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 it’s fluffy so it makes a blanket of frosting over the cake. Nobody will guess this great recipe is gluten-free!
I love how easy it is to make sheet cakes! (Like this easy gluten-free chocolate cake.) No stacking layers precariously with frosting. No worrying it will tip over on the car ride over to a friends house.
Just easy-peasy cake made in a 9×13 pan that is no-fuss, portable and always a crowd-pleaser. (However, you could make this a layer cake, if you really wanted to!) For another easy sheet cake try this gluten-free banana cake.
For more gluten-free cake recipes, try this gluten-free lemon cake, gluten-free birthday cake, gluten-free pineapple upside down cake, gluten-free red velvet cake or these gluten-free vanilla cupcakes. You also might like these gluten-free pumpkin bars for the fall.
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
Check out this collection of gluten-free Easter desserts for more recipes!
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. (Like this gluten-free angel food cake!) 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.
You also might like this gluten-free coconut cake or gluten-free coffee cake.
More Gluten-Free Cake Recipes
I hope you love this gluten-free carrot cake recipe as much as we do! Leave a comment/rating below if you try this recipe. I’d love to hear from you!
Easy Gluten-Free Carrot Cake
Video
Ingredients
For the Cake:
- 2 cups gluten-free measure-for-measure flour 310 grams
- 1/2 cup almond flour 55 grams, or substitute with 1/4 cup more measure-for-measure flour
- 1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon cloves
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 pound carrots 450 grams, peeled and grated
- 4 eggs
- 1 cup granulated sugar 200 grams
- 1 cup brown sugar 200 grams
- 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 brick-style cream cheese 452 grams, softened to room temperature
- 10 tablespoons butter 140 grams, softened to room temperature
- 2 tablespoons sour cream
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 cups powdered sugar 340 grams
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!
Rave reviews! Surprisingly fluffy!
Thank you, Katie! We’re so glad the cake was such a hit!
wow wow this is the best gluten free carrot cake i made! didnt have vegetable oil so I used what i had which was olive oil LOL! didnt have brown sugar only had white sugar and sugar in the raw and used 1 cup each…I could of used less (but promise to use Brown sugar on my next go around. but despite the substitutions…it was really good! i was so desperate to try this that I just used what i had on hand but will definitely use your ingredient next. my family and extended love love carrot cake and its always requested. this recipe is a keeper! thank you…
Hi there, we’re so happy to hear this recipe has become such a keeper for you! Thank you for sharing your positive experience with us. Happy baking!
I made this recipe for a gathering and everyone loved it. I did adjust the cream cheese icing. I used the same amount of cream cheese and cut the butter down to 3 tablespoons and the icing/powdered sugar down to
1 3/4 cups. I will definitely make this again.
Thank you for your feedback, Lynn. We’re so glad you enjoyed the recipe! Happy baking!
I was recently diagnosed with celiac. Thank goodness for your site everything has been amazing. I love making carrot cake with pineapple would I be able to add it to this recipe? If so how much would you add? Thank you
Hi Megan, we’re so glad you’ve enjoyed the recipes so far! We don’t typically add pineapple to carrot cake. For this recipe to work with pineapple, you’d most likely need to adjust the other ingredients to get the right ratio of liquid and dry ingredients since even drained pineapple will add moisture and the potential for sogginess. If you decide to give it a try, we’d love to hear how it goes!
Delicious! Loved by all – GFers and non-GFers! Will be definitely be making this again! Made as is, no change to recipe. Made in two 8” round pans. Plenty of icing between layers and outside of cake. Definitely recommend it!
Yay! We’re so glad it was such a hit! Thank you for sharing your positive experience with us, Connie!
This cake was moist and delicious. I baked it for less time because my oven runs hot. The frosting was light and silky because of all the whipping and the nuts added a nice toasty taste. We are a small family, so had plenty of leftovers (which I froze in individual slices). I am enjoying a piece every day 🙂
Yay! We’re so glad you were pleased with the recipe! Thank you for taking the time to share your experience with us. Happy baking!
Has anyone made this using three 8″ pans?
Hi Darra, this recipe will work in two 8″ pans. To make three you may need to make 1.5x the recipe or decrease the bake time since the 1 recipe in three pans will be thinner. We hope you enjoy the cake!
Can you use two round 9 inch pans for this recipe or do you think there wouldn’t be enough batter or frosting?
Hi Jessica, two 9″ rounds will work. You’ll want to watch the bake as the total baking time may differ. You’ll want more frosting to make a layer cake. Thank you for your question! We hope you enjoy the recipe!
Made this as cupcakes for my Step dad’s birthday cake. He loved them. So moist and yummy. He kept asking if they were really GF.
We’re so glad he loved the cupcakes, Dawn! Thank you for taking the time to share your experience with us!
How much time would you recommend for cupcakes?
I need some help. Followed recipe exact, except for using Olive oil instead of Vegetable oil, and I measured the dry ingredients using gram weight measurements. The cake was a bit heavy & dry. I baked for 44 mins (I tested it at 40 mins, toothpick was relatively clean and probably should have trusted this test, but didn’t want to chance an undercooked cake). I am newly Gluten-free, is it just that I need to get used to the dry gritty taste of GF Flours? I want my friends and family to not even notice its a GF recipe, this was not the case. But we all loved the icing!!
Erin,
You are amazing! Each and every GF recipe of yours that I have made have been simply delicious, moist and has even non- gf’s going back to the table for seconds.
I’ve been working at this gf thing for years since a son was diagnosed with celiac and had many failures until I found your recipes. I don’t even read the reviews- I know that whatever it is that you have mastered, will be my next win win…
I can’t thank you enough!
Best regards,
Jeannine Ritchie
Hi Jeannine, thank you for such a rave review! Erin and all of us at Meaningful Eats really appreciate you taking the time to share your love for these recipes and Erin’s work!
This recipe was amazing! I haven’t had carrot cake in years due to being gf and it’s just like I remembered it. Big hit with the family too!
This was quick, easy to make, common ingredients, and YUMMY!! (I made an 8×8 pan….just in case it didn’t go over!!)
I made it for my husbands bday.
He loved it!! Couldn’t believe it was gluten free!!
Win win!!
Is 2 cups of King Arthur GF flour the same as 310 grams? According to the package, 2 cups of flour should weigh 248 grams—310 grams would be 2-1/2 cups. The almond flour amounts are mathematically correct. I’ve noticed 2 cups of the King Arthur GF flour can be 300 grams in some of your other recipes. Please clarify.
Hi Mary, this is a very common question that comes up! We find that 1 cup of KAF weighs much closer to 150 grams. At the end of the day a cup measurement is subjective – and the manufacturer may not realize gluten-free flour is denser than traditional wheat flour. Traditional wheat flour is 120 grams/cup. Erin likes to make her recipes so they will turn out for both people using cup measurements and grams measurements. It is her way of doing it on this website (it’s consistent through all her recipes) even if it’s not the same as KAF. We hope this helps!
Hi, I have been gf for awhile now. I would love to try one of these recipes. Here is my question, I have to be concerned with my glycemic levels, is it possible to substitute the sugars for one of the alternatives out on the market? Thank you, Elisabeth
Hi Elisabeth, thank you for your question! We don’t typically bake with sugar alternatives so we don’t have specific recommendations for that kinds of substitution. Our readers are great though and many post in the comments of different recipes if they try out substitutions like sugar alternatives. You may want to glance through the comments of recipes you are interested in to see if there are some helpful tips from fellow readers. We hope this helps!