This gluten-free carrot cake is perfectly spiced, fluffy and nobody will have a clue that it’s missing the wheat! The best carrot cake I’ve ever had – and I can eat gluten. With a delicious, slightly less sugary cream cheese frosting. Scroll to the bottom for reviews if you need convincing!
First of all, if you prefer a grain-free recipe, try my paleo carrot cake muffins! They’ve always been a big hit and the reviewers love them. These paleo vegan lemon bars and vegan macaroons would also be an excellent choice for Easter!
When it comes to carrot cake, I’m normally all about the cream cheese frosting but this cake is delicious enough to eat on its own. I’ve never had a better carrot cake and it tastes like it was made with all-purpose flour (which you can actually use if you don’t need it to be gluten-free!).
But a bit of cream cheese never hurt so of course I slathered it on! How could I not?
I don’t just make this at Easter. I make this gluten-free carrot cake year-round to bring to get-togethers. German cakes, at least the ones I’ve had, aren’t very moist, spicy, or fluffy [no offense to my lovely German readers ♥♥♥ To be fair, I should say that Germany does other stuff like bread WAY better than the US.].
This carrot cake is like the opposite of a German cake. And the Germans I’ve served it to have flipped for it. So have the Americans. Everyone can love this cake together!
I don’t know why (maybe sleep deprivation?) but I’m not feeling very wordy today. It’s one of my favorite recipes on the site – one that I’ve been making since before I even started the blog – and I really hope you’ll try it out. The end. :D
Questions about this gluten-free carrot cake?
Fat
- Can you taste the olive oil?
I used extra-virgin olive oil and you can taste it in the batter and while the baked cake is still hot. Once it cools, you can’t taste it. If you’re worried about it, use light olive oil (the light refers to the taste and not calories).
- Can I use another oil other than olive?
You can use canola oil, vegetable oil, grapeseed oil, etc. Anything neutral tasting. I haven’t tried coconut oil but if you do, I’d recommend using refined coconut oil unless you want some coconut taste in your cake.
- Can I use butter? I bet you could use butter in this cake but it wouldn’t be as moist (butter is 80-82% fat and oil is 100% fat).
- Can I use a different gluten-free flour mix?
I used this 1-to-1 gluten-free baking flour. If you have another brand that works as a sub for all-purpose flour, then you could probably use it here. I can’t say the texture would be as perfect as with the flour mix I used, though.
- Does it taste gluten-free?
This carrot cake honestly tastes like it was made with all-purpose flour. At least with the gluten-free flour mix I used and after it’s cooled a bit.
- Can I use almond / coconut / other flours?
Nope. If you want a grain-free recipe, check out the beginning of the post for another gluten-free carrot cake recipe (it uses almond and coconut flours). If you want to use other flours like rice flour, buckwheat, whatever – you’ll have to experiment. There’s no direct sub for gluten-free flour mixes.
- Can I use a liquid sweetener?
Unfortunately not without experimenting! Sorry I’ve already said this three times in this post but it’s true.
You could use a little honey or maple syrup for part of the sugar, but you’d have to reduce the liquid in the cake. I don’t recommend trying unless you’re ready for failure. Does that sound too negative? Just trying to be honest and save your time, ingredients and money. :) - Can I reduce the sugar?
This carrot cake recipe already calls for less sugar than a regular cake. Reducing sugar also reduces moist-ness so unless you want a dry cake, I wouldn’t recommend reducing it even more.
- How can I make the frosting dairy-free?
You could use dairy-free cream cheese and butter in the below recipe or you could make my vegan cream cheese frosting (it doesn’t actually use cream cheese!).
- Does the cream cheese frosting pipe well?
You can pipe it if you double the amount of butter.
- Can I use a different sized pan?
Here’s a super handy pan conversion chart that should be able to help. Looks like a 9″x13″ should work well, though I haven’t tried it.
- Can I make this recipe into cupcakes?
