Gluten Free Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting, cinnamon, on parchment paper

The BEST gluten free carrot cake. It’s moist, fluffy, and so delicious. With the easiest greek yogurt cream cheese frosting.

Sliced Gluten Free Carrot Cake with Simple Cream Cheese Frosting on parchment paper , topped with cinnamon

This carrot cake is soft, fluffy, and moist. You would never know it’s gluten free! The base of almond flour and oat flour make for the best soft and spongey cake texture, and the carrots and yogurt add the perfect level of moisture to the cake.

The frosting is so simple to make- it’s made using yogurt in place of cream cheese, so it’s easy to whip up and a bit of a healthier option! I could eat the frosting straight from the spoon- it’s so good!!

The cinnamon and nutmeg add the best flavor to this cake, and if you add the raisins or pecans, they make for an amazing texture addition to the soft cake. If you aren’t in to raisins or pecans in your cake, you can totally skip them and the cake is still amazing without!

Gluten Free Carrot Cake with Simple Cream Cheese Frosting Sliced with fork and cinnamon and nutmeg on top

This is the perfect Spring/Easter (or anytime!!) dessert. I think this is definitely one of my top favorite recipes I have ever made. The texture and flavor are perfect, and it’s so easy!

I recommend keeping the recipe as written for best results! Any recipe substitutions may result in a different texture, bake time, and flavor!

Can’t wait to hear what you guys think 🙂 Enjoy!!

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Gluten Free Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

  • Author: Mia Zarlengo
  • Prep Time: 15 minutes
  • Cook Time: 25 minutes
  • Total Time: 40 minutes
  • Yield: 12 slices 1x
  • Category: Dessert

Description

Gluten free and refined sugar free carrot cake with the easiest cream cheese frosting!


Ingredients

Scale
  • 1/3 cup butter, melted (or sub coconut oil) ⠀
  • 2 large eggs ⠀
  • 1/3 cup maple syrup ⠀
  • 1/4 cup coconut sugar ⠀
  • 1/4 cup plain or vanilla greek yogurt (can sub dairy free yogurt or sour cream)
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 + 1/2 cups finely shredded carrots
  • 1 + 1/3 cup fine almond flour
  • 1/3 cup + 3 tbsp oat flour ⠀
  • 1/3 cup gluten free old fashioned rolled oats
  • 1 + 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp nutmeg ⠀
  • 3/4 tsp sea salt ⠀
  • 1 tsp baking soda ⠀
  • Optional add ins: raisins, pecans

For the frosting:

  • 1/2 cup plain greek style yogurt
  • 2 tbsp maple syrup
  • 1/2 tsp coconut sugar
  • Small splash of vanilla extract
  • Cinnamon and coconut sugar for topping (optional)

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350°F and line an 8x8in square baking dish (or a standard 9in cake pan) with parchment paper.
  2. In a large bowl, whisk the butter, eggs, maple syrup, coconut sugar, yogurt, and vanilla until smooth. Stir in the shredded carrots. 
  3. Mix in the remaining dry ingredients, and stir until a smooth batter forms. If adding, fold in your pecans and/or raisins here. 
  4. Pour the batter into your parchment-lined baking dish and use a spatula to spread it evenly.
  5. Bake for 25-35 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean (using a round cake pan will need more bake time). Allow to cool for 5 minutes, then carefully lift by the parchment paper to transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely before slicing. Don’t skip this cooling process, or your cake will not hold together well or be cooked all the way in the center! 
  6. While cake is cooling, whisk the frosting ingredients together in a small bowl until smooth. If frosting is a bit too thin, add more yogurt as needed. Once cake is cooled, spread frosting on top and sprinkle with cinnamon and coconut sugar (optional). Slice into 12 squares. Once frosted, store leftovers in the refrigerator (or leave unfrosted on the counter).

Notes

* I have not tested this with any flour substitutes! I cannot guarantee what results you will get if you do! 

Dessert, Gluten Free, Recipes, Vegetarian

Category:

Apr 10, 2020

The Best Gluten Free Carrot Cake with Simple Cream Cheese Frosting

Did you make this recipe? Be sure to tag @gatherednutrition on INstagram so I can see what you made! Leaving a rating and review on the site is a huge help too!

  1. Jess B says:

    Absolute best carrot cake I’ve ever had in my life! This is for real lifechanging. We made it for Easter and we couldn’t believe how delicious it was, especially for everyone in my family who loves traditional cream cheese frosting! Carrot cake is my dad’s favorite dessert of all time and he loved it so much. My mom and I love all your recipes but think this one wins. Will be making this again and again!

  2. Karli says:

    So good and easy to make!! Mine took a little longer then 25 minutes. So delicious and perfect for Easter!!! It’s a guilt free dessert that still taste amazing. Would make it again.

  3. Emma says:

    Loved making this! It was so simple and turned out great! I’m a sucker for frosting so I doubled the amount to make a thicker layer.

  4. Chels M says:

    So good & so easy to make! I was skeptical of the frosting at first but the flavor was amazing and my family had no idea it was yogurt based. Can’t wait to make it for ever Easter 🙂

  5. Kaitie says:

    I loved this! Carrot cake is my boyfriends favorite dessert and he really enjoyed it! I made a vegan version using flax seeds for the “egg” and used vegan butter and vegan greek style yogurt. It turned out so nicely!

