Gluten Free Carrot Cake Cupcakes Recipe

Close-up of a golden brown carrot cake cupcake in a paper liner on a metal plate, topped with white frosting, chopped nuts and a dusting of ground cinnamon, with whole pecans in the background.

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These gluten free carrot cake cupcakes are soft, warmly spiced, and have almost as much shredded carrot as flour for tons of flavor!

Prep Time20

Cook Time18

Cooling time20

Course: Cupcakes, Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: gluten free carrot cake cupcakes

Servings: cupcakes

Author: Nicole Hunn

Equipment

Stand mixer or handheld mixer for making the frosting

Ingredients

For the cupcakes

1 cup all purpose gluten free flour blend See Recipe Notes
½ teaspoon xanthan gum omit if your blend already contains it
½ teaspoon baking soda
¾ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
⅜ cup granulated sugar
¼ cup packed light brown sugar
¼ cup neutral oil (like sunflower, grapeseed, canola or vegetable oil)
2 eggs at room temperature, beaten
⅜ cup buttermilk at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste or pure vanilla extract
1 ½ cups peeled and coarsely-grated carrots (See Recipe Notes) (from about 2 medium carrots)
½ cup gluten free white chocolate chips (can replace with any other dry mix-ins)

For cream cheese frosting

4 ounces cream cheese at room temperature
4 tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature
⅛ teaspoon kosher salt
2 cups confectioners’ sugar plus more as necessary
Chopped pecans for decorating (optional)

Customary - Metric

Instructions

Make the cupcakes

Preheat your oven to 325°F. Line a standard 12-cup muffin tin, and set it aside.
In a large bowl, place the flour blend, xanthan gum, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, granulated sugar, and brown sugar. Whisk to combine well. Break up any lumps of brown sugar with the back of a mixing spoon. 
Create a well in the center of the dry ingredients, and add the oil, beaten eggs, buttermilk, and vanilla, and mix to combine. The mixture will be very soft and quite thin.
 Add the grated carrots to the mixture, plus the white chocolate chips, and mix until evenly distributed throughout. The batter will thicken a bit as you mix.
Fill the wells of the prepared muffin tins about 3/4 of the way full with batter. Shake the pan back and forth to distribute it evenly in each well.
Place the muffin tin in the center of the preheated oven and bake until they’re uniformly lightly golden brown on top, spring back when pressed gently in the center, and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out not wet, but may have a few moist crumbs attached (18 to 20 minutes).
Allow the cupcakes to cool in the pan for no more than 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. A small offset spatula slipped underneath each cupcake can help remove them while still hot without burning your fingers.

Make the frosting

While the cupcakes are cooling, in the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or a large bowl with a handheld mixer), place the cream cheese and butter.  Beat on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
Add the salt, and 2 cups of confectioners’ sugar. Mix on low speed until the sugar is absorbed. Turn the mixer to high speed and beat until the frosting is thickened and fluffy, about 2 minutes more. 
Beat in more confectioners’ sugar as necessary to thicken the frosting enough to hold its shape when scooped with a spoon.

Decorate the cupcakes

To frost the cupcakes, pipe a generous swirl of frosting using a large open piping tip, or snip the corner off a zip-top bag for a homemade version. You can also use an ice cream scoop to place a large dollop of frosting on top of each. Swirl with a spatula or spoon.
Top with chopped pecans, if desired.

Notes

Choosing a flour blend
For expected results, use one of my recommended all purpose gluten free flour blends (like Better Batter original blend or Nicole’s Best multipurpose with added xanthan gum as directed in the recipe). If you use Bob’s Red Mill 1-to-1, add an extra heaping 1/4 teaspoon xanthan gum to avoid crumbly cupcakes.

To make your own blend using one of my “mock” recipes, please see the all purpose gluten free flour blends page.

Grating the carrots
On a standard box grater, use the large holes which are about 1/4-inch in diameter. It's the side you'd use for mozzarella cheese. Do not use the finer grate. You should be able to see each individual shred.

Nutrition