This Gluten Free Carrot Cake is the same classic cake you remember, just without gluten and dairy. It’s loaded with carrots, coconut, walnuts, and pineapple and it’s packed with flavor.
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Gluten Free Carrot Cake
Carrot Cake has always been one of my favorite cakes and this gluten free carrot cake is no exception. This recipe is one that my family has been making for years, i.e. my whole life.
The original recipe was from The Silver Palate Cookbook and it’s one of those loaded carrot cakes – you know the ones with puréed carrots, pineapple, nuts, AND coconut.
It’s out of this world amazing. All that sweetness, texture, and yum all in one little cake. And when I say little, I don’t really mean it because it’s NOT a little cake like I usually make.
This is a gorgeous 3 layer cake that can easily feed a large Easter crowd and nobody will miss the gluten.
Carrot Cake Ingredients
- Gluten Free Baking Flour that contains xanthan gum – I used Bob’s Red Mill 1:1 Gluten Free Baking Flour for this recipe.
- Granulated Sugar
- Fine Sea Salt
- Baking Soda
- Ground Cinnamon
- Chopped Walnuts (omit for nut free)
- Eggs
- Oil – Canola Oil or avocado oil
- Pure Vanilla Extract
- Puréed Carrots
- Shredded Coconut
- Crushed Pineapple
- Cream Cheese Frosting – I make 1 1/2 batches of this Cream Cheese Frosting recipe
Equipment Needed to Make Homemade Carrot Cake
- 9-Inch Cake Pans – this recipe calls for 3
- Basic Baking Tools – mixing bowls, measuring cups, measuring spoons, mixing spoons, whisk, spatula, etc.
- Blender or Immersion Blender to purée the carrots
- Wire Cooling Rack
This cake recipe can easily be mixed by hand but you could use a Stand Mixer or Hand Mixer to speed up the mixing process.
Dairy Free Carrot Cake
The carrot cake recipe, as written, is already dairy free.
To make a vegan and dairy free cream cheese frosting, follow my cream cheese frosting recipe but use dairy free cream cheese in place of regular cream cheese. Use 1/4 cup Nutiva Shortening + 1/4 cup vegan butter in place of the regular butter.
I prefer Nutiva shortening over Crisco in terms of taste and texture, especially in recipes like frostings. The combination of shortening and vegan butter also works better than vegan butter alone.
Gluten Free Carrot Cake Cupcakes
This gluten free carrot cake can be made into Gluten Free Carrot Cake Cupcakes. The full cake recipe makes a lot of cupcakes so I halved the recipe, which makes 20 cupcakes.
How to Make Carrot Cake
Step 1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray 3 9-inch cake pans with non-stick spray and line the bottoms with parchment paper.
Step 2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, salt, baking soda, and cinnamon. Mix in the walnuts to coat them with the flour and set the bowl aside.
Step 3. In a medium bowl, lightly beat the eggs. Whisk in the oil, vanilla, and pureed carrots and mix until well combined.
Step 4. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and gently mix until there isn’t any dry flour. Fold in the coconut and crushed pineapple. Pour the batter evenly between the 3 cake pans.
Step 5. Bake on the center rack for 50 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean. Let the cakes cool for 15 minutes in the pans before inverting onto wire racks to cool. Cool completely before frosting.
Step 6. Frost the cake and refrigerate until ready to serve. Bring to room temperature for 30 minutes before serving. Keep leftovers wrapped tightly in the refrigerator.
Tips for Making Gluten Free Carrot Cake
- Measure the flour correctly. Too much flour will make your cake heavy and dense. Get my free guide to measuring flour here.
- If you use a flour blend that doesn’t contain xanthan gum, add 1/8 teaspoon xanthan gum per cup of flour. So 1/4 teaspoon + 1/8 teaspoon.
- Xanthan gum can react negatively with pineapple. Using too much xanthan gum with pineapple can result in a rubbery texture.
- I haven’t tested this recipe without the pineapple or coconut and I haven’t tested it with grated carrots vs. shredded carrots. This recipe turns out best as written. Making changes to the mix-ins will throw off the ratio of wet to dry ingredients and the results won’t be as intended.
