Gluten Free Carrot Cake Recipe

4.99 from 321 votes

This gluten free carrot cake is impossibly moist and tender, with a fluffy crumb, just the right sweetness, and warm cinnamon spice. Frost it with tangy cream cheese frosting and serve it as a two-layer cake or as cupcakes!

Prep Time25

Cook Time35

Course: Cake, Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: brown sugar, butter, carrots, cinnamon, cream cheese, eggs, gluten free carrot cake, gluten free carrot cupcakes, gluten free flour, milk, oil, white sugar

Servings: slices layer cake

Author: Nicole Hunn

Equipment

Stand mixer with paddle attachment or handheld mixer

Ingredients

For the cake or cupcakes

2 ¼ cups all purpose gluten free flour blend (See Recipe Notes for choices) (use only 2 cups (280 g) flour blend if making cupcakes)
1 teaspoon xanthan gum omit if your blend already contains it
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon kosher salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
¾ cup granulated sugar
½ cup packed light brown sugar
½ cup neutral oil (like sunflower or grapeseed oil)
4 eggs at room temperature, beaten
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
½ cup milk at room temperature
½ cup chopped pecans plus more for decorating (optional)
½ cup white chocolate chips (See Recipe Notes if omitting pecans)
3 cups peeled and grated carrots (from about 3 large carrots)

For the cream cheese frosting

8 ounces cream cheese at room temperature
8 tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature
¼ teaspoon kosher salt
4 cups confectioners’ sugar plus more as necessary

Customary - Metric

Instructions

Preheat your oven to 350°F. Grease two 8-inch round baking pans and set them aside. If making cupcakes, grease or line two standard 12-cup muffin tins, and set them aside.
In a large bowl, place the flour (2 1/4 cups or 315 g if making cake; 2 cups or 280 g if making cupcakes), xanthan gum, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and granulated sugar. Whisk to combine well.
Add the brown sugar, and whisk again to combine, working to break up any lumps in the brown sugar.
Create a well in the center of the dry ingredients, and add the oil, eggs, vinegar, and milk, and mix to combine.
Add the grated carrots to the mixture, plus the (optional) pecans and white chocolate chips, and mix until evenly distributed throughout. The batter will be thick, but relatively soft.

To make a cake.

Divide the batter evenly among the two prepared baking pans, and spread into an even layer in each.
Place in the center of the preheated oven and bake until the cake is uniformly light brown on top, and beginning to pull away from the sides of the pan rotating the pans once during baking (35 to 40 minutes).
Remove the pans from the oven from the oven and allow the cakes to cool for at least 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

To make cupcakes.

Fill the wells of the prepared muffin tins about 3/4 of the way full with batter, and shake the pan back and forth to distribute the batter evenly in each well.
One at a time, place the muffin tins in the center of the preheated oven and bake until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cupcakes comes out with no more than a few moist crumbs attached (about 20 minutes).
Remove the tin from the oven from the oven and allow the cupcakes to cool in the pan for at least 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. Repeat with the remaining muffin tin.

Make the frosting.

While the cakes or 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 5 minutes.
Add the salt, and 3 1/2 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.
Add more confectioners’ sugar as necessary to thicken the frosting enough to hold its shape when scooped with a spoon.

To frost a layer cake.

Turn one of the cooled cakes, top down, onto a serving platter.
Spoon about half of the frosting onto the top of the cake.
Spread the frosting into an even layer on top of this cake.
Top with the second cake, top-down and press to adhere.
Spoon the remaining frosting on top of the cake.
Spread the frosting on the top and sides of the cake. It's easiest to create a swooping pattern on top of the cake so it doesn't have to be super smooth and perfect.
Top with more chopped pecans, if desired. To make the cake easier to slice, chill for about an hour in the refrigerator before slicing and serving.

To frost cupcakes.

Spoon or pipe the frosting onto the cooled cupcakes.

Video

Notes

Choosing a flour blend:
Use one of my recommended all purpose gluten free flour blends (like Better Batter original blend or Nicole’s Best multipurpose). If you use Bob’s Red Mill 1-to-1, add an extra heaping ½ teaspoon xanthan gum to avoid a crumbly cake. I don’t recommend Cup4Cup anymore—it’s changed and no longer performs reliably. To make your own blend using one of my “mock” recipes, please see the all purpose gluten free flour blends page.

Making cupcakes instead of a layer cake:
Reduce the flour blend by ¼ cup (35 g). You may also want to halve the frosting, unless you love a generous swirl (I do!).

Skipping the pecans?
If you leave out the pecans, use 6 ounces of white chocolate chips instead of 3 to make up the difference.

Nutritional information is an estimate per slice of layer cake with frosting, assuming the cake is sliced into 8 equal slices.

Nutrition