Meaningful Eats
Easy Gluten-Free Carrot Cake
12 -14 servings
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!
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 9x13 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!
Video
Notes
MAKE IT NUT-FREE: Omit the almond flour and add 1/4 cup more gluten-free measure-for-measure flour instead.
MAKE IT DAIRY-FREE: Make dairy-free cream cheese frosting. This recipe works great!
Use a high-quality gluten-free 1:1 flour: I like King Arthur Flour.
Nutrition
Calories: 692kcal | Carbohydrates: 86g | Protein: 8g | Fat: 46g | Saturated Fat: 25g | Cholesterol: 122mg | Sodium: 447mg | Potassium: 293mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 68g | Vitamin A: 7210IU | Vitamin C: 2.3mg | Calcium: 127mg | Iron: 1.8mg