Yes! This recipe will yield 24 cupcakes. Bake for 15-20 minutes. Use the smaller amount of frosting found in the recipe notes (the one that uses 12 ounces of cream cheese and not 16). This will yield about 2 cups so that means 4 teaspoons of frosting per cupcake.
- Can I freeze the layers / frosted cake?
Freezing the layers would definitely work. Freezing frosted layers, though? I’m not too sure about that. Does anyone know if freezing cream cheese frosting works well?
- Can I add pineapple, walnuts, raisins, etc.?
Walnuts or raisins wouldn’t be a problem but I’m a little doubtful of crushed pineapple or anything liquid-y. The cake is already so moist that I’d be afraid that pineapple would make it soggy. I could be wrong, though!
If you try it out, please let us know in the comments and I’ll update this. :)
Flour
Sweeteners
Frosting
Random
Gluten-free Carrot Cake
- Prep Time:
- Cook Time:
- Ready in:
- Yield: 12 slices
Ingredients
- 2 cups (272 grams) Bob's Red Mill Gluten-Free 1-to-1 Baking Flour (you can use whole wheat or all-purpose flour for a non-gluten-free version)
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 4 large eggs (50 grams each, out of shell), room temperature
- 1 1/2 cups (300 grams) granulated sugar or coconut sugar1
- 3/4 cup (183 grams) unsweetened applesauce
- 1/2 cup (118ml) olive oil (another vegetable oil like canola oil would work)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 14.5 oz (410 grams – about 3 1/2 to 4 cups) grated and peeled carrots
- 18 ounces (510 grams) cream cheese, room temperature3
- 4.5 tablespoons (63 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 1/2 cups (180 grams) powdered sugar
- pinch of salt
- 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
For the cake:
For the frosting: (see note below)2
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C) and line the bottom of three 8″ pans with parchment paper and grease the sides.
- In a medium bowl, combine the flour, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk the eggs and then add the sugar, applesauce, oil and vanilla and mix until combined.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet and stir just until combined.
- Then fold in the carrots, again only until combined.
- Bake for 19-22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
- Let cool for 5 minutes in the pans, and then turn onto a wire rack to cool.
- Frost when completely cooled.
- Prepare the frosting.
- In a medium mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese and butter together with an electric hand mixer at medium speed until well combined. It's okay if it looks a little crumbly.
- Gradually beat in the powdered sugar until totally combined and then beat in the salt and vanilla. Frost the cake with about 1/2 cup to 2/3 cup per layer and the remaining frosting on the sides. If you bake the cake and prepare the frosting in advance and want to refrigerate the frosting, note that it gets quite firm, like a cream cheese tart filling. If that happens, just bring it to room temperature, stir and then frost. The frosting firms up once refrigerated so if you want the softer frosting texture (rather than a cream cheese tart filling kind of texture), let the cake come to room temperature before serving.
- Store the iced cake in the refrigerator for up to 3 days or the un-iced layers wrapped in plastic wrap at room temperature for up to 3 days.
Notes
- Note that it's best to weigh coconut sugar! Some brands are light and coarse and some brands (like the one I use) are very fine and dense.
- This is enough to frost it like in the pictures, with about 2/3 cup on top of each layer and some frosting for the sides. If you just want to frost the top of each layer, use 12 ounces cream cheese, 3 tablespoons butter, 1 cup of powdered sugar, a pinch of salt and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla.
- We have a different type of cream cheese in the US than the rest of the world (as far as I know) that's firmer and meant for baking, rather than for toast, like in Europe. For 8 ounces (225 grams) of cream cheese, buy a 300-gram package (the stuff at Aldi, Lidl, etc. works just as well as Philadelphia), put it in the center of a clean tea towel or cheesecloth, and squeeze out the liquid until you have 225 grams of cream cheese. You can now make cream cheese frosting without issue. So for this recipe, buy 675 grams of cream cheese and squeeze out the liquid until you have 510 grams.
Adapted from from Smitten Kitchen's carrot cake recipe
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97 comments on “Gluten-free Carrot Cake (Perfect Texture, So Moist!)” — Add one!
