This carrot cake was a special request recipe, as I needed to bring a dessert to a family event. It is sugar free and mostly fruit sweetened. This carrot cake uses a coconut flour base and a dozen eggs, so it is quite protein dense and fairly nutritious for a dessert.
My kids actually enjoy this for breakfast, and I don’t mind giving it to them occasionally since it has so much protein.
Gluten-Free Carrot Cake Recipe
A healthy carrot cake made with coconut flour and a lot of eggs for extra protein. Filling and delicious!
Servings 8 -10
Calories 391kcal
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Ingredients
For cake:
- ½ cup raisins (or dates)
- ½ cup coconut milk
- ½ cup water (warm)
- 12 eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup pumpkin puree (or applesauce)
- 1 cup coconut flour
- 2 TBSP cinnamon
- ½ tsp nutmeg
- ½ tsp cloves
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ¾ cup coconut oil (or butter, melted)
- 1 cup crushed pineapple
- 2 cups carrots (grated)
- ½ cup shredded coconut
- ¼ cup honey (optional)
For Icing:
- 8 oz cream cheese (softened)
- ¼ cup butter (softened)
- ¼ cup honey (or stevia taste)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
For cake:
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Grease a 9x13 baking dish with butter or coconut oil.
- In a blender or food processor, combine the raisins or dates, coconut milk, and warm water and blend until smooth. This will create a sweet liquid base for the batter.
- Add eggs and vanilla and blend until smooth.
- Add pumpkin puree or applesauce and blend until smooth.
- Pour into a large bowl.
- Add coconut flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, sea salt, baking soda, and baking powder and mix until well incorporated.
- Add melted coconut oil or butter and mix well.
- By hand, stir in crushed pineapple, grated carrot, shredded coconut, and honey if using. You can also wait and drizzle honey on top after baking.
- Add extra coconut milk or pineapple juice if needed to thin. It should be spreadable, not pourable.
- Spread batter in prepared pan.
- Bake at 350°F for 60-90 minutes, until middle is set and no longer soft. Coconut flour takes a while to bake, so be patient. You might also need to reduce heat and cook longer, depending on your oven.
- When done baking, remove and let cool.
For icing:
- Whisk together ingredients for icing and spread over cake just before serving.
- Enjoy!
Notes
Make into muffins for a fun hand-held treat, just reduce cooking time accordingly!
Nutrition
Calories: 391kcal | Carbohydrates: 30.5g | Protein: 8.6g | Fat: 27.8g | Saturated Fat: 20.6g | Cholesterol: 148mg | Sodium: 271mg | Fiber: 8.5g | Sugar: 15.3g
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What’s your favorite cake? Have you made a healthy version yet?
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Very excited to find your website Katie! Will be trying a couple of your recipes for my first dinner party in my new home. Your gluten free carrot cake looks wonderful. Would the gluten free flour mix from Trader Joe’s, containing rice and tapioca flours and potato starch work just as well as the coconut flour? Please advise.
Debbie R
If I want to omit pineapple, do I need to add anything in?
Hoping to make this for my sons birthday but hubby is dairy free. Any suggestions for a dairy free frosting? Love your site. Reference all the time.
I am not a fan of coconut flour…can I sub almond flour directly?
They don’t substitute in equal amounts as coconut flour absorbs much more liquid. You could try experimenting with using almond flour but you’ll need a lot more and should have a thick but spreadable texture before baking.