This gluten-free vegan carrot cake recipe is hands down incredible! Takes 15 minutes to prep, uses simple ingredients and has the perfect texture.
It's easy to make a moist droolworthy cake when you follow the right recipe! You will not believe this carrot cake has no butter, oil, eggs, dairy or gluten!
This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Silk. The opinions and text are all mine.
This recipe was originally published on 3/24/16
We are carrot cake obsessed and this easy recipe did not disappoint! The hardest part (read I'm lazy) is grating those carrots. So grate a lot, and save them because you will want this over and over again, especially if making my carrot cake smoothie or carrot cake overnight oats.
It seems that veggie filled desserts are something I excel in. My chocolate zucchini cake (which is also vegan and gluten-free) is a HUGE hit with my readers! And after the success of this carrot cake, I can't decide which I like best!
Ingredients
The flavor in this recipe for vegan carrot cake is insanely amazing. With a pillowy soft texture and perfectly moist middle, good luck having only one slice!
The basis of this cake is mostly whole foods. I tested and trialed different combinations of things to get the perfect flavor and texture that you'd find in a regular carrot cake, just a vegan and gluten free version! Here's what I ended up with:
- Gluten-free flour blend - oat flour and almond flour are used in place of all purpose flour to keep this carrot cake recipe gluten free.
- Sugar - this is a cake recipe after all! And in this case cane sugar tastes best. You can use coconut sugar instead but it will give you a deeper flavor that won’t be as sweet.
- Baking powder - essential for the chemistry of the cake, don't skip it!
- Spices - a blend of cinnamon, ginger, and cloves are used to create the classic carrot cake flavors. Adjust the seasonings to your flavor preferences. Even sprinkle in a little nutmeg if you prefer!
- Applesauce - this helps to make the cake moist, while also giving it a natural sweetness.
- Milk - use any milk you want, but canned coconut milk has more fat than others so it will make this cake much more moist and sticky. Make sure to select a dairy free milk to keep the cake vegan.
- Apple cider vinegar - another important ingredient necessary for the chemistry of the cake.
- Grated carrots - grate your own carrots, about 2 medium-sized carrots, with a box grater, or with an attachment on a food processor.
- Optional chopped nuts - if you use the nuts know your cake will be a little more sticky and moist due to the fat content of the nuts so you may want to add less milk.
- Optional toppings - see below for ideas, including my cream cheese frosting recipe.
How To Make Vegan Carrot Cake
As I mentioned, the hardest part about making this vegan and gluten free carrot cake is grating those dang carrots. Once that's done, here's what you'll need to do:
- Mix all of the ingredients together in a large mixing bowl.
- Pour into an 8-inch or 9-inch cake pan.
- Bake.
- Decorate as desired (or don't!) and enjoy!
Serving suggestions
This cake is scrumptious as is. It is, after all, the very best vegan carrot cake recipe ever. But even the best recipes can benefit from some extra flavor or a pretty presentation.
Try the following:
- Frosting! The classic frosting for carrot cake is Vegan Cream Cheese Frosting or vanilla.
- If you're frosting the cake, make sure to let it cool completely first. I like to make the frosting fresh while the cake is baking.
- Add some shredded coconut on top of the frosting.
- Spread some homemade Coconut Butter on a warm slice of unfrosted cake.
Also, I don't know about you, but when it comes to cake I need something to wash it down with. And my go to is Silk Cashew milk, creamy and thirst quenching and complements this vegan gluten-free carrot cake perfectly!
NOTE: You can print the FULL recipe with all ingredients & detailed instructions below!
Preparation Tips
- You can cut out the ginger and cloves and just use more cinnamon if you prefer.
- Watch the fat content of the milk you use, you don't want it too high or the cake will be too sticky and moist.
- To grate the carrots, you can use a handheld cheese grater. But better yet, if you have food processor with a grating attachment be sure to use that to save yourself the effort!
- When you're grating the carrots, grate a few extra and make No Bake Carrot Energy Balls with the leftovers!
Baking Tips
- When making carrot cake with oat flour and almond flour you need accuracy measuring for the right texture, which is why I include precise weights.
- If you don’t have a scale, then you can purchase this fairly inexpensive one.
- If you prefer to measure, then measure the flours by scooping your measuring cup into the flour versus spooning it into it. This is how I measured when getting my weights.
- This cake is finicky due to the moisture the carrots give. Make sure to look at the notes in the recipe before you bake!
- This recipe makes 10 gluten free carrot cake cupcakes! Just pour the batter evenly into a prepared muffin tin and bake.
- You'll need to reduce the baking time though to around 25 minutes, but keep checking until a toothpick comes out clean.
Storage tips
Whether you want to make this gluten free carrot cake recipe ahead of time, or (less likely) need to store leftovers, here's what to do:
- Vegan Carrot Cake will stay fresh if sealed in an airtight container at room temperature for 2-3 days.
- You can also keep it in an airtight container for up to a week in the refrigerator.
- If you want to save this even longer, wrap the cake well in plastic wrap, then place in a freezer safe airtight container and freeze up to three months.
