Hands down the best gluten-free carrot cake around! Easy to make with everyday ingredients and topped with a blanket of fluffy cream cheese frosting. Nobody will guess this is gluten-free!
Easter dinner isn’t complete without a delicious carrot cake for dessert! I’ve been making this homemade gluten-free carrot cake recipe for a few years now and it’s always an unbelievable hit. It is light and moist with the perfect tender crumb and hint of spice.
The traditional cream cheese frosting is just the right amount of sweet. It’s whipped until fluffy, making a soft blanket of frosting over the cake. Cream cheese frosting is also what I use on my gluten-free red velvet cake. Both recipes are such classic flavors!
I love how easy it is to make sheet cakes! No stacking layers precariously with frosting. No worrying it will tip over on the car ride over to a friends house. Just an easy-peasy cake made in a 9×13 pan that is no-fuss, portable and always a crowd-pleaser, much like my easy gluten-free chocolate cake.
Why You’ll Love this Gluten-Free Carrot Cake
- Great for special occasions (like Easter)
- Easy to make, no-fuss recipe
- Topped with cream cream cheese frosting (that isn’t too sweet)
- Always light, fluffy, and moist
How to Make Gluten-Free Carrot Cake
This carrot cake is surprisingly easy to make-it’s made with simple ingredients, and it’s no different than making a regular carrot sheet cake! The ingredients are basically the same (eggs, sugar, oil, carrots, spices, etc.) except you use gluten-free 1:1 baking flour. This is also sometimes called measure-for-measure flour.
Just be sure to pick a flour that contains xanthan gum that acts as a binder. I like using King Arthur Flour Gluten-Free Measure-For-Measure Flour and a little bit of almond flour for the dry ingredients in this recipe.
There are a few tricks for making gluten-free cake in general. For this reason I highly recommend using recipes that are designed specifically to be gluten-free rather than swapping in gluten-free flour for regular flour in a standard recipe.
STEP 1: You start by beating together the eggs, white sugar and brown sugar in a large mixing bowl. You can use the bowl of a stand mixer or a hand mixer for this – either will work!
STEP 2: Slowly add the oil in a steady stream while beating until fully incorporated. Then whip the whole mixer until light and fluffy, about 1-2 minutes.
STEP 3: Add the dry ingredients, grated carrots, and pecans into the large bowl. I shred my carrots in the food processor to speed up the process. You can omit the pecans if you like but I love the little bit of texture! However if you ask me, golden raisins and pineapple have no place in a carrot cake! I like the nice light texture of a cake without the other mix-ins.
STEP 4: Mix the dry and wet ingredients until incorporated, then pour the cake batter into a 9×13 pan.
TIP: Shred carrots in the food processor to save time.
STEP 5: Make the luscious cream cheese frosting! This is my very favorite recipe for gluten free cream cheese frosting. It really makes a difference to whip the powdered sugar and other ingredients together for a few minutes for a nice fluffy texture. I also like this cream cheese frosting because it uses a little less sugar than other recipes and isn’t overwhelmingly sweet.
STEP 6: Spread the frosting over the cooled gluten-free carrot cake. Refrigerate until serving if needed. Let the cake come to room temperature for about 20 minutes before serving, then enjoy the perfect gluten-free treat!
Storage Instructions
Store your cake by covering the pan in plastic wrap, or by placing leftovers in an airtight container. Store in the fridge for up to two days.
Tips for Making Gluten-Free Cake
This recipe is perfectly designed to work as written with gluten-free flour. I highly recommend seeking out recipes that are specifically designed to be gluten-free. However, here are few tips for making cake gluten-free if you’re adapting a regular flour recipe.
Use a high-quality gluten-free 1:1 flour: I like King Arthur Flour. I also usually reduce the amount of flour slightly as gluten-free flour tends to be denser than regular flour.
Reduce the amount of oil slightly: Gluten-free flours aren’t as absorptive as regular flour so sometimes you need to cut back on the vegetable or canola oil slightly.