17 comments are awaiting moderation!
Once again, your recipe did NOT disappoint! You create the best recipes! Thank you! What I like about this cake is that it is simple and straightforward. I know you stated not to change the flour, but I had to risk doing so because I’m allergic to the potato starch in Bob’s 1-1 flour. Nightshades! Sigh! So, I used 1 c. my own gf rice flour mix; 1/2 c. sorghum flour and 1/2 c. oat flour. Turned out fantastic!
Have you used monkfruit? I just received an order for a gluten free cake (your recipe looks great) using monk fruit as the sweetener. I did some investigating and I would use 3/4 cup on the batter and 1:1 powdered in the icing.
What are your thoughts?
I’m not sure if monkfruit would work here. My stomach doesn’t like it so I don’t have much experience with it. Depending on what type you use, you may be removing too much bulk from the recipe. Sorry I can’t be more helpful!
Hi Erin,
I made the cake for the first time and it turned out well, absolutely loved it. You made a great job with using grams too, I am European, so I preferred that to cups.
The second time the dough didn’t rise, it was gooey and wet, not fluffy at all as it was the first time. I have used baking powder instead of baking soda, could that be the reason?
Hi Mila! I’m so sorry for just now seeing your question. I’m glad that you found the grams useful. :) And yes – baking powder and soda aren’t interchangeable. That would explain why you had issues with the cake the second time. Definitely stick to whichever one is called for in a recipe. Thanks for your comment!
Hi! This is my first comment ever.☺️ And I want to let you know that my family and friends really loves this cake. We recently discovered that both my husband and son need to eat gluten free. And they both have a sweet tooth. So this recepy was a great finding. Thank you so much ❤️! By the way, I switch regular sugar for organic stevia and added low sugar coolwip for the frosting.
Hi Dee! I appreciate you leaving a comment. :) It’s great to know stevia works well. Was it the kind that’s a 1-to-1 for granulated sugar? Good luck to your son and husband! It’s hard at first but not so bad once you have some good sweets recipe. ;) Thanks for your comment!
Just so you know – works beautifully with buckwheat flour too! Thank you for the recipe!
Oh, wow. Great to know! Did it taste like buckwheat? Thanks a bunch for your feedback!
Erin, Have you this with buckwheat flour yet or do you think you ever wI’ll do so? We are trying to steer clear of rice flour as much as possible lately so I’d really like to try buckwheat but I don’t want to ruin the whole thing and waste the ingredients. Thanks in advance and hope you are feeling better and your taste buds are back! Stay well.
I haven’t since I still don’t have my taste back. :/ I tried treatment but had very bad side effects that I’m still dealing with. So now I have to wait until the virus is over (or, you know, way better) and I can go to a hospital where they have someone who might be able to help. I’ve only been able to use buckwheat flour in chocolate treats. Otherwise, the buckwheat flavor is way too strong. So I’m not sure about this recipe. Sorry about that. Stay safe!
Okay. I made this! SO GOOD! I had Western family gluten-free flour so used that. Along with 1 tsp xanthan gum. And I forgot to buy applesauce so I made my own. AND I didn’t have the pans but had mini loaf pans, so I had to adjust the baking time a little. But OH MY! They are GOOD! and moist. ( I didn’t take them out of the pans for cooling immediately and wish I had. Seriously. SO moist) and spongy. and in no way at all can you tell they are gluten free! I am excited to try other recipes.
I’m so sorry for just now seeing your comment! We’ve had the flu / other fun stuff for the last few weeks. I’m so glad that you liked the cake and it’s good to know that they work well as mini loaf pans. How many did you use and how long did you bake them for? In case someone else is wondering how you did that. :) Thanks for your feedback and sorry again! Hope you’ll enjoy the other recipes just as much.
I never made a carrot cake before and needed a fabulous one for my husband’s birthday – his special request. It also needed to be gluten free for a friend. I followed your recipe using canola oil with the addition of 1 cup of toasted chopped walnuts in the batter. Everyone declared it the BEST carrot cake they EVER had. I agree !!! It wasn’t too sweet, was perfectly moist and had a superb balance of flavors and spices. The cream cheese frosting was just perfect as well. Thank you ever so much for posting this recipe and your excellent instructions/additional suggestions !!
