Carrot Spice Snacking Cake (Gluten free, Oil/Butter Free, Refined Sugar Free)
Mar 25, 2021, Updated Sep 20, 2023
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Carrot cake is one of my all time favorite cakes. Chrissy Teigen agrees. When made properly, it’s both tender and dense at the same time with just the right amount of spice and texture. The sweet, tangy, luscious cream cheese frosting doesn’t hurt either. So it’s no surprise that I set out to make a simple, delicious, healthy-ish version that we could enjoy regularly in the spring and fall (prime carrot cake seasons in my opinion.)
This cake really hits the mark. It’s surprisingly moist given there is no butter or oil in it, thanks to the almond flour and carrots. This makes a 8×8 square or round cake. If you go the round cake route and want to layer it, you’ll want to double the recipe and the cream cheese frosting.
“WHAT ELSE CAN I USE?”
- I use easy-to-find orange carrots in this one, but if you can get your hands on yellow ones they make an especially beautiful cake for spring.
- Honey works very well in place of the maple syrup, remember when we used the honey in my Berry Zucchini Cake? Same type of recipe structure.
- If you want a lower fat frosting, reduced fat cream cheese can be used in the buttercream.
- If you’re dairy free, use a dairy free cream cheese in the frosting. I like this one.
- Don’t stress if you don’t have all the spices, they add a nice warmth to the cake but are not absolutely necessary.
Happy Spring and Happy Easter, my lovelies. Eat cake and enjoy the sunshine!
Carrot Spice Snacking Cake
Equipment
- 1 8x8 square baking pan
Ingredients
- 1 cup carrots, shredded
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 1/2 cup maple syrup
- 2/3 cup walnuts, chopped
- 1 1/3 cup oat flour
- 1 cup almond flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp ground cardamom
- 1/4 tsp ground ginger
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp Kosher salt
Cream Cheese Frosting
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1/2 cup cream cheese, room temperature
- 3/4 cup Monkfruit or regular powdered sugar
- 1/3 tsp Kosher salt
- 1/3 cup candied ginger, chopped, for garnish
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- Line your pan with parchment and spray with baking spray.
- In a large bowl, mix together carrots, eggs, and maple syrup and whisk to combine.
- In a separate bowl, combine the flours, baking soda, baking powder, spices, and salt and whisk lightly with a fork.
- Add to the wet ingredients and stir to combine. Fold in the walnuts.
- Bake for 28-32 minutes until tester comes out clean. Let cool briefly in pan and finish cooling completely on a rack before frosting.
- To make the frosting - Beat together the butter, cream cheese, and powdered sugar with a hand or stand mixer until smooth and fluffy.
- Spread over cooled cake and garnish with the candied ginger if using. Enjoy!
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Did you leave out the applesauce, from the list of ingredients? You discuss adding it, above….however, I don’t see it in the list of ingredients.
There was an error, it was supposed to say “almond flour” instead of applesauce. Thank you for catching that, it’s fixed now! No applesauce needed.
I have Celiac and do a LOT of gluten free baking. If you add a teaspoon of guar or xanthan gum it will allow the batter to rise and give it a cake like springiness and lighter texture. Just a thought. Good recipe.
You mention applesauce in the post but I don’t see it in the list of ingredients. Could we use that in place of the maple syrup? The kids just made a huge chocolate cake, but I can’t wait to make this as soon as we finish that one!