A good carrot cake recipe is one of life’s great necessities, don’t you think? And the same holds true for a gluten free carrot cake recipe – if you’re living without gluten, you shouldn’t have to live without great gluten free carrot cake recipe so you can enjoy this treat any time you like!
I’ve been making this wonderful gluten free carrot cake recipe ever since Kim Bouldin shared it with me in 2011. She says it’s taken from a Betty Crocker cookbook and modified to be gluten free using my gfJules™ All Purpose Gluten Free Flour.
That’s one of the things I hear all the time that people like best about my flour — you can truly use it in a regular recipe from a cookbook or family recipe box with great results. It makes things so much easier that way … like this yummy gluten free carrot cake!
As I always tend to do though, I can’t leave a recipe alone, so I’ve made a couple of little tweaks in my version.
But if you happen to have an old Betty Crocker cookbook in your cupboard, apparently you can feel free to just use my gfJules Flour in that original carrot cake recipe.
You can also use my gfJules Best Gluten Free Cake Mix with this alternate recipe to bake a delicious gluten free Carrot Cake using a handy mix instead of from-scratch, if that suits you!
Either way, I do hope you try this recipe one day soon (Easter is a great time for carrot cake … just sayin’). It’s moist and bursting with flavor and just divine when served for brunch or dessert or even (squint and blur:) breakfast!
Fair disclosure that mine is a cake-loving household and we’ll find any excuse to have cake for breakfast, especially when there’s something healthy inside like 3 CUPS of carrots — wowza!
Many thanks to Kim for sharing this recipe with me; I’m glad to finally be sharing it with you, too.
For the delectable vegan cream cheese frosting recipe pictured on this cake, hop to it here.
I know you’ll love this gluten free carrot cake! If you do try this recipe, tell me about it in the comments and please leave a 5-star review!
Best Gluten Free Carrot Cake Recipe
Gluten Free Carrot Cake
A good carrot cake recipe is one of life's necessities, and this gluten free carrot cake recipe fits the bill: moist, full of flavor, and totally yummy.
Ingredients
- 3 cups grated carrots (4-5 medium)
- 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup safflower, sunflower or non-GMO canola oil
- 1/2 cup applesauce
- 3 eggs
- 2 cups (270 gr) gfJules™ Gluten Free All Purpose Flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice mix
- 1/2 cup chopped pecans (optional)
- 1/2 cup raisins or dried cranberries (optional)
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350º F static or 325º F convection.
Line with parchment or lightly oil two 8-inch pans then dust with more gfJules™ Gluten Free All Purpose Flour (note: you may use one lightly oiled 13x9-inch pan or 12 jumbo cupcake tins instead.) If using round pans, it's nice to wrap in cake belts to ensure they bake flat; otherwise slice the crowns off the baked cakes with a bread knife once cooled, so that they are flat for stacking as a layer cake.
Shred the carrots in a food processor then measure.
Whisk together sugar, oil, applesauce and eggs in a large mixing bowl until slightly frothy.
In a separate bowl, whisk together dry ingredients through spices. Slowly stir into large mixing bowl with liquids. Beat another minute once added. Fold in carrots until the batter is uniform, then stir in pecans and raisins, if using.
Bake for 30 – 35 minutes for the round pans or jumbo cupcakes or 40 – 45 minutes for the sheet pan. Check for done-ness with a toothpick inserted into the middle of the cake; it is done when the toothpick is clean or has only some dry crumbs attached.
Remove to cool in the pans for 10 minutes, then gently remove and cool on wire racks before frosting.
Notes
Frost with this vegan cream cheese frosting recipe: hop to it here.
And when you do make this recipe, people will start asking you to make it again and bring to the next party! Here’s how I traveled with my latest gluten free carrot cake to an Easter gathering (precious cargo!). Good thing I wasn’t the driver!
Pin for later!
Quick question. Can the pured carrots be used instead of grated carrots? I’ve seen recipes that call for baby food carrots. My son asked for carrot cake for his birthday, but he doesn’t like the carrot chunks in the cake.
I haven’t tried baby food carrots. Assuming they are nothing but carrots, they should be ok to use, but you can also just chop the carrots quite finely.
~jules
Do you have a frosting recipe for the carrot cake.
Yes of course! It’s linked in the recipe, but here it is again (you can also always just use the search bar at the top of every page and search any recipe you like!)! Carrot Cake Frosting Recipe
~jules
This is a wonderful recipe, even my no GF family members loved it. I made jumbo cupcakes from scratch instead of using GF Jules cake mix and you do have to add extra time. Thanks for another winner. Going to try the Lemonade Cake next 🙂
So happy to hear it, Barb! Jumbo muffins sound PERFECT!!!!