I’m so sorry for just now seeing your comment! I’m really glad that your husband and the party guests loved it so much. :) Walnuts sounds like a delicious addition. Thanks a ton for your feedback and sorry again for just now seeing it!
This is now my go-to carrot cake recipe. I served it last night at my son’s birthday dinner and everyone raved about it…even the wheat eaters! It was beautifully stacked and didn’t slide around at room temperature. It cooked evenly and was perfectly moist. However, I did reduce the sugar to only 1/2 cup granulated sugar and 1/2 honey, thanks to someone else’s comment. I used Avocado Oil. Carrot cake has been a family favorite since before I was born. I have had many failed attempts. I am grateful for this recipe. Thank You <3
You’re welcome! I’m so glad there won’t be any more failed attempts. :) Awesome that the lower sugar version worked for you! That’s always good to know. Thanks a bunch for your feedback. :)
This is THE best carrot cake. I’ve made many cakes in my lif. Everytime I make this one, my family says it’s the best one I’ve ever made.
Aww, yay! I’m really glad to hear that. :) Thanks for your feedback!
I don’t know that it gets much better than carrot cake! Just love it and your version is so so pretty!
Thanks so much! <3
I made this today and used only 1 cup of sugar. I also added a half teaspoon of orange oil because it seemed like it would go with the spices. It is fabulous!
Yummy, orange oil! That sounds great. And it’s good to know that it works well with less sugar. Thanks for your feedback! :)
How did you make the decorations on this cake? They are so cute.
Hello and sorry for just now seeing your question! I used a melon scooper. :)
Fantastic recipe! I added 1 tsp baking powder just because I usually see it in a cake recipe. Really good.
Thanks for the feedback! I’m glad you enjoyed it. :)
This is great! The recipe yields 24 cupcakes as stated, and they took about 16 minutes. The recipe isn’t super sweet and I used a robust olive oil so I could definitely taste it afterward, but I wasn’t bothered by it. It was a good balance with the frosting. I was happy with how moist these were and how well they held together, and they weren’t overly sweet. There was a bit of adherence to the cups, but not a big deal. Great gf recipe!
I’m so glad that you enjoyed them and didn’t find them too sweet! You could try using muffin liners next time to avoid the sticking issue. :) Thanks a bunch for your nice feedback!
My 4 year old and I made this for my wife’s birthday. We’re a high altitude (6,000 ft) so added a little extra applesauce for more moisture. Other than that we followed the recipe but used vegan cream cheese and butter for the frosting. We left it in the fridge overnight and it was fantastic! The flavor was rich and the frosting had just the right sweetness. The cake was fluffy and moist; not at all dense like many other gluten free recipes. Great job on this and thank you, my wife loved it too! This is the best of the gluten-free, dairy-free, desserts we’ve tried!
Wow, I’m so glad to hear that you think it was the best GF / DF dessert you’ve tried! I hope that your wife had a happy birthday. :) Thanks a bunch for your great feedback!
Hi Andy,
What kind of vegan cream cheese did you use? I’ve been trying to find a good one for ages, but every one that I’ve tried has been kinda gross.
I don’t think he’ll see your question but hope that someone will chime in with a recommendation!
Violife vegan cheese is awesome! The cream cheese variation is really good but some of the other ones they carry are good too. They don’t make anything that doesn’t taste really good. They even have a vegan Parm!
Thanks for the tip! I’ll go check that out. :)
I’ve never made a carrot cake before, but seeing this recipe I may just have to try it. I love how you decorated the cake, without gobs of frosting on the side. The older I get, the more I appreciate the simplicity of seeing the bits of cake through the frosting.
Thank you! It’s also much easier that way. ;) I hope you’ll give it a try and that you’ll love it!
How would you count this for 21 day fix?