Other Gluten Free Easter Dessert Recipes to Try
Grain Free Hummingbird Cake from Gluten Free Palate
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Gluten Free Carrot Cake
Ingredients
For the Cake
- 3 cups Gluten Free Flour with xanthan gum 420g
- 3 cups granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1 tablespoon baking soda yes, 1 tablespoon
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
- 1 1/2 cups walnuts chopped
- 4 large eggs room temperature
- 1 1/2 cups canola oil
- 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 1/3 cups pureed cooked carrots
- 1 1/2 cups shredded coconut
- 1 8 oz. can crushed pineapple drained
For the Frosting:
- 1 recipe Cream Cheese Frosting see notes
Instructions
To Make the Cake:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees and spray 3 9-inch cake pans with non-stick spray.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, salt, baking soda, and cinnamon. Mix in the walnuts to coat them with the flour and set the bowl aside.
- In a medium bowl, lightly beat the eggs. Whisk in the oil, vanilla, and pureed carrots and mix until well combined.
- Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and gently mix until there isn't any dry flour. Fold in the coconut and crushed pineapple. Pour the batter evenly between the 3 cake pans.
- Bake on the center rack [see Note 3] for 50 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean. Let the cakes cool for 15 minutes in the pans before inverting onto wire racks to cool. Cool completely before frosting.
To Assemble:
- Make the cream cheese frosting as directed (see notes).
- To frost the cakes, place one cake layer on a cake stand or flat plate. Add a layer of frosting and spread it evenly over the cake. Add a second layer of cake and repeat the frosting step. Add the third layer and evenly spread the frosting over the top and around the sides of the cake.
- Refrigerate the cake until ready to serve. Bring the cake to room temperature before serving.
Notes
Recommended Products
Disclaimers
As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, I earn from qualifying purchases.
Nutrition Facts are estimated and aren't always accurate. Please consult a doctor or nutritionist if you have special dietary needs.
Thank you for the freezing info! One other question. Can you make as a two layer like the original or are you doing three layers because gluten free?
I did 3 layers because it was really too much batter for 2 layers. My mom makes it in 2 layers and then has leftover batter to make a small 6-inch cake or cupcakes/muffins.
Can I make week before and freeze layers separately? Then thaw out day of and frost?
Yes you can! I often freeze my cake layers before frosting. Just be sure to wrap each layer really well in a couple layers of plastic wrap and then store them in a freezer-safe bag. They do best if frozen flat on a sheet pan so that they don’t get misshapen in the freezer. You can frost the cake while the layers are still frozen or partially frozen (it makes frosting easier!). Just be sure the cake is thawed before serving.
Carrot cake is my favorite! This looks wonderful!
Thank for sharing your recipe at the homestead Blog Hop 389
Laurie
Ridge Haven Homestead
thank you!
Oh, this looks amazing! I’ll be featuring it tomorrow at the TFT party. Thanks for sharing it with us. 🙂
Hello!
My children are allergic to nuts.
Would this cake still work substituting raisins for the walnuts?
I have made your carrot cake cupcakes twice and they were beyond amazing. I’m planning to make the carrot cake next week and wondered if I can make the safe dairy (regular cream cheese) frosting for the cake? I loved that frosting and don’t want to change it a bit 🙂 Are all the other ingredients the same as you have listed below? Thanks!
Yes, you can make my regular cream cheese frosting recipe! I would probably make at least 1 1/2 batches though since it’s a large cake.
https://www.whattheforkfoodblog.com/2019/12/08/cream-cheese-frosting-recipe/
Thanks for another great recipe… I have my carrots cooking right now. Going to cook up what is left in my fridge, measure out and have ready to go in freezer.
QUESTION?
Do you drain the carrots of the 1/4 cup water before pureeing.
thanks
Deb
You’re welcome! I usually don’t drain the liquid because it makes it easier to puree 🙂
I have vegan free butter and cream cheese can I just put 1/2 cup of vegan free butter in place of shortening ?
You could, the frosting will just be softer and may not hold it’s shape as well if you pipe it.
Just wanted to say thank you. I also grew up with the Silver Palate carrot cake. It’s the best. I was going to give it a go with gluten free flour, and hope for the best, but it’s really nice to know in advance that it won’t be a flop! I was concerned there might be too much oil for gluten free flour to manage. I also use the Bob’s blend. I mixed my own for years but have always had good results with Bob’s 1 to 1 blend. Thanks again!