~jules
Could I substitute a 1/2 cup of crushed pineapple for the applesauce? I like carrot cake with pineapple, but I wanted to use your flour!
Thanks,
Nancy
Oooh yummy! That would be a great sub, Nancy!
~jules
Good afternoon, Jules, I made your gluten free carrot cake. It did not rise at all. I followed your recipe exactly. However, I now realize that I could have weighed the flour. I did not scoop the flour into the measuring cup. I spooned it into the measuring cup and leveled it off. When you fill the measuring cup, do you overfill it, then use the knife to press it down as you slide across the flour?
Anyway, what did I do wrong, that my cake did not rise? The carrot cake tasted great, but it did not rise. Can I use pineapple pieces in the carrot cake? Thank you, I loved the taste, but I feel like I did something wrong. Please advise. JoPo
Hi Jo, I’m so glad that your carrot cake tasted great — that’s the most important part! Measuring ingredients can be tricky — check out my article and video pointers on measuring ingredients for future reference. I do over-fill the cup and then press down slightly to be sure the whole cup is filled as I slide the knife across. One other thing to consider is buying new baking soda and baking powder, as most of us really do keep those around too long. They’re inexpensive but very important ingredients that should be fresh. You can see from the photos that the cake doesn’t rise that much, as carrot cake is very moist and a bit heavy, weighed down with 3 cups of carrots! It’s not like a light and airy birthday cake or sponge cake. So you may not be far off from where you need to be for next time.
Oh, and about the pineapple pieces, you can add those but I think I would use them instead of the raisins/cranberries and maybe cut back a little on the applesauce so you’re not adding too much moisture — it’s a bit of a delicate balance. Pineapple would be a yummy addition, though!
~jules
A question – I don’t see flax eggs listed as a substitute, and am curious why. Also, my cake must be corn free. Can potato starch be substituted for corn starch in your homemade sub #1? Thanks in advance for any insight you may have.
I’m excited to try this recipe, especially during this pandemic. Do you use unsweetened or “regular” applesauce? Also, could I use coconut oil? I only have coconut, avocado, and EVOO. I’m immunocompromised so I’m trying to make-do with what I have.
Hi Victoria, we use unsweetened applesauce, but you may use what you have. If you use regular sweetened applesauce, I’d dial back on the sugar added in the recipe a bit, but that’s up to you. As for oil, I think I would choose EVOO, but you could also melt coconut oil and use that instead. I hope you enjoy this gluten free carrot cake recipe!
~jules
YUM!!! Still my favorite!
Hope you are doing well, Jules!
xoxo
Yes Kim, we are doing well and totally still enjoying this gluten free carrot cake recipe! 🙂 Thanks again so much for sharing! Easter blessings to your family!!!
~jules
I made this yesterday and it’s delicious. Thanks for giving me something I can enjoy!
That’s so wonderful to hear, Christine! I’m thrilled you loved this gluten free carrot cake recipe! We’re still munching on ours from Easter, too! 🙂
All the best,
~jules
How would this recipe hold up to applesauce as the egg substitute? I am allergic to eggs.
Hi Katherine, because there is already applesauce in this recipe, I would not recommend adding more applesauce to replace the 3 eggs. Check out my article on vegan egg replacers and choose a couple different ones that I recommend as good for cakes. I like using more than one when 3 or more eggs are needing replacing in a recipe. If you have a commercial egg replacer (gluten free, of course) I would choose that for at least one or two of the eggs needing replaced, then maybe another one of the the homemade egg replacers that I offer. I hope it works out so you can enjoy this delicious recipe! Here’s the article link: https://gfjules.com/egg-free-vegan-baking-tips/
~jules
Your carrot cake looks lovely! I never used to eat much carrot cake, but I’m loving it these days (nut free of course for my kids). It’s so good!
It is! And with 3 cups of carrots, the emphasis is on the right things in this recipe!
~jules
I made this recipe for Easter so my husband would be able to enjoy dessert with the rest of the family. IT WAS A HIT!! The problem was EVERYONE was eating it!! LOL I am so happy that I purchased your flour and can’t wait to try your bread recipe in our bread machine. Thanks for a great product; well worth the price.
So happy you were able to make EVERYONE happy with this recipe on Easter, Sandy! I can’t wait to hear what you think of the bread, too! May all your baking be happy, from here on out!
~jules