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This gluten free carrot cake is incredibly moist and tender, with just the right balance of sweetness and spice. The light, fluffy crumb stays that way for days thanks to oil and a generous amount of freshly grated carrots—but it never tastes oily or soggy.
Even die-hard carrot cake skeptics ask for this one as a birthday cake. Bake it into two generous layers or a batch of perfectly tender cupcakes. It’s the kind of recipe you’ll come back to every spring, holiday, and birthday celebration.
Cake ingredients
This gluten free carrot cake comes together with everyday pantry and fridge ingredients. Here’s what you’ll need to make it:
- Gluten free flour: Use one of my recommended all purpose gluten free blends for the right structure and texture. Avoid anything with a coarse rice flour or overly starchy blends, which are the usual reasons that people think gluten free baked goods are gritty or dry.
- Baking powder/baking soda: A combination of these leaveners helps the cake rise evenly and brown perfectly in the oven.
- Cinnamon: Adds warm, aromatic depth that pairs perfectly with the carrots.
- White & brown sugars: A balanced mix of sugars brings sweetness and keeps the crumb tender.
- Eggs: Essential for structure and a light, fluffy texture.
- Neutral oil: Creates a moist, tender cake by adding fat without adding any competing flavor.
- Milk: Adds moisture and brings the cake together; be sure to use something with fat for richness.
- Apple cider vinegar: Helps the cake rise by reacting with baking soda to create bubbles that lift the cake.
- Carrots: Freshly grated carrots add color, moisture, and a natural sweetness that pairs really well with cinnamon.
- White chocolate chips + pecans (optional): These add richness and texture in the background, unlike regular chocolate chips which would add a prominent competing flavor. You can easily swap or skip them to suit your taste.
Frosting ingredients
This simple cream cheese frosting is tangy, smooth, and perfectly sweet—not too stiff, and easy to spread or pipe. Here's what you'll need:
- Cream cheese: Adds tangy flavor and a soft texture which pair perfectly with the sweetness and soft crumb of the cake. Bring it to cool room temperature so it blends smoothly with the butter.
- Butter: Adds richness and mild flavor, and helps the frosting holds its shape.
- Confectioners' sugar: Sweetens and thickens the frosting so it spreads easily and stays stable at room temperature.
How to make gluten free carrot cake
This batter comes together in one bowl and bakes into two fluffy layers—or a batch of cupcakes with a quick flour adjustment.
1. Mix the dry ingredients
In a large bowl, whisk together the gluten free flour blend (with xanthan gum if needed), baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, granulated sugar, and brown sugar, breaking up any lumps so they don't become hard in the oven. If you're planning to make cupcakes, reduce the flour amount from 2 1/4 cups to 2 cups, to maintain a tender crumb.
2. Add the wet ingredients
Create a well in the center and add the oil, eggs, vinegar, and milk. Mix to form a thick, soft batter. It will come together easily because of the oil as long as your eggs and milk are at room temperature.
3. Fold in carrots and mix-ins
Stir in the grated carrots, white chocolate chips, and pecans—or your favorite mix-in combo. We add the carrots last so we only need to fold them in and they won't bleed color all over the batter or start to break apart.
4. Bake as a cake
Divide the batter evenly between two greased and lined 8-inch round pans. Bake at 350°F for about 35 minutes, rotating once, until the tops are set and the edges pull away from the pan.
5. Or bake as cupcakes
To make 24 cupcakes, you would have reduced the flour by ¼ cup (36 g). If you haven't remembered to reduce the flour, the cupcakes will just be a little less tender. Fill the wells of two 12-cup muffin tins ¾ full and bake for about 20 minutes.
6. Cool completely
Let the cakes or cupcakes cool in the pans for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool fully before frosting.
7. Make the frosting
To make a cream cheese frosting, beat cream cheese and butter until light and fluffy, then beat in confectioners' sugar until you reach a scoopable but soft consistency.
8. Frost the cakes or cupcakes
To frost a layer cake, place one cake upside down on a serving platter so the flat bottom creates a smooth surface. Add half the frosting and spread it into an even layer. Top with the second cake, also upside down, and press gently to adhere.
Spread the remaining frosting over the top and sides. A swoopy pattern on top looks polished without needing perfect technique.
For 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.
substitutions
Ingredient substitutions
Dairy free cake
This cake is already made with oil, not butter, so it’s easy to make dairy free. Just use an unsweetened non-dairy milk (like almond milk), and replace the white chocolate chips with more chopped nuts or a dairy-free alternative.
Dairy free frosting
You can make a dairy free cream cheese-style frosting using:
- 4 ounces Daiya non-dairy cream cheese
- 8 tablespoons (96 g) nonhydrogenated shortening
- 6 tablespoons (84 g) block-style vegan butter (like Miyoko's or Melt brands)
I don’t recommend using a full 8 ounces of non-dairy cream cheese since the flavor can be overpowering.
