Paleo Carrot Cake – Gluten Free, Dairy Free
My Paleo Carrot Cake has just enough holiday spice flavors, but has enough sweetness for any dessert lover! Believe it or not it’s gluten free, dairy free, refined sugar free, and is ready in less than an hour!
When you think of carrot cake, spring may come to mind, but we serve it up year round at our house! It makes a great addition to your holiday dessert spread and even if your guests don’t follow the paleo lifestyle, they won’t even be able to tell!
Baking with clean ingredients doesn’t have to be hard. Even though some gluten free baking recipes may require a little more testing because of the absence of gluten. Today I am using a half and half mixture of almond and coconut flour, and the texture came out PERFECT!
If you like carrot cake and want a way to eat it for breakfast, you have to check out my Overnight Carrot Cake Oats! It’s the best time to give both of these recipes a try because you already have all of the ingredients out!
Ingredients Needed for Paleo Carrot Cake
almond flour
coconut flour
Cinnamon and nutmeg
baking powder
baking soda
salt
eggs
coconut sugar – don’t forget to pack it down when measuring
coconut oil – be sure to melt the oil then let it cool before adding it to the cake batter
maple syrup – you could also swap this for honey
vanilla extract
shredded carrot – pack it down when measuring. You can use pre shredded carrots or just shred one if you have it
unsweetened shredded coconut flakes
chopped pecans
Cream Cheese Frosting for Carrot Cake
Here’s a great homemade cream cheese frosting that goes so good with carrot cake BUT it is not paleo friendly unfortunately. If you still want to make it, you can make one side iced and the other without.
If you choose to make the frosting here’s what you need:
Cream cheese
Vanilla Greek Yogurt
Maple Syrup
How to Make a Paleo Friendly Carrot Cake
Prep an 8×8 baking pan by lining it with parchment paper and set it to the side. Then preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
Whisk together in a small bowl the coconut flour, almond flour, nutmeg, cinnamon, salt, baking soda, and baking powder.
Grab a larger mixing bowl and combine the eggs, coconut sugar, oil (that has been melted and cooled), maple syrup, and vanilla.
Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet just until it’s combined.
Fold in the chopped pecans and shredded coconut. Stir until those ingredients are evenly dispersed. At this point your batter will be very thick, so don’t worry!
Pour the batter into the baking pan and bake until a toothpick comes out clean. Depending on how your oven heats, this should take about 38 to 45 minutes.
Making Carrot Cake Cream Cheese Icing
Add all of the frosting ingredients to a bowl and mix well using an electric mixer until it’s completely smooth. Let it sit in the fridge, covered, while the carrot cakes finishes baking.
Icing the Cake
- Allow the cake to cool completely before icing. If you don’t it will run everywhere and you will have a mess.
- Do a crumb coat first if needed. This is where you ice a thin layer so the crumbs will be here instead of on the final icing layer. Place the cake in the fridge for a few minutes, allowing the icing to harden, so it’s easier for the final coat.
- Sprinkle cinnamon, coconut, or additional shredded carrots on top for extra decoration.
Can I Make This Cake Vegan?
I have not tested this recipe in a vegan version, but the only thing you would need to swap would be the eggs (use flax eggs instead). If you decide to experiment, be sure to let me know in the comments how it turned out!
What If I Only Have All Purpose Flour?
Sorry…because I made this recipe gluten free the flour cannot be substituted at a 1:1 ratio.
Freezing Carrot Cake for Later
If you decide you want to freeze some for later, hey I don’t blame ya!
Just allow the cake to cool and store in a freezer friendly bag or container. Let it thaw in the fridge or at room temperature before serving. Frost the cake just before you serve versus freezing it with the icing on.
Who’s going to bake with me? Tag me on Instagram so I can see what you think!
More Delicious Healthy Cake Recipes:
- Gluten Free Banana Cake
- Paleo Coffee Cake
- Dairy Free Carrot Cake Banana Bread
- Healthy Ginger Loaf Cake
- Vegan Apple Cake with Caramel Drizzle (Healthy)
- Healthy Peanut Butter Snack Cake
Paleo Carrot Cake – Gluten Free, Dairy Free
Ingredients
- 3 cups almond flour
- 3 tbsp coconut flour
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp nutmeg
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 large eggs
- 1/2 cup coconut sugar packed
- 1/2 cup coconut oil melted & cooled
- 1/4 cup maple syrup
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup shredded carrot packed (~1 medium carrot)
- 1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut flakes
- 1/2 cup chopped pecans
Cream Cheese Frosting – Not Paleo
- 8 oz Cream cheese
- 1/4 cup Vanilla Greek Yogurt
- 1/4 Cup Maple Syrup
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350F degrees. Line a 8″x8″ pan with parchment paper and set aside.
- In a small bowl, whisk together almond flour, coconut flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk eggs, coconut sugar, coconut oil, maple syrup, and vanilla extract. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and mix until just combined.
- To the batter, add the shredded coconut and chopped pecans. Stir until evenly combined. The batter will be very thick!
- Pour your batter onto the parchment lined 8” x 8” pan. Bake for ~38 – 45 minutes or until a knife inserted in the middle comes out clean.
- While the cake is baking, make your frosting. Combine frosting ingredients in a medium bowl. Beat with a stand or handheld mixer until completely smooth. Place covered in the fridge.
- Remove the cake from the oven. Once the cake has cooled, top with frosting and sprinkle with cinnamon. Enjoy!