Common Questions
What makes something healthy, cake, cookies or salad for that matter, is what you put inside of it. If the ingredients are mostly whole foods, and foods that you'd eat on a regular basis, then heck yes it's healthy!
A couple adjustments from traditional cake make this gluten free dairy free cake recipe on the healthier side. Regular white flour was replaced by a gluten-free combo I made up of oat and almond. While gluten-free doesn't make something healthy, the oat and almond flour are nutrient rich. Also, the fat from the butter was replaced by the almond flour.
Either using a cheese grater (watch those fingers!) or with a grating attachment on a food processor.
Dairy free Cream Cheese Frosting is used to frost this carrot cake. However, you can use vanilla or any other flavor you like.
Store carrot cake in an airtight container either on the counter, in the refrigerator, or in the freezer.
Carrot cake will last at room temp for 2-3 days, in the fridge for up to a week, and in the freezer for 3 months.
Yes, you can freeze carrot cake! Wrap the cake in plastic wrap then store in an airtight freezer safe container.
Carrot cake can be too crumbly for a number of reasons. One reason is already solved in this recipe, carrots can sometimes affect the gluten in cake mix which can make it crumbly. But, since this carrot cake is gluten free naturally, you shouldn't have that problem.
Also, make sure to accurately measure your ingredients (see tips), and not over mix or over bake your cake.
More Vegan Cake Recipes
This carrot cake recipe isn't the only gluten free vegan cake up my sleeve! Check out these other plant based cakes:
Incredible Vegan Carrot Cake (Gluten-Free)
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 ¼ cup oat flour
- ¾ cup almond flour
- 1 cup cane sugar , see note
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 4 teaspoons cinnamon , see note
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger , optional (see note)
- ½ teaspoon ground cloves , optional (see note)
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- 6 tablespoons unsweetened apple sauce
- ¼ cup cashew milk , or other dairy free milk of choice (see note)
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 1 ½ cups grated carrots , about 2 large carrots
- ½ cup chopped walnuts or pecans , optional (see note)
To top, optional:
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 F/ 175 C.
- Put flours, sugar, baking powder, seasonings and salt into a medium bowl. Whisk to mix and break up any clumps.
- Make a little well in the middle and add in the apple sauce, milk and vinegar.
- Mix again to combine and get a smooth batter.
- Fold in the carrots and nuts.
- Pour into a square or round cake pan (8 or 9 inches will work). Bake for about 35 minutes, start checking at 32, a toothpick should come out clean with a few crumbs on it. If you are making cupcakes start checking at 25 minutes. My cupcakes took around 28-30.
- Frost or eat as is!
Notes
- I trialed these with many different sugars and cane sugar gave the best flavor. You can use coconut sugar but it will give you a deeper flavor that won’t be as sweet.
- You can add another ¼ cup of sugar if you want it sweeter especially if you don't use frosting.
- You can cut out the ginger and cloves and use more cinnamon if you want to cut down ingredients and simplify.
- You can use any milk you want but canned coconut milk has more fat than others so it will make this cake much more moist and sticky.
- Nuts are optional, if you use them your cake will be more moist due to the fat so you may want to use 1 tablespoon less milk.
- This makes ONE layer of cake. If you want a multi-layer cake make sure to multiply the recipe by however many layers you are making.
- This can be made as 10 cupcakes. To make these as cupcakes bake between 25-30 minutes, start check at 25.
- Nutrition info does not include the frosting and or nuts.
- Servings are based on a square pan and cutting it into 16 square pieces.
Recipe by Veggies Don’t Bite, visit our site for more great plant-based recipes.
Nutrition
Nutrition and metric information should be considered an estimate.
Carla Sokol
Could I substitute date paste for the cane sugar since I can't eat processed sugar?
veggiesdontbite
Hi Carla! You can try but the texture will not be the same. Cane sugar is dry and date paste is wet. When it comes to vegan and gluten free baking the ingredients use are created for the perfect moisture level to get the right texture.
Cassie Autumn Tran
WHOA, this vegan carrot cake. I need a big fat slice of yours! Love the way you frosted the cake. It's so simple yet so perfectly divine and delectable!
veggiesdontbite
Thanks Cassie!! Always appreciate your kind words!
steviefbillman
This is a perfect recipe to try out for Easter weekend! Looks delicious!
Pierre
Hello,
First of all the cake looks incredibly delicious so thank you for this recipe 🙂
Quick question: are the metric measures the result of a conversion or did you measure the ingredients both in us and metric systems when you were preparing the cake?
Pierre
veggiesdontbite
Hi Pierre! Thanks so much for being here! So this is an older recipe and it has been converted via my recipe card tool. I unfortunately don't weigh everything. This is on my list for recipes to update in the coming months, so I can weigh as I make it again!
