Gluten Free Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Icing
This carrot cake is moist, perfectly spiced, and topped with a luscious cream cheese frosting for the perfect Spring dessert! Plus, it’s made as a sheet cake so it’s much more approachable without any special frosting techniques.
Servings: 10 servings
Ingredients
For the Cake:
- 2¼ cups gluten-free flour blend
- 1 cup brown sugar
- ½ cup white sugar
- 2½ teaspoons baking powder, sifted
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon coarse sea salt
- 2½ teaspoons cinnamon
- ¾ teaspoon ground ginger
- ½ teaspoon nutmeg
- Pinch of cloves
- ¾ cup (1½ sticks) butter, melted (may substitute ghee or avocado oil)
- 3 eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- ½ cup whole milk or almond milk
- 2 cups shredded carrots
- ¾ cup chopped walnuts or pecans, plus additional for topping, if desired
- 1 cup crushed pineapple drained
For the Cream Cheese Frosting:
- 4 ounces cream cheese, softened (use Kite Hill for dairy-free)
- 4 tablespoons butter, softened (may substitute ghee)
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups powdered sugar
Instructions
For the Cake:
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and line a 9x13" pan with parchment paper, or grease well with butter or oil.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and cloves.
- Add the eggs, butter, and vanilla into the bowl with the flour mixture and beat with an electric mixer until fully combined.
- Pour the milk into the batter and mix until it is smooth, then stir in the carrots, walnuts, and pineapple.
- Pour into the pre-greased pan and bake for 35-40 minutes, until the top is browned and a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean, then let cool for at least one hour before frosting.
For the frosting:
- Beat the cream cheese, butter, and vanilla on high until a creamy consistency is achieved.
- Add the powdered sugar to the cream cheese mixture one cup at a time, then beat to combine.
Notes
- Take the time to grate the carrots by hand to create a better texture for your cake.
- Make sure your spices are fresh. The spices are really what makes carrot cake so delicious. Before using yours, just give them a quick smell to make sure they are still fresh. If you can barely smell them, it’s time for new ones!
- Don’t pack the ingredients. This really goes for every baking recipe, but it’s important to make sure that when you are measuring flour you use the measuring cup to scoop up the flour, then level it off with a knife, instead of packing it in. If you’re doing this but still not getting the results you want, you can also use a digital food scale to measure your ingredients by weight for more accuracy.
Nutrition
Calories: 621kcal | Carbohydrates: 85g | Protein: 7g | Fat: 31g | Saturated Fat: 15g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 5g | Monounsaturated Fat: 7g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 111mg | Sodium: 479mg | Potassium: 243mg | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 62g | Vitamin A: 5101IU | Vitamin C: 4mg | Calcium: 161mg | Iron: 2mg