The Best Carrot Cake

Name: The Best Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 60 min
Total time: 75 min
Ingredients: 1 ½ cups Canola oil; 2 cups sugar; 4 eggs; 2 teaspoon baking soda; 1 teaspoon baking powder; 3 teaspoon cinnamon; 1 teaspoon salt; 2 cups gluten free flour with xanthan gum; 2 teaspoon vanilla; 3 cups grated carrots (cut carrots into medium size pieces and pulsed them in a food processor until what grated would look like); ¼ cup crushed pineapple (drained); ¾ cup chopped walnuts (omit if nut -free); ¾ cup raisins (optional. (we didn't use)); 1 8 oz cream cheese room temperature (or dairy free alternative); ½ cup 1 stick butter or dairy free butter, room temperature; 1 lb powdered sugar; 1 teaspoon vanilla

Combined two family recipes to create the yummiest Gluten-Free Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting ever! Moist, Flavorful and a total crowd-pleaser! In fact, this was the hands down winner after many, many taste tests! Plus, NEW option to halve the recipe and make 12 cupcakes if you want the taste of carrot cake but don't need an entire cake!

best gluten-free carrot cake easy baking spring dessert

Easy Recipe for the Best Gluten-Free Carrot Cake!

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New! I just added a cooking video here on this page, so you can see how easy it is to make this Carrot Cake or Carrot Cake Cupcakes!

If you’re new to this website, at the bottom of every recipe page is a printable recipe with exact measurements and directions.

Hope you love this recipe as much as we do!

Update April 2020: We won’t be celebrating Easter with our usual big family get together this year, but we will still be enjoying some of our favorite Spring dishes and desserts. And this Gluten-Free Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting is both a classic and a family favorite among many at our usual Easter table!

Since many of you, like us, won’t be celebrating with a large family gathering, I added an option to cut this recipe in half and make Gluten-Free Carrot Cake Cupcakes!

With cupcakes, you can still enjoy the great taste of carrot cake (and cream cheese frosting!) without have to make or eat an entire cake!

The cupcakes should freeze well too if you have extra. I would just freeze without the icing and add icing when you eat them.

So whether you enjoy this recipe as cake or cupcakes, enjoy!

Original post…

Is there any more iconic Spring dessert than carrot cake?

With one week till Easter, we are finally sharing my family’s recipe for the BEST Gluten-Free Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting!

Several in my extended family (including me) love carrot cake and we have a taste tested countless recipes over the years and most recently in the last few weeks… This one developed by my mom is the hands-down winner.

It is a combination of my Grandmother’s and my husband’s Aunt Anne’s recipes and it is ?.

The best texture –soft and moist, and the best flavor– just the right amount of sweetness.

And the cream cheese frosting is so yummy!

It is one of the easiest cakes to make!

Plus it can be made in as a double layer cake, in a tube pan or even a 9×13 in pan, whatever works for you!

The best carrot cake gluten free #glutenfreerecipes www.healthygffamily.com

And it’s made with real, whole food ingredients.

For the cake you’ll need:

grated carrots

eggs

sugar

oil

baking powder

baking soda

vanilla extract

cinnamon

gluten-free flour (we used GF Jules, affiliate link)

pineapple chunks (only 1/4 cup!)

and chopped walnuts (omit if nut free).

As an aside, you may have noticed that we are affiliate for GFJules. To learn more about why we love GFJules flour and why we have used it for 10 years, click here.

Bonus: at the bottom of that post is a one-time use affiliate Discount Code.

And importantly, purchasing through an affiliate link does not change your cost at all. It generates a small percentage of the sale for me, and purchasing through an affiliate link helps me fund this website and all the recipes I share, so thank you!

Back to the Best Carrot Cake….

Whether you’re making the cake in tube pan or 2 round pans ( I actually used 2 9″ spring form pans because I find it easier), I find it helpful to cut out a piece of parchment paper in the shape of the bottom of the pan.

Then grease the parchment paper along with the rest of the pan.

This will allow the cake to come out of the pan cleanly. You just peel back the parchment paper after baking.

See how clean they come out of the cake pans?

OPTION: with Easter being a much smaller affair this year, I added an option to cut the recipe in 1/2 and make 12 cupcakes.

Cupcakes are such a great option when we really want carrot cake but not an entire cake!

You use all the same ingredients (just 1/2 the quantity!) and follow all the same instructions, up until pouring the batter into the pan. Instead pour of spoon the batter evenly into 12 muffin tins.

And Bake!

Gluten Free carrot cake cupcakes #glutenfreerecipes www.healthygffamily.com

Next up… my favorite part… cream cheese frosting!

The frosting is a classic…

For the frosting you’ll need:

confectioner’s sugar

cream cheese

butter or dairy free butter

vanilla extract.

It is creamy, smooth and delish!

If frosting a double layer cake, I like to start by frosting the top of one cake, then placing the second cake on top, frosting the top and then the sides.

You can feel free to decorate is any way you like… sprinkle with walnuts, top with some carrot sticks or jelly beans or just eat as is!

Hope you love it as much as we do!

Looking for more Easter recipes and idea, click here to see our picks.

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carrot cake cupcakes easy gluten-free dessert recipe

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