You’re welcome! It truly is the best carrot cake recipe, all others don’t stand a chance lol.
This carrot cake is out of this world! I made it for Easter and everyone loved it. I did use shredded carrots bc I didn’t see that the recipe called for purée until I went to add it to the batter, but I came out perfect! I used two 12 inch pans to bake it in. Thanks for another great recipe!
I made your cake for a friends Birthday, it was amazing, everyone was shocked it was GF, thank you gor the recipe. It will be my go to from now on.
Thanks so much Judith, so glad you all loved it!
This looks AMAZING! has anyone used this recipe for cupcakes?
Hi Claire – you can find the cupcake version here:
I would like the cupcake version also but don’t see a link? Thank you, the cake looks delicious!
Thank you for your compliment! I didn’t realize there wasn’t a link to the cupcakes so I added it to the post. Here’s a link as well: https://www.whattheforkfoodblog.com/2018/03/03/gluten-free-carrot-cake-cupcakes/
I made this carrot cake for my Friendsgiving dinner party and it was absolutely fabulous. Everyone was going nuts about it.
I’m really happy to hear that Amber! I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving!
What can I sub the eggs with for the Gluten Free Carrot Cake
Hi Dina, I have not tried an egg replacement in this recipe but you could try flax eggs or the Bob’s Red Mill egg replacer. Let me know how it works out for you!
Yum, yum, yum! Haven’t had carrot cake in forever. Thank you for sharing with us at Funtastic Friday!
Omg this carrot cake looks so heavenly and gorgeous!! <3
Oh my word this looks insanely delicious!
Yum, love carrot cake. never made it myself though, Thanks for posting sounds delcious. Simon
I would love to try this recipe but I’m not big on pineapple, can I just leave it out or would I need to add something in to replace it?
Hi Lara, I wouldn’t just leave it out because it would affect the cake in a negative way. If you absolutely can’t do pineapple, you could try replacing it with an equal amount of shredded carrot. I have not tried this though so I can not guarantee good results.
Recipe looks amazing!! Can I just use grated raw
carrots in the recipe or should I stick to the recipe and cook and puree them?
Hi Ruth! I would stick with the pureed carrot, I have never used grated carrot in place of the carrot puree. If you don’t want to make your own puree, I know a lot of people use baby food for a shortcut 😉
I feel stupid for asking this but where is the actual recipe?
It’s back up now, thanks again for pointing it out to me!
Not a stupid question at all – THANK YOU so much for bringing this to my attention. Somehow, it seemed to have disappeared and I’m looking into it.
This sure looks yummy!
I did have two questions: if I wanted to make this a two layer cake, by what amount would you suggest decreasing the ingredients. Secondly, would this still bake/turn out if I omitted the coconut?
I would use 2/3 of all ingredients (but you could keep the frosting the same and have a little thicker layer) and you can omit the coconut if necessary. It doesn’t give the cake a coconut flavor but it gives it a nice texture.
Looks so moist and flavorful, I need a slice!
Carrot cake has my heart! This one looks divine!
I love the pineapple and coconut in the carrot cake! So much texture.
can I have this fore breakfast ? 🙂 YUM
Gorgeous cake Sharon! You nailed it gluten-free. It’s chock full of goodness and pass me a fork!
This looks DIVINE!!
This is one of the most scrumptious carrot cake ever
This cake is beautiful on the inside and the outside!!! I cannot wait to make this for Easter! 😀
Love the cute little carrot pic on top!
This looks great! I actually had no idea how to make a carrot cake before this!
I’d love a slice right now! This cake looks so delicious!
What a beautiful cake! I’ve never used cooked carrots in my carrot cake, what a neat idea. I’m looking forward to making your version soon!
I love carrot cakes with all the fixins! The more to it, the better. This looks amazing.
Chrystal
If my hubby saw this, there’d be drool all over my keyboard. Carrot cake is his fav! I’m gonna have to save this and make it for him. 🙂
What a beautiful cake! Perfect for Easter…Carrot cake is one of my favorites. xo, Catherine
I can’t get past the cuteness that is that little carrot on top! Also, I can’t believe this is GF! Looks great!
I just saw this on Facebook and my mouth dropped to the floor… it’s freakin’ fabulous!!!
Carrot cake is my life right now!! I have a new one with Bob’s coming up next week 😉