Gluten Free Carrot Cake
Gluten Free Carrot Cake is rich and moist, made with crushed pineapple, brown sugar, shredded carrots, and walnuts topped with rich cream cheese frosting, perfect for springtime!
Gluten Free Carrot Cake is moist and rich, with a fluffy texture and perfect for springtime! I love this recipe for special occasions like Easter, birthdays, or potlucks. Especially if you have a carrot cake lover in your family!
If you liked this recipe, you might also love my Pineapple Dump Cake or my Gluten Free Red Velvet Cake!
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Simple Ingredients: This gluten free carrot cake is made with easy to find ingredients, and you may have them in your pantry already! Plus a really creamy cream cheese frosting that will be your new go-to!
- Gluten Free: This is homemade, so you can be 100% sure that your carrot cake is gluten free, and won’t need to worry about cross contamination at the bakery.
- Easy to Make: This cake is easy to make with no crazy steps to figure out, it’ll be one of your new favorite recipes!
- Texture: This has an amazing light and fluffy texture. It’s a moist cake without any crumbling or breaking apart.
Ingredients You’ll Need
Gluten Free Flour. The gluten free flour mixture that you choose can have a big impact on your baked goods. Choose a flour with xanthan gum mixed in, or the cake texture will be crumbly.
I always use either Bob’s Red Mill 1-to-1 or King Arthur cup-for-cup gluten free flour blends. Both of these have a really nice flavor and texture, and don’t fall apart like some gluten free baked goods.
If you’re not gluten free, you can use the same amount of regular flour in this recipe.
Sugar. White granulated sugar adds a lot of sweetness to this recipe, while brown sugar adds both moisture and more depth of flavor with slight molasses notes.
Spices. Some warm spices like ground cinnamon and nutmeg help add flavor to the cake, while a pinch of kosher salt helps balance out the sweetness (without making it taste salty).
Baking Soda & Baking Powder These leavening agents help the cake rise, and gives it a light and airy texture. Gluten free baking benefits from using two types of leavening.
Make sure to buy the baking powder that says “double-acting” on the container.
Fresh Carrots. Without this, it wouldn’t be carrot cake! Peel the carrots before shredding them, to avoid off colors. For an even smoother cake texture, grate the carrots instead of shredding them.
Pineapple & Unsweetened Applesauce. This helps keep the cake moist, and also adds natural sweetness and flavor.
Vegetable Oil. This keeps the cake from drying out and results in a really moist crumb.
Alternative: Use melted butter instead of oil for more flavor. Or substitute the oil for applesauce to cut down on the fat.
Eggs. Eggs are a binding ingredient, meaning the protein in the egg holds everything together. The yolks also add some fat, which adds flavor.
Vanilla. A small amount of vanilla extract adds flavor to the cake.
Sour Cream. This adds fat and moisture to the cake, making it really soft and fluffy.
Walnuts. These add a really nice flavor and crunch to the cake. You can leave these out if you don’t like nuts.
Kitchen Tools
For this recipe you’ll need two 9-inch round cake pans, a grater to shred the carrots, and an electric hand mixer or a stand mixer with the whisk attachment.
How to Make Gluten Free Carrot Cake
Time needed: 1 hour
- Mix the dry ingredients.
Preheat the oven to 350°F. In a medium bowl, whisk together the sugar, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda, baking powder, and salt until well combined.
- Add the wet ingredients.
Whisk in the vegetable oil, eggs, sour cream, pineapple, applesauce, and vanilla extract, mixing until well-combined. Stir the walnuts and shredded carrots into the cake batter. You can also use an electric mixer for this step.
- Pour into cake pans.
Grease two 9-inch round cake pans with butter. Pour cake batter evenly into the two prepared cake pans and place onto the middle rack of the preheated oven.
- Bake the cake.
Bake for 40-50 minutes, or until cakes are golden brown on top and a toothpick comes out clean. Remove from oven and let cool completely before frosting. Placing the pans on a wire rack will help them cool more quickly.