Add an extra egg: Eggs can give gluten-free baked goods an extra lift and needed structure.
Bake the cake longer: Gluten-free cakes often need longer in the oven than regular cakes. Be sure to test the center with a toothpick to ensure it’s cooked through.
Use parchment paper: If you want to be able to easily remove the whole cake from the prepared pan, line it with parchment paper and let some hang off the sides.
More Gluten-Free Cake Recipes
Easy Gluten-Free Carrot Cake
Video
Ingredients
For the Cake:
- 2 cups (310g) gluten-free measure-for-measure flour
- 1/2 cup (55g) almond flour
- 1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 pound (450g) carrots peeled and grated
- 4 large eggs
- 1 cup (200g) granulated sugar
- 1 cup (200g) brown sugar
- 3/4 cup vegetable oil
- 1 cup pecans toasted and chopped (optional – plus more for topping finished cake if desired)
For the Cream Cheese Frosting:
- 16 ounces (452g) brick-style cream cheese softened to room temperature
- 10 tablespoons (140g) butter softened to room temperature
- 2 tablespoons sour cream
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 cups (340g) powdered sugar
Instructions
- For the Cake: Preheat the oven to 350F. Spray a 9×13 pan with cooking spray and set aside.
- Grate the carrots in a food processor (this way is the easiest!) or by hand. In a medium bowl, add the flour, almond flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and salt. Whisk to combine.
- In a large bowl or bowl of a stand mixer, add the eggs, granulated sugar and brown sugar. Using a hand or stand mixer, beat until frothy and combined. Slowly pour in the oil while mixing and whip until light and fluffy, about 1-2 minutes.
- Add the flour mixture, carrots and nuts and mix everything together with a spatula until well-combined. Pour the mixture into the prepared pan and spread out evenly.
- Bake for 40-45 minutes until set and a toothpick inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean. Let cool completely before frosting.
- For the Frosting: Mix the cream cheese, butter, and sour cream at medium-high speed in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or in a large bowl using handheld mixer) until well combined, about 30 seconds, scraping down the bowl with rubber spatula as needed.
- Add the vanilla and powdered sugar and beat on low speed for 10-15 seconds, then increase the speed to medium-high and whip for 1-2 minutes until very fluffy. Spread the frosting over the cooled cake and top with more pecans if desired.
- Refrigerate until serving if needed. Let the cake come to room temperature for about 20 minutes before serving. Enjoy!
With GF flour I’ve read to let the batter rest for a half hour for better texture, should I do that with this cake?
Hi Debby! GF bakes can benefit from a rest time to allow the flour to hydrate more, but we haven’t found it necessary with this cake when using the recommended King Arthur flour. We hope you love the carrot cake! Thank you for your question!
Dear Erin – Thank you so much for another delicious recipe! It was my first carrot cake, and it turned out delicious.
I didn’t have cloves and substituted them for cardamom, and it worked just like I expected it to.
Can’t wait to try another one of your recipes soon!
Hi Svetlana! We’re thrilled you loved the carrot cake this much! It’s great to hear cardamom worked nicely as a sub for the cloves. Thank you for sharing with us! We hope your next bake is just as enjoyable!
I’ve made many gf of carrot cakes over the years and if I could rate this one with more stars I surely would. This was the best carrot cake I’ve ever made! I made this for my sister’s birthday dinner as I’m gf sensitive and my grand niece is Celiac. The compliments were many and everyone wanted a piece to take home. I only bake by wgt and I have to say the amount of carrots had me thinking is this a typo? Trust the process, make the cake as written, follow Erin’s tips and you too will have brought the fan favorite dessert.
Aww, this is so wonderful to hear! Thank you for such amazing feedback, Mary Jo. We’re grateful to hear this is the best carrot cake you’ve ever made. And we’re so glad it all worked out well for you, despite the concern over the carrot measurement. Thank you for sharing your advice about trusting the process! Happy baking!