I’m not at all familiar with it so I have no idea. Sorry about that.
Can I use grated apple with juices equaling 3/4 cup instead of using 3/4 cup applesauce?
I haven’t tried it but I think that’d work! Hope you’ll enjoy it. :)
I made it and it was the best carrot cake ever. Also, I substituted 1/2 cup raw honey and 1/2 cup sugar.
I’m so glad to hear that! :) Thanks for your comment and sorry for my slow reply.
I made this today but its wobbly in the middle but when i stick my tootpick in the middle it comes out clean is there something wrong i did?
Sorry for just now seeing your question! So when you put in the toothpick, it was dry – but it’s wobbly in the middle? Hmm. I’m not sure how that’s possible so I’m not sure what to answer with. Did it work out okay after it cooled? I hope so. :)
I loved this! Made it with golden raisins and walnuts. I did decrease sugar to 3/4 c. It was perfect. Even my non GF family members loved it. Thanks so much. My husband loves carrot cake- this is my new go to recipe 😊
Aww, yay! It’s always especially great when the non-GF members enjoy the recipe. :) Thanks a bunch for your comment! I’m happy to hear it was a hit.
The cake turned out very well. I put it into 2 8″ square pans and the remainder made 6 muffins. However, I find that it is extremely sweet and would reduce the sugar to 1 cup.
I’m happy you enjoyed it! Thanks for your comment and sharing the pan sizes you used. :)
I made this cake for a birthday party and it was a hit. Comments included, best carrot cake they ever tasted, beautiful cake, perfectly moist and delicious. Looks like I will be baking this carrot cake for every occasion. I did add a cup of chopped pecans. Thank you for this great recipe.
I made this cake today and just cut into it so my husband and I could sample my efforts before taking it into work for a “Gluten-Free” co-worker to try. It was very moist and delicious with a good spice flavour to it. I didn’t alter the recipe at all. As for the cream cheese icing…here’s where I would tweak it. Although the flavour of the icing was fabulous…it was too liquidity made per the recipe. I had lots left over with coating the top of each layer and the top of the cake itself. I did not ice the side of the cake, but let the icing fall down where it wanted too…making for a lovely looking cake. Next time 250grams of cream cheese would suffice with 1/2 cup butter, 4 cups icing sugar and 2 tsps vanilla extract. I just love the decorating ideas as shown in the pics of this cake!
Hi there! I’m sorry for just now seeing your comment. I’m happy that you enjoyed the cake. :) And that was nice of you to make a gluten-free cake for a co-worker! I hope that they liked it, too. Do you live outside of the US by any chance? The cream cheese in the US is thicker than what you find elsewhere (which seems to be more for toast and not really for baking). Thanks for your comment!
Yes! Perhaps that is precisely why! I live in Ontario, Canada and used Philadelphia Cream Cheese bricks. Thanks for your comments…the cake was still very delicious. :)
Could I substitute a combination of almond and coconut flour? If so, how much of each?
Nope! Please read the Questions section under Flour. :)
is it necessary to refrigerate fro up to 3 days? What happens if you don’t refrigerate?
If you don’t refrigerate cream cheese frosting, it’ll spoil quickly. I think it’d be fine for about 8-12 hours, depending on the temperature.
The recipe sounds yum! I do wish more folks would rate the taste and texture and not just the LOOK of the cake! I am wondering if you would make any adjustments for the ingredients at altitude-mile high? What are your thoughts on adding raisins, can’t believe no one asked (if they did, I missed it)! Also, wringing out the cream cheese..really?! Why? I have made carrot cake-gluten- for years with cream cheese frosting(one without butter) and never squeezed out the water. At any rate, thank you for all of your efforts in this blog!!!
Hi there! I unfortunately have zero experience with high altitude baking but I think this guide might be helpful! Sorry I don’t have a better answer for you. Adding raisins would be fine! The cream cheese note is for people outside of the US. Non-US cream cheese has more whey / liquid in it, which is why it needs to be wrung out. Thanks for your comment! Hope you’ll enjoy the cake.