For a store-bought option, try Pillsbury Creamy Supreme Cream Cheese Frosting—it’s gluten free and dairy free (but contains soy).
Egg free
Replacing all 4 eggs is a challenge, but it may work using:
- 4 flax eggs (1 tablespoon ground flaxseed + 3 tablespoons water per egg), or
- JustEgg brand plant-based liquid egg
Expect a denser, less airy cake, but still flavorful and tender.
Nut free
Skip the pecans entirely, and increase the white chocolate chips to 6 ounces (from 3 ounces).
My Pro Tip
Expert tips
Grate fresh carrots
Skip the pre-shredded carrots—they’re dry and too thick. Grate whole carrots using a box grater or the grater attachment on a food processor for the best texture and moisture balance.
Measure flour by weight
Always measure your gluten free flour blend by weight, not volume. It’s the only way to avoid dry cake from over-measuring or inconsistent texture from under-measuring.
Don’t rely on the toothpick test
This cake is so moist that a toothpick may come out with quite a few crumbs even when it’s fully baked. Look for light browning on top and slight pulling away from the sides of the pan.
Scaling the recipe
To make a single 8-inch cake layer or 12 cupcakes, reduce the “yield” in the recipe card from 8 to 4 slices. All of the ingredients will reduce by half, but you'll still have to scale down the flour blend for cupcakes to 1 cup (from 1 1/8 cups for cake). Halve the frosting, or keep the full batch if you love extra frosting.
Customize with mix-ins
Want more texture or flavor? Try chopped pecans, walnuts, raisins, or chocolate chips. Be sure to choose something that hold its shape during baking and doesn't add moisture.
Gluten Free Carrot Cake Recipe
Equipment
- Stand mixer with paddle attachment or handheld mixer
Ingredients
For the cake or cupcakes
- 2 ¼ cups (315 g) 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 (150 g) granulated sugar
- ½ cup (109 g) packed light brown sugar
- ½ cup (112 g) neutral oil, (like sunflower or grapeseed oil)
- 4 (200 g (weighed out of shell)) eggs, at room temperature, beaten
- 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- ½ cup (4 fluid ounces) milk, at room temperature
- ½ cup (55 g) chopped pecans, plus more for decorating (optional)
- ½ cup (3 ounces) white chocolate chips, (See Recipe Notes if omitting pecans)
- 3 cups (270 g) peeled and grated carrots, (from about 3 large carrots)
For the cream cheese frosting
- 8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
- 8 tablespoons (112 g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- 4 cups (460 g) confectioners’ sugar, plus more as necessary
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
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
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
make ahead/leftovers
Storage instructions
Make ahead:
Bake the cake layers in advance, wrap them tightly, and freeze for up to 1 month. Defrost at room temperature before frosting.
Storing frosted cake:
Store slices or a whole frosted cake at room temperature, tightly wrapped and/or covered, for up to 3 days.
Freezing leftovers:
Wrap frosted slices in freezer-safe wrap and freeze. Defrost at room temp before serving (don't microwave or the frosting will melt).
Frosting ahead:
Make the cream cheese frosting up to 3 days ahead. Store it in the fridge, then bring to cool room temperature and beat again before using.
FAQs
You can mix and store the dry ingredients (through the brown sugar) in a sealed container at room temperature for a few days. Don’t refrigerate the mix, since brown sugar tends to clump when cold.
Yes—just know that your cakes will be slightly shorter and bake a bit faster. Begin checking for doneness around 25 minutes.
I love a carrot cake with pineapple, but that's a different recipe because it adds a ton of extra moisture that this recipe can't handle. Try our Entenmann's style gluten free carrot pineapple cake recipe.
Yes! You can make the cake layers up to a month ahead, wrap and freeze them, then defrost and frost the day before serving.
Absolutely. Just replace the pecans with extra white chocolate chips, or leave both out. The cake still bakes perfectly.
Yes, this recipe makes 24 cupcakes. Reduce the flour by 1/4 cup (35 g) for the best texture, and bake for about 20 minutes.
This is my favourite dessert to make. Your recipe is perfectly moist and easy to follow for a beginner bakers. Thanks!
You’re so welcome, Jon! I’m so glad you enjoyed the carrot cake. Thank you for sharing your experience!
So moist! I used the bobs mill and added the Xantham gum as you mentioned. Everyone loved the cupcakes. I’m addicted!
So glad you were able to make Bob’s Red Mill’s blend work for you, Julie. I’m so glad that they improved it, since it’s inexpensive and so widely available!
I use this recipe and made cupcakes for Easter and people didn’t even know they were gluten-free. They are so delicious. I highly recommend it.
So happy to hear it, Melissa! That’s the best, when gluten eaters and gluten free happily eat the same cupcakes. Thank you for sharing that!