The ultimate gluten free carrot cake is loaded with fresh carrots and topped with cinnamon cream cheese frosting. Plus, you can even bake it into cupcakes. Make it days ahead unfrosted, wrap tightly and freeze it, and defrost early Easter morning!
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Why this is the best gluten free carrot cake recipe
This batter makes cake or cupcakes that are light and fluffy, moist and tender, and never ever oily. Cakes made with oil instead of butter can be very moist but can also become oily if the ingredients are in just the proper balance, as they are here.
Carrots are perfect for cake because, when shredded and folded into a cinnamon-sugar cake batter, they bake up sweet and tender. They give off just enough moisture to help tenderize the cake, but they don't make the cake soggy.
This recipe uses a ton of shredded carrots (3 whole cups, in fact), unlike some recipes that are carrot cake in name only. They soften during baking, but mostly hold their color and don't bleed into the rest of the cake.
Recipe ingredients
- Gluten free flour: Be sure to choose one of my recommended blends of all purpose gluten free flour, which is a blend of individual flours that together behave like wheat flour. If your blend doesn't already have xanthan gum, be sure to add it. This provides the structure for the cake.
- Baking powder/baking soda: Aid in rising and browning in the oven.
- Salt: Enhances the natural flavors of the cake and balances sweetness.
- Cinnamon: This warm spice adds depth of flavor.
- White sugar: Adds sweetness and tenderness.
- Brown sugar: Adds sweetness, tenderness and moisture to this cake.
- Eggs: Provide structure and provide a lot of rise in this moist cake.
- Oil: Makes for an even more tender cake than butter would without adding any flavor to compete with the carrots and cinnamon.
- Milk: Adds moisture and richness.
- Apple cider vinegar: Helps the cake rise by reacting with baking soda and helps tenderize the crumb. Can be replaced with regular white vinegar or fresh lemon juice.
- Carrots: Add sweetness, tenderness, and natural flavor that complements the cinnamon.
- White chocolate chips: I like just a few white chocolate chips in carrot cake since they add richness and some texture without the prominent flavor of regular chocolate chips. You can use a mixture of chopped pecans and white chocolate chips, all chips, or even chopped walnuts or raisins.
How to make gluten free carrot cake
The batter for this carrot cake is made simply and easily in one bowl. It's thick, but not at all stiff and doesn't require you to sift any dry ingredients or even melt anything at all. Here are the steps to make 2 8-inch round cakes that together we'll use to make a carrot layer cake:
Make the raw cake batter
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk the gluten free flour blend (including xanthan gum), baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and granulated sugar.
- Add the brown sugar, and whisk, but be sure to break up the clumps by pressing them into the side of the mixing bowl with the back of your spoon.
- Mix in oil, 4 beaten eggs, apple cider vinegar, and some milk, all at room temperature, so everything combines well.
- Add 3 cups of peeled and grated carrots, and white chocolate chips (or whatever combination of dry mix-in ingredients you like best in carrot cake), and mix to combine.
Transfer to cake pans and bake at 350°F
- Divide the cake batter evenly among 2 greased 8-inch round cake pans, and smooth it into an even layer in each pan using a knife, spatula, or offset spatula. You can also shake the pans back and forth a bit to help the batter settle evenly.
- Bake the cakes at 350°F for about 35 minutes, rotating the pans back to front/side to side in the oven once after about 25 minutes. The cakes are done when they’re evenly brown, and starting to pull away from the sides of the pans.
- Remove the cakes from the oven, let cool in the pans for about 10 minutes, then turn the cakes out onto wire racks to let them cool completely.
Frost the cake with the best cream cheese frosting
It wouldn't be a classic carrot cake without the tangy sweetness of smooth and creamy cream cheese frosting. The cream cheese frosting here isn't super stiff, since to make it very stiff would require adding way too much confectioners' sugar.
When you frost the cake as a layer cake, keep in mind that the frosting is a bit softer than a classic buttercream. That means that the cake itself is more likely to peek out from the layers of frosting.