Is all purpose flour what we call plain flour in the UK or self-raising?
Plain flour. :)
Looking to make this cake for my dads birthday, he’s not GF but everyone else in the family is. I was wondering if anyone has tried making it with walnuts/pecans in the batter and how that worked/how much you used! Thanks I’m advance!
Hi! I’d recommend 1 cup of chopped walnuts. Hope he has a nice birthday! I’d love to hear how you all like the cake. :)
Has anyone tried this recipe at 8000 ft?
Looks delicious! Would it work without applesauce? Or what can I substitute it with?
Thanks! I think 2 cups of sugar + 1 1/4 cups of oil and no applesauce would work. I’d love to hear how it comes out for you!
I made these as cupcakes and used this apple sauce substitution and they were perfect!
I’m glad to hear that! Thanks for the feedback. :)
Absolutely amazing!!! This cake was definitely the star at Easter dinner!
Yay! So happy to hear that! Thanks for your feedback. :)
I’m just wondering why and how you line just the bottom with parchment paper?? Is this a spring form pan? Could just greasing the bottom work too? Excited to make this tonight for family dinner! My SIL is gluten intolerant so I hope she likes it!
You can just put the whole piece of parchment paper in there if you want. I just do the bottom (I cut out a circle) so that the sides look nice and not crinkly looking because of the paper. You can just grease it but I’m always paranoid about cake sticking so I use parchment paper. I hope you’ll all enjoy the cake! :)
Your cake looks wonderful I plan to make it for Easter. I Would like to know how you made the little round balls on the top of the cake, are they shaped carrots or something else? I cannot rate the recipe, I haven’t made it yet! ;)Thank you for sharing your recipes with us. ~Miss Ana
Thank you! I hope you’ll enjoy the cake. :) I’d love to hear how it comes out for you! We scooped the balls out of the carrots directly using one of these mini spoons for fruit decorations. Mine is like this: https://www.amazon.com/WMF-Profi-Stainless-Steel-Baller/dp/B00005O65M
I made the cake for Easter, it was a hit, everyone loved it. Thank you so much. I’ll be making it again this coming Sunday for a gathering. Thanks also for the link for the decorations on top. I haven’t gotten it yet but plan to. I just put on some ferns and laid a trimmed carrot on tt’s side, then crushed up some colored, candied nuts for the trim around the cake. It looked nice and tasted wonderful!!
I love your decoration ideas! What a pretty cake that must have been. Thanks for coming back to let me know how it turned out! I’m very happy to hear that it was a hit. :)
can you use half granulated sugar and half granulated stevia
Is your stevia meant as a 1 to 1 sub for granulated sugar? If so, then it’d probably work! I’ve never used it before though so I’m not positive.
I was looking for a carrot cake recipe this morning! Totally making this one. It’s absolutely gorgeous!
This cake looks moist and delicious!
Always looking for new carrot cake recipes!
This cake is gorgeous, Erin! Perfect for Easter dinner!
Perfect for Easter! It’s absolutely beautiful!
Carrot cake is one of my favorites! Can’t wait to try this!!
This cake is so festive!
I don’t have three 8 in. pans, just two. Would it be okay to bake in a 13 by 9 in. Pan?
Yes. Please check out the questions section where it says, “Can I use a different sized pan?” :)
Hi Erin, I love the decoration and will try the cake for Easter as we have some gf members in our family.
Thanks for the recipe and the “cream cheese explanation”, too! Christine
Hi Christine! I hope that you and your GF family members will enjoy it. :) What GF mix would you use, though? I’ve never tried any of the mixes here.
What a beautiful cake! I love layered cakes – so festive and rich. This carrot cake looks amazing!
Thanks so much! :)
Would it work if the sugar amount was cut down? Like 1 cup of coconut sugar?
Thanks!
Yes. Please check out the questions section where it says, “Can I reduce the sugar?” :)
Looks very good. Cute too!
Thanks! :)
This cake is absolutely beautiful!
Thanks so much! :)