How to Make Cream Cheese Frosting For Carrot Cake
Here is a delicious cream cheese frosting recipe that I make specifically for this carrot cake. I usually make two carrot cake layers, and this is enough for a reasonable layer between them and on top.
- 4 cups powdered sugar (also called icing sugar or confectioner’s sugar)
- 16 ounces cream cheese, softened (2-8oz blocks)
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- In a stand mixer using the whisk attachment (or with a handheld mixer), combine cream cheese and butter on medium mixing speed. Mix until there are no lumps and the cream cheese is smooth, but don’t over-mix.
- Add vanilla extract and salt to the mixing bowl. Still mixing on medium speed, slowly add confectioners sugar, a little at a time until all sugar is completely mixed in. Turn the mixer on medium-high and let it beat for 1-2 minutes, until the frosting has a lighter texture and color.
- Decorate the carrot cake. This frosting must be refrigerated.
Recipe Variations
- Instead of using walnuts, you can use sliced almonds, chopped pecans, shredded coconut, or a cup raisins for a sweet option. I like to use golden raisins for the color.
- Try adding dried cranberries for more little bursts of sweetness! Or milk chocolate chips.
- For a lighter version, try replacing the oil completely with applesauce. Keep in mind that with eliminating the fat, the cake may be less moist. Use the applesauce 1:1 for the oil.
- Try baking this in a bundt cake pan, or turning this cake into cupcakes using muffin tins!
Recipe Tip! Use this same recipe to make carrot sheet cake by using a rectangular 9×13 inch cake pan.
Frequently Asked Questions
Oil adds more of a moist texture and tender crumb to the cake, but butter adds more flavor. It’s just a personal preference. You can use melted butter, but there’s already a lot of flavors going on in this cake, so we chose the ingredient that would give us a really moist cake.
Traditionally, carrot cake will have a cream cheese frosting. The rich flavor and texture of the cream cheese frosting pairs really well with the sweetness of the carrot cake. You can also use my Whipped Cream Cream Cheese Frosting for something lighter like Mascarpone Frosting
If this gluten free carrot cake recipe turns out dry, it could be the flour blend that you used. Gluten free flour blends can be tricky, so try to use a trusted brand.
Other things to watch out for are the cooking time, not to over-bake, and cooking temperature. Measure the oven with an oven thermometer to make sure it’s cooking at the temperature it’s supposed to be. If your oven temperature is off, you need to adjust your baking time accordingly.
The last reason would be that you haven’t used exact ingredients. Make sure to measure the ingredients carefully, so you don’t add too much dry ingredients or too little wet ingredients.
Recipe Tip! For a more fluffy texture, try grating the carrots instead of shredding them. Shredded carrots will leave bigger pieces in the cake that won’t mix in as well as grated carrots.
More Gluten Free Cake Recipes
- Strawberry Chocolate Cake
- Pineapple Upside Down Cake
- Flourless Chocolate Cake
- Double Chocolate Cake
- Chocolate Coffee Cake
Storage
Refrigerate gluten free carrot cake for 3-4 days in an air-tight container.
Freeze leftover carrot cake for 2-3 months in a freezer-safe container.
Cooking Tips
- Make sure to scrape the bottom and sides of the mixing bowl, to make sure everything is well-mixed together. You can make this using a stand mixer, electric hand mixer, or an old-fashioned whisk.
- Place your cake on the rack in the center of the oven for even cooking. Your cake is done when the top is slightly firm to the touch, golden brown, and a toothpick comes out clean.
- After greasing your cake pans, you can help prevent the cake from sticking by cutting out round pieces of parchment paper (by tracing the pans). Line the cake pan bottoms with parchment paper before pouring in the carrot mixture. Lining the pans with parchment paper in addition to greasing them with butter just adds a little extra security to prevent the cake from sticking! Just remove them before icing the cake.
- The baking time can vary if you live at a higher elevation. Here’s a really great resource to help you adjust the recipe accordingly. Without the adjustments, you may notice a difference in texture and baking time.