  6. Ashley L says:

    This was amazing! I love all of your recipes and this once, to no surprise, was just as good as the others! My family could not get enough of this yesterday for our Easter dessert ???? thanks, again!

  7. Alana says:

    I made this for Easter and it was absolutely amazing! Even my boyfriend who usually refuses to eat gluten free foods loved it!!

  8. Jordan says:

    Seriously stop what you’re doing right now & make this carrot cake! It is unreal! I promise you won’t regret baking & eating this cake

  9. Sandy says:

    Delicious, super moist, and not too sweet!

  10. Sarah says:

    So so yummy!! I ran out of yogurt so I ended up going with a traditional cream cheese frosting, but the cake base was to die for. My brothers who refuse to eat anything gluten free or remotely healthy loved this, as did the rest of my family. Will be making again and again – next time with the yogurt-based frosting! Thanks!

  11. meg says:

    I made these for Easter and my entire family was obsessed! I made them dairy free and used cashew milk yogurt and they turned out amazing!

  12. Emily says:

    Made this for my whole family on Easter and they loved it!! Need to make this again ASAP

  13. Erica Bugarin says:

    Best carrot cake I’ve ever made and so easy to make also!!! Was definitely a big hit at my home.

  14. Mariana says:

    So delicious! My sister in law and I made it together last night (me in Chicago, she in Salt Lake City) and both batches turned out amazing!! Will make again. Also toddler approved.

  15. Marianna says:

    So yum and so easy to make loved it! It’s my best dessert out of the fridge and with some morning coffee in bed ♥️

  16. Alena C says:

    Best carrot cake we’ve ever had!

  17. Georgia says:

    So good! I made the cake with df cashew yogurt but kept the Greek yogurt in the frosting. Turned out great – love this recipe!!

  18. Katie says:

    This recipe is amazing! Perfect carrot cake flavor. I was looking for a slightly healthier carrot cake for Easter since we’d already had a lot of sweets, and this was perfect. I had oat flour but ran out of rolled oats so I subbed in shredded coconut for the 1/3 c rolled oats, and it turned out great – though a little fudgier in the middle than the original recipe because the oats weren’t there to soak up liquid. Thank you for this recipe!

  19. Ellen says:

    super Easy recipe to follow and make. I added crushed pecans to ours and it was delicious! Very moist. Everyone loved it so it went pretty quickly!

  20. MacKenzie says:

    This is the best guilt free carrot cake that I’ve made! So yummy!!! Easy and quick recipe with staples that you’d have at home. Next time I might just double the frosting 🙂

  21. dana says:

    I love everything about this recipe! first off it tastes amazing like… how is this healthy!! it’s also super easy and quick to make, will be making this many many more times!!

  22. Kathryn says:

    I made this for Easter and it was delicious! Will definitely be making again.

  23. Patty says:

    Perfect dessert or breakfast in my case!! Loved it! Thank you for sharing.

  24. Shayla says:

    Loved this recipe!! Made this for an Easter treat and it was honestly better than I was expecting. My boyfriend didn’t believe me when I told him it was a healthy version.. that’s when you know it’s good. If you can somehow not eat the entire cake in day 1 you’ll be rewarded because it’s even better the next day after sitting in the fridge *drools on keyboard* Thanks Mia!

  25. Supriya Satya says:

    Hi there – I was excited to try making this over the weekend, but couldn’t find oat flour at the store 🙁 Are there any substitutions you recommend?

    • Mia Zarlengo says:

      Hi! I’ve been making my own by grinding up rolled oats in the blender 🙂 If you can get your hands on oats I definitely recommend that!

  26. Michaela D says:

    Loved these!!
    I subbed the oat flour for cassava (all I had), and they still turned out great. A little fragile when cutting, and baked for about 24 min.

  27. Natalie says:

    So delicious! Perfect spring dessert!

  28. Emily says:

    This recipe is so delicious – I’ve made it multiple times! Even my family (usually very skeptical of “healthier” recipes) devours this.

  29. Katie says:

    The best carrot cake that you wouldn’t even know is gluten free or made with yogurt frosting! Made this for Easter and my whole family raved about it, so so good and love that it doesn’t leave you with that “I just ate cake” feeling afterward!

  30. Lizette says:

    Sooo good! Another fav for the family. The icing dud better after being in the refrigerator a bit.

  31. Karen S says:

    Such a good recipe. I never considered myself a big carrot cake person before but this recipe has changed my mind. The cake is moist, flavorful and the texture is so good! Not sure anyone would think twice that this is a gluten free cake. I also love the frosting so much I always make a double batch for each cake so my frosting layer is super thick. Can’t recommend enough.

  32. Jaclyn Lebo says:

    Amazing recipe!!! Loved every bite.

  33. Erin says:

    Have made this several times now – it has been requested many times after the first! So good! I make it vegan with coconut oil, flax egg, and coconut yogurt with great results 👌🏼

  34. Becca says:

    This was ABSOLUTELY MY FAVORITE CARROT CAKE EVER! Healthy or not! The only changes I made was going half n half on butter and coconut oil and using agave nectar in place of maple syrup. I added raisins, pecans, and a couple tablespoons of unsweetened coconut flakes and this tasted just as good as any carrot cake I’ve ever had. I’m definitely saving this recipe to make for later! 🤩 Good grief thank you so much!

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Simple. Attainable. Gathered Nutrition.