You can frost a “naked” cake by just filling in between the layers and frosting right on top. For cupcakes, try frosting them right before serving.
You can also help firm up the frosting a bit by chilling it in the refrigerator before using it to decorate your cake. I wouldn't let it chill for more than an hour, though, so it doesn't become too firm to spread.
Choosing the right gluten free flour for carrot cake
I've made this cake so many times that I've made it with Better Batter classic gluten free flour blend, Cup4Cup gluten free flour blend, and my Better Than Cup4Cup blend. They all work beautifully.
It's a relatively forgiving recipe, unlike for example our perfect gluten free vanilla cake, which is so simple that it must be made with just the right gluten free flour blend, sifted. Steer clear entirely of gf flour blends with very gritty rice flour, like Bob's Red Mill, but you might even be able to make this cake successfully with King Arthur Flour Measure for Measure.
As always, please consult our comprehensive guide to all purpose gluten free flour blends, which is linked in every recipe, like this one, that calls for an all purpose gluten free flour blend.
Can I use almond flour for this gluten free carrot cake recipe? Coconut flour? Oat flour?
I'm afraid this cake can't be made without a rice flour-based all purpose gluten free flour, no. You'd need a completely different recipe. Our superfood muffins come close!
Recommended pans for this recipe
This recipe is designed to be made either in 2 8-inch round cake pans, or the standard wells of a 12-cup muffin tin. I always recommend baking in cast aluminum, which conducts heat well but not too well, and is light in color so it doesn't burn the outside by attracting too much heat in the oven.
Since the recipe calls for 4 eggs, you can easily cut the ingredients in half, right down the middle, and make either 1 cake or just 12 cupcakes. The cupcakes do freeze really well, though, if you make the whole recipe but don't have a need for all 24.
If your pan is 9-inches in diameter, rather than 8-inches, it will make shorter cakes that bake faster. Begin checking at 25 minutes.
Keep in mind that there's no truly standard size well in a “standard” 12-cup muffin tin. So you may get more or fewer cupcakes than the recipe states.
Recipe tips & tricks
Measuring just the right amount of gluten free flour
Always measure your dry ingredients, especially your gluten free flour blend, by weight, not volume. It's impossible to avoid human error when measuring by volume, no matter your level of baking experience.
Use a food processor to quickly grate your carrots
You should always grate your carrots fresh, rather than used a prepared bag of grated carrots, for carrot cake. The prepared grated carrots are almost always quite thick, and they're too dry.
That doesn't mean you necessarily have to grate your carrots by hand, though, on a box grater. Try making quick work of the job by grating them in your food processor with the grater plate or blade.
If you'd like to try some mix-ins
There are so many options for mix-ins in your carrot cake. In this recipe, there's a total of about 5 or 6 ounces of mix-ins.
You can use any combination of dry mix-ins that hold their shape in your cake. Here are some suggestions:
- Soft nuts, like pecans or walnuts, roughly chopped
- Raisins (I like white raisins here, but Thompson seedless raisins are also an excellent choice)
- White, dark, or milk chocolate chips
If you'd like to mix pineapple into your carrot cake, you'll get nothing but encouragement from me—but you'll need our Entenmann's style gluten free carrot pineapple cake recipe. Don't try adding pineapple to this recipe, as it adds a ton of moisture and needs its own recipe.
Use parchment paper to keep your cake from sticking
Whether you're using nonstick round cake pans or muffin tins or not, it's a good idea to line your pan with a round of parchment paper, or to line your muffin tins with greaseproof liners.
Lining your pans helps the cake and cupcakes release from the pan, and also helps them bake more evenly, too.
How to test the cake for doneness
Since this is a really moist cake, you may find that using a toothpick or other cake tester to determine if there is still any wet batter in your cake isn't that reliable. I prefer to wait until the cake is uniformly light brown on top, and beginning to pull away from the sides of the pan.
Popular ingredient substitution suggestions
Dairy free cake
Making carrot cake with oil instead of butter makes these carrot cake cupcakes quite easy to convert to dairy free as well as gluten free. Just use a nondairy milk, like almond milk.
