sure to read the recipe as it does require chilling time and should be made in advance.
- To make the second icing option, combine all ingredients together in a bowl and mix well until you have a thicker, spreadable icing. If the icing is too runny for any reason, you can add more powdered sugar.
- Once cake is cooled, remove from pan and ice. I like to add more crushed walnuts on top, but decorate as desired. Slice, serve, and enjoy!