- If you’re icing the whole cake, add the middle layer of frosting. Then coat the entire cake in a really thin layer, and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Once the frosting is dry, then continue icing the cake as normal. This is called a crumb layer, and helps the final frosting look cleaner.
- Place a small amount of icing on the cake plate to prevent the cake from sliding while decorating.
Gluten Free Carrot Cake
Ingredients
For the Cake
- 2 1/2 cups gluten free all purpose flour, 1:1
- 1 cup white sugar
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 teaspoons baking powder, double-acting
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 3 large eggs
- 1 cup sour cream
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
- 1/2 cup crushed pineapple drained
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 3 cups shredded carrots, peeled first
- 1 cup chopped walnuts
For the Frosting
- 16 ounces cream cheese, 2 x 8 oz blocks, softened
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 4 cups confectioner's sugar
Equipment
- 2 9-inch round cake pans
- 1 stand mixer with whisk attachment or electric hand mixer
Instructions
For the Cake
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, spices, and salt until well combined.
- Whisk in the vegetable oil, eggs, sour cream, applesauce, pineapple, and vanilla extract, mixing until well-combined. Stir the walnuts and shredded carrots into the cake batter.
- Grease two 9-inch round cake pans with butter. Pour cake batter evenly into the two cake pans and place onto the middle rack of the oven.
- Bake cake for 40-50 minutes, or until golden brown on top and a toothpick comes out clean. Remove from oven and let cool completely before frosting.
For the Frosting
- In a stand mixer or with a handheld mixer, combine cream cheese and butter on medium mixing speed. Mix until there are no lumps and the cream cheese is smooth, but don’t over-mix.
- Add vanilla extract and salt to the mixing bowl. Still mixing on medium speed, slowly add confectioners sugar, a little at a time until all sugar is completely mixed in.
- Turn the mixer on high and let it beat for 1-2 minutes, until the frosting has a lighter texture. Decorate the carrot cake.
Notes
- Make sure to scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl, to make sure everything is well-mixed together.
- Your cake is done when the top is slightly firm to the touch, golden brown, and a toothpick comes out clean.
- You can make this using a stand mixer, electric hand mixer, or an old-fashioned whisk.
- Place your cake on the rack in the center of the oven for even cooking.
- Place a small amount of icing on the cake plate to prevent the cake from sliding while decorating.
Nutrition
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Does this cake not need eggs?
Yes, 3 eggs 🙂
this looks delicious! I absolutely love carrot cakes! and with coconut YUM that sounds perfect! 😉
Hi! I am new to your blog, but I’m glad I found you. I am wanting to make a carrot cake for Thanksgiving and was wanting a recipe that had pineapple in it. Yay! What GF flour do you use? Thanks!!
This is my favorite carrot cake, mostly because I love pineapple! I use Bob’s Red Mill GF All Purpose flour. I like the texture and taste of things I’ve made with it. I know some people who swear by King Arthur, too, but I haven’t done much with that one yet.
Hi Jacqui,
Thank you so much for letting me know. I’m not a big fan of the AP flour because of the bean flour. I do like their 1 to 1 flour. So, I’ll give that a go and let you know. I’ve had success with a few recipes with it so far. Thanks again!
Hello,
If I leave out the coconut and nuts in the cake recipe, would I need to make any other adjustments? Thank you!
Hi Beth, No, I think it would be fine to just leave them out. Thanks! 🙂
Is there a way to make this low-sugar? 3 cups of confectioner’s sugar is way too much. Also, could I substitute the vegetable oil for applesauce? Thanks.
Hi Heidi, The confectioners sugar is the main part of the frosting, so you’d have to change the recipe around quite a bit to get it low sugar. How would you feel about serving this with a light whipped cream, instead? I think it would still be tasty, and should cut some of the carbs out.
For the cake, applesauce should be able to sub for the oil without any problems. Let me know if the banana works in place of the sugar, too! That sounds good.
Thanks! 🙂
I use turbinado sugar instead of white & brown sugar though I’m thinking of omitting that and using mashed bananas for the cake. Also almond flour, which I typically use in baked goods.