You can either replace the white chocolate chips with more nuts, make your own vegan white chocolate and chop it up, or use nondairy semi-sweet chocolate chips.
Dairy free frosting
I've successfully made cream cheese-style frosting dairy free by using 4 ounces Daiya nondairy cream cheese, 8 tablespoons (96 g) nonhydrogenated shortening, and 6 tablespoons (84 g) Earth Balance nondairy butter in place of the butter and cream cheese.
I find that nondairy cream cheese has a strong taste that can become unpleasant if used in large amounts, so I don't use a whole 8 ounces of it in place of 8 ounces of conventional cream cheese.
An easy gluten free dairy free alternative to making your own frosting is to buy a can of Pillsbury brand cream cheese frosting. It's gluten free, and contains no dairy ingredients (but does contain soy).
Egg free?
I don't believe that this recipe can be made egg-free, I'm afraid. It just calls for too many eggs. Sorry!
Nut free
Just use 2 more ounces of the white chocolate chips in place of the chopped pecans, and eliminate the pecans as decoration. Easy!
Storage instructions
If you don't plan to serve this gf carrot cake right away, I recommend wrapping the unfrosted cake layers tightly in freezer-safe wrap and freezing them. Defrost them at room temperature before frosting and serving.
If you have already frosted the cake and have any slices leftover, it will still freeze really well. Just wrap each slice tightly in freezer safe wrap, then freeze. Defrost at room temperature.
FAQs
No! Unless you're using a gluten free carrot cake recipe like this one, you should never assume that carrot cake is gluten free.
Yes, but you must reduce the amount of flour called for in the recipe by 1/4 cup (36 grams), for a total of 2 cups (280 grams). Although it's often assumed that a recipe for a cake can be used to make cupcakes, and vice versa, it isn't always the case. Since each cupcake is its own portion, there's a much larger surface area that is exposed to the heat of the oven.
If you use only 2 cups of flour to make the cake, like you do for cupcakes, the cake is too fragile. It tastes great, but the cake will crack when you frost and layer it. Adding 1/4 cup more flour to the recipe before baking it as a layer cake was the perfect fix.
Given the choice, I generally prefer to make cupcakes rather than a full cake. Cupcakes are easier to store, easier to force just a few on friends and neighbors (and my husband's coworkers), and easier to have on hand at a moment's notice (birthday in school tomorrow!).
As described above, you can make the carrot cake layers even weeks ahead of time by wrapping them tightly and freezing them. Defrost in the refrigerator before frosting and serving.
The cake is moist enough, in fact, that you can even store it at room temperature, wrapped tightly in plastic wrap, up to 1 whole day in advance. Don't refrigerate it, though, as the refrigerator tends to dry out baked goods.
The frosting can also be made in advance and stored in the refrigerator for a few days. It will be solid, though, once fully chilled, so you'll need to let it warm up for about an hour, and then mix it again with your mixer until you reach the proper consistency for spreading or piping it.
You can definitely assemble the dry ingredients, up to and including the brown sugar, whisk them together, and store them in a sealed container. I would store them at room temperature, though, in a dark pantry, since the refrigerator will cause the brown sugar to clump.
You can absolutely leave out the nuts entirely. I recommend replacing them with more chocolate chips, but you can probably replace them with any other sort of ingredient that fills space and doesn't blend into the batter, like raisins or other dried fruit.
If your cake is crumbly, you may have overmeasured your gluten free flour blend, or used a blend with a gritty rice flour. Pay careful attention to your flour blend, and to measuring everything possible by weight, not volume, as volume measurements for dry ingredients are unreliable because human error in measurement is unavoidable. Plus, dry ingredient measures like cups and half-cups have no universal standard, so your cup may not be quite the same as mine. Weight is consistent, and always reliable.