Ricki
How have I not seen this--or commented--yet?!! This looks absolutely spectacular! And I bet the PB-sweet potato combo is to die for. Thanks so much for the shout-out. And wow, what a carrot cake!! <3 <3 <3
veggiesdontbite
Awe thanks Ricki! Thanks for the inspiration on the frosting. Every once in a while I love a good vegan buttercream with the bad ingredients, but I love having these healthy alternatives for our more often than not cravings! Ha!
Anna
What a combo!!! Carrot cake and PB!!! sensational and great idea! x
veggiesdontbite
It's such a great combo!!! I know some think it's weird but once you try it you'll be amazed!
veggiesdontbite
Thank you! It's such a great combo. People think it's weird at first but once you try it you'll be amazed!
Nadya
Just read all the comments! Nothign to add up. It just looks fantastic. However, I do have a question, do you think it would work if I mix regular flour (or whole wheat) and oats? Because sorghum flour, potato starch & tapioca starch.. I don't even know what sorghum is! 🙂 Well, I will probably try it anyway. But if you have any insight would be great. Thank you!
veggiesdontbite
Hi Nadya! Where are you located? My general grocery store carries all these flours and starches (sorghum, tapioca and potato). I spent many many trials creating this based on it being gluten free and not using typical whole wheat flour so I honestly don't know what will happen if you change it up. Baking is quite a science so when you change one thing often times another change is needed. You can definitely give it a try but know that the texture may change. My recipe as written produces a light, moist, fluffy and perfect carrot cake texture. If you use oats make sure it's oat flour. But that will definitely make it much more dense, as that is the texture oats provide. Look at my pictures of the batter and if yours isn't the same you may need to adjust with more or less flour or liquid ingredients. Best of luck!
Pure Ella
Wow!! This looks amazing lady!!
I just had an amazing Carrot Cake for Easter so we're on the same vibe!! I love your version!! 🙂
xoxo ella
veggiesdontbite
Thanks Ella!! I saw your carrot cake and it looked delish!! I just love carrot cake of all kinds. I decided to mix it up a bit with the peanut butter and I was worried but it turned out great!! Love right back at you!!
Jolina - The Unlikely Baker
LOL! I can totally relate to carrot murder. Sometimes when I'm having a particularly awful time in the kitchen I curse even the flour (who of course retaliate by exploding all over me). This cake sounds so delightful! I'm not vegan and I've never had to go gluten free but the way you describe it makes me want to try it stat! And peanut butter cream cheese? Yummmmm. Pinned for later!
veggiesdontbite
Bahaha!!! That's funny. I've definitely experienced the flour cloud. Potato starch is the worst!! Thanks so much! We aren't gluten allergic just a little intolerant with too much. But I always try and use nutritious flours (like sorghum) when creating gluten free baked goods. We also eat a lot of sprouted wheat which is easier for us to digest than regular wheat. Let me know if you ever try!!
mary
I've always been told that baking is a science and I see you found that out the hard way. I would like to thank you, on behalf of myself, for creating such a healthy, whole food, tasty looking recipe. I love carrot cake, I love peanut butter and I'm guessing I'm going to love this cake.
veggiesdontbite
Thanks so much Mary! It was quite a labor of love! But so worth it. I made it for my sons 1st birthday party and he literally went in face first. Lol!
Sina @ Vegan Heaven
This cake looks incredible, Sophia!! What a great combo! 🙂
veggiesdontbite
Thanks Sina!! It's such a good combo!
Lucie
Haha, I feel for you and your cake filled nightmares. But this baby looks so good I'm sure it was worth every single one of those tries <3 I love everything about the recipe, especially the peanut butter part 🙂
veggiesdontbite
Thank you Lucie!! It was a labor of love for sure. And definitely worth it in the end!
Aimee / Wallflower Kitchen
Peanut butter carrot cake!? I need this in my life! <3
veggiesdontbite
Thanks Aimee!!
Natalie | Feasting on Fruit
It's stunning Sohpia, I love the way your decorated it! Happy and enticing, not a single hint to all the frustration, and hours and hours of cake experimentation that went into it. Just from the ingredient list I can tell that this is a work of exact GF science, I've tried working with sorghum and it is not an easy thing. But the crumb looks wonderful and that frosting is genius! When you do cake or cupcakes you go all out. I have no clue where you got the idea to pair peanut butter with carrot cake, but I'm very glad you did 🙂
veggiesdontbite
Awe, thank you so much Natalie!! You are too sweet. I love peanut butter and I love carrots, and my friend Krystal over at my Botanical Baby turned me on to eating them together a while back. So they are a common snack for us. Since I use nut butter a lot as my fat in baked goods, I figured I may as well use peanut butter for this one!
Mandy
Wow, Sophia! This is GORGEOUS!!!! And such a unique take on carrot cake! I adore carrot cake and you know how much I love peanut butter, so obviously I'll love this! I also really love using sorghum flour in baked goods...one of my favorite flours to keep on hand. And wait a minute....your little guy is going to be ONE?! Already?!? Holy smokes, I can't believe it!
veggiesdontbite
Thank you sweet friend!! I hope you give it a try sometime! I know...I just can't believe it. I love that little guy so much and it feels like yesterday that he was born.