Paleo Carrot Cake with Almond Flour Recipe

Paleo Carrot Cake with Almond Flour Recipe

This Paleo Carrot Cake with almond flour is deliciously moist, lightly spiced, and mildly sweetened with maple syrup. Topped off with creamy vegan cream cheese frosting it is gluten and dairy-free too.

Course Cake, Dessert

Cuisine American

Diet Gluten Free

Prep Time 30

Cook Time 1

Total Time 1 40

Servings slices

Calories 402kcal

Author Aysegul Sanford

Ingredients

For The Almond Flour Carrot Cake:

¼ cup Coconut Oil plus 1 teaspoon for greasing the pan, melted + cooled
1 ½ cups Almond Flour
3 Tbsp Ground Flaxseed aka flax meal
1 tsp Baking Powder* Or Mix 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda with 1/2 teaspoon of cream of tartar for paleo version
¼ tsp Baking Soda
¾ tsp Kosher salt or fine sea salt
½ tsp Ground Cinnamon
½ tsp Ground Ginger
½ tsp Ground Cardamom
3 Large Eggs at room temperature
½ cup Coconut Sugar plus 2 tablespoons (total of 125 g)
1 teaspoon Orange Juice freshly squeezed - optional
½ teaspoon Vanilla Extract
6 oz Carrots about 2 large, scrubbed, grated on the smallest holes of a box grater (1 ¼ cups packed)
¼ cup Diced Fresh Pineapple, optional
¼ cup Chopped Walnuts
¼ cup Raisins or golden raisins
¼ cup Shredded Unsweetened Coconut, optional

For The Vegan Cream Cheese Frosting:

2 Tablespoons Unsalted Vegan Butter, cool room temperature
½ cup Vegan Cream Cheese, cool room temperature
2 Tablespoons Pure Maple Syrup
½ teaspoon Vanilla Extract
Squeeze of Lemon/Orange Juice about ½ teaspoon

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

To Make The Paleo Carrot Cake:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and place a rack in the center of the oven. Grease an 8 or 9-inch cake pan with 1 teaspoon coconut oil and line the bottom with parchment paperIn a large bowl, whisk together the almond flour, ground flaxseed, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger and cardamom.
In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs, remaining coconut oil, coconut sugar, orange juice and vanilla until well combined, silky smooth and emulsified.Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Fold in the walnuts, raisins and coconut (if using).Fold in the carrots, pineapple (if using), and walnuts.
Transfer the batter to the prepared pan and smooth the top. Bake for 1 hour (8-inch) or 50-55 minutes (9-inch), or until lightly brown, a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean and the center springs back to the touch.
Let cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then gently remove from the pan, discard the parchment paper and transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely. Top with the frosting.

To Make The Vegan Cream Cheese Frosting:

In the bowl of an electric mixer with the whisk attachment or with a large bowl and hand held mixer, beat butter and cream cheese on medium-high speed until very smooth, about 2 minutes.
Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add maple syrup, vanilla extract, and lemon/orange juice.
Beat on medium-high until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes, scraping down the sides and bottom of the bowl halfway through.
If needed, chill for 10 minutes in the fridge to stiffen slightly to spreadable consistency.

Video

Notes

How To Store: If you happen to end up with leftovers, you can store this low sugar carrot cake in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 1 week. After about 4 days, the cake will begin to dry out, so I would recommend freezing it after the 4-day mark. To freeze, place a piece of plastic wrap over the entire opening of your container, seal tight, label, date and freeze for up to 1 month.
To Make Muffins (or cupcakes): If you prefer individual low carb carrot cakes, divide the batter into a 12-cup muffin tin lined with parchment paper liners. Bake in a 350 degrees F oven in the center of the oven for 20-25 minutes. For paleo carrot cake cupcakes, pipe swirls of dairy-free frosting (or maple cream cheese frosting) on top with a piping bag and decorative pastry tip. And sprinkle it with walnuts.
If you do not mind a frosting with dairy, you can also use my Maple Cream Cheese Frosting recipe.
The prep time below does not include the cooling time of the cake. Depending on the temperature of your kitchen, I would recommend adding at least 30 minutes for cooling time.
Baking powder: While some people use baking powder while observing a paleo diet, I know that some don't. If that is you, in place of 1 teaspoon of baking powder, you can mix together 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda with 1/2 teaspoon of cream of tartar.

Nutrition