Gluten Free Carrot Cake Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
For the cake
- 2 ¼ cups (315 g) all purpose gluten free flour blend (I like Cup4Cup here best; Better Batter also works well; click thru for appropriate blends) (See Recipe Notes re: 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, 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 (optional) pecans and white chocolate chips, and mix until evenly distributed throughout.
- Add the grated carrots to the mixture, and stir until evenly distributed throughout the batter. 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 and spread into an even layer.
- Top with the second cake, top-down and press to adhere. Spread the remaining frosting on top of the cake and 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.
Notes
- Reduce the flour blend by 1/4 cup (35 g) to 2 cups (280 g). The rest of the recipe remains the same.
- You may want to halve the frosting recipe, as you need less frosting. Unless you really want to pile it on (which I heartily recommend).
If you're not using pecans in the cake, use double the amount of white chocolate chips, raising the amount to 6 ounces. Nutritional information is an estimate per slice of layer cake with frosting, assuming the cake is sliced into 8 equal slices. It is created using an online nutritional calculator as a courtesy and should not be relied upon.
Nutrition
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Thanks for stopping by!
Hi, I’m Nicole. I create gluten free recipes that really work and taste as good as you remember. No more making separate meals when someone is GF, or buying packaged foods that aren’t good enough to justify the price. At Gluten Free on a Shoestring, “good, for gluten free” just isn’t good enough! Come visit my bio!
Marty says
I followed your recipe to th T! Absolutely wonderful! Best cake I have made since I had to go gluten free three years ago just amazing. Thanks
Nicole Hunn says
I’m so happy to hear it, Marty! I hope you feel encouraged to try baking more of the thing you miss. :)
Nicole says
If I do not add white chocolate chips or pecans, will that affect the recipe negatively?
Nicole Hunn says
Yes, Nicole, you need to add some pieces in their place. But those pieces can be raisins, other chips, anything that isn’t wet!
Susan says
I just made these into cupcakes for Easter and they are tender and delicious. I just “had” to taste one even before they were frosted – yum! I only made a half batch since there are only 3 of us gfers in the family. Now all I have to do is figure out how we’re going to hide them from everyone else! Thanks Nicole!!
Nicole Hunn says
Haha, Susan, that’s so great to hear! Thank you for letting me know. Next year, if they’re smart, everyone will be asking you to bring your carrot cupcakes!! Happy Easter to you and your family.
Marty says
Can you make a sheet came with his reciprocate 9×13 pan
Nicole Hunn says
Hi, Marty, I’m afraid no, I don’t recommend baking this recipe in a single, large pan. It’s too moist a cake, and there’s a tendency for the bottom to overcook before the center has baked all the way through.
Nicole says
This sounds delicious! How would you store this cake? I’d like to make it the day before I have company. Thanks in advance!
Nicole Hunn says
Hi, Nicole, please see the info in the post under the title: “How to store leftover gluten free carrot cake.” Happy Easter!
Julia says
Can this cake be made in a tube pan?
Nicole Hunn says
It’s too moist of a cake, Julia, so I don’t recommend that, no. I think you’d have trouble getting it cooked fully, and then out of the pan properly. Sorry, this isn’t that type of recipe.
Anita Orr says
Hello Nicole, I love your recipes and have all of your cookbooks. I am definitely making this for Easter. I was trying to determine the grams for Better Batter as I have 10 lbs of that flour mix. The bag says 1/4 C is 30 grams ie 1c = 120 grams so 2 1/4 C = 270g. Is Better Batter less weight per cup than Cup4Cup?
Nicole Hunn says
Hi, Anita, Please ignore any weights other than the ones I provide in my recipes, including those from the manufacturers. The discrepancy you’re seeing is just proof of the necessity of measuring by weight, not volume. The volume measurements I provide are a courtesy, but they’re inherently variable and unreliable, as there’s no standardization of cup sizes.
Linda says
What about using Bob’s Red Mill 1 to 1 flour?
Nicole Hunn says
Please click through to that page, Lynda. I discuss at length what blends I recommend, and Bob’s Red Mill is one of the ones I recommend very strongly against.
Lisa says
I used King Arthur since it was what I had in the pantry. The taste was good but the cake was dense and not light and fluffy. Judging by your pictures my batter appeared to be thicker than yours. Did I measure the flour incorrectly or do you think it was the brand of flour?
Nicole Hunn says
It was absolutely the brand of flour, Lisa. That is an unbalanced, gritty blend that will not work in my recipes as expected. I explain it all on the all purpose gluten free flour blends page, which is linked in every instance that I call for a blend.
Lynda says
I want to make this recipie but before I do I would like to ask if Robin Hood GF flour would work? I’m in Canada and am not familiar with the flour you mention unless I am going to the wrong stores.
Nicole Hunn says
You cannot use Robin Hood flour, no, Lynda. Please see the all purpose gluten free flour blends page for full information on what blends you can use in my recipes, and how to build them from individual flours if you can’t buy them. That’s why the DIY blends are there, for when you can’t or don’t want to buy the blends. If you use a blend I don’t recommend or recommend against, the recipes won’t work.
Shalindhi says
Wonderful crumb and delicious. Although I think that I will leave out the white chocolate chips, maybe double up on the pecans. I find it, along with the frosting, to be incredibly sweet and a bit too sweet for my taste. Is it possible to cut back on the confectioner’s sugar, perhaps add a bit more butter to make it more like a buttercream?
Nicole Hunn says
You can, of course, use a different frosting if you prefer, Shalindhi. But buttercream, too, is a high-sugar blend. The only lower sugar frosting, really, is a cooked flour ermine frosting. Please use the search function.
Andrea says
I have made this cake three times and it is excellent. I used Cup4Cup and it came out perfect. All three times I made it in a 9×13 pan and baked it for about 38 minutes. I did add raisins and vanilla to the icing but other than that I followed the recipe exactly. It will be my go to gluten-free carrot cake. Thanks for sharing.
Nicole Hunn says
I’m so glad you’re enjoying this carrot cake, Andrea! Thank you for sharing your experience baking it in a 9×13-inch pan. That’s good to know!
Melissa D. says
I just made this as cupcakes. They were so yummy. Ihave a question- my first batch did not rise much. The second batch rose beautifully. Do you find it beneficial to let gluten free recipes rest ahile before baking?
Nicole Hunn says
Hi, Melissa, no there’s no need to let muffin batter rest. In fact, when you do that, the baking soda will have already acted fully the first time and is more likely not to rise properly after that. Your leaveners may not have been fresh the first time, if you used a different batch of leaveners the second, or your oven may not have been hot enough the first time. Muffins in particular need a hot oven to start or they won’t rise fully, even if they bake all the way through. It’s most likely that.
Rachel says
I am new to GF baking and I rarely comment on recipes I’ve found but I just had to on this one. Easy to make and sooooo delicious!! This will definitely be my new carrot cake recipe all the time now. Added a bit of nutmeg and raisins instead of chocolate chips. That way I feel less guilty eating them with my morning coffee!
Cindy says
I made cupcakes with this recipe last night. I adjusted the recipe for high altitude (over 6,000 feet) and they came out fantastic! Thanks so much for a wonderful recipe!
Nicole Hunn says
That’s great to know, Cindy! If you’re willing to share, I’d love to know what high altitude adjustments you made.
Carol says
Match stick carrots from the store that I coarsely chop are a lot easier than grating them.
Nicole Hunn says
I’m afraid I don’t recommend using any precut carrots, Carol, as they tend to be quite dry. Plus, you need thinly grated carrots in this recipe, not chunks of chopped carrots, for them to soften properly in the oven.
Geneviève says
Hi Nicole, I baked this carrot cake yesterday and finished it with a vegan frosting made with cashews and dates. I’ve been craving carrot cake for a while and wasn’t disappointed at all. This cake is soft and moist. I put walnuts instead of pecans. So happy to have discovered your site a few months ago and I also bought the reedition of your book.
Nicole Hunn says
Thank you so much for letting us know how well it turned out, Geneviève! And thank you so much for your support of my books. Keep coming back! :)