Wheat-based cakes *wish* they could be as moist, tender, and floofy as this almond flour carrot cake. Made with 1 bowl and 12 ingredients in 45 minutes.
Bake this grain-free dairy-free snacking cake in a square pan and finish it with paleo cream cheese frosting or honey cream cheese frosting (shown here) for an anytime, for anyone, treat. Free of gluten, grains, dairy, and refined sugar – though you'd never know it.
This almond flour carrot cake has been years in the making. It started with this gluten-free carrot cake that I developed in 2016 for GFF (Gluten-Free Forever) Magazine, the year my cookbook came out. Struggling to get the tender yet sturdy texture I craved, I experimented with adding an additional egg where there would normally be a small amount of dairy such as buttermilk. Like magic, the batter poofed in the oven, set beautifully, and turned out the most addictive texture of any cake I'd ever had.
Wanting every cake to have the same addictively springy texture of that slice, I've since adapted the same formula into several other cake recipes including lofty gluten-free pumpkin bread, almond and oat flour zucchini bread, and gluten-free gingerbread cake.
Today I'm turning that reader-favorite formula paleo with a few simple ingredient swaps. Coconut sugar stands in for white sugar. Cassava flour and extra almond flour take the place of grain flours. And paleo cream cheese frosting (or honey cream cheese frosting, shown here) graces the top in silky swoops and swirls of deliciousness.
If you're a fan of almond flour and paleo-friendly desserts, you're going to swoon for the cozy flavor and gorgeous texture of this almond flour carrot cake just like this happy baker:
Amazing recipe!
“Thank you for putting out such amazing recipes that are true & tested. I made it with unrefined coconut oil and it came out really floofy & moist. ”
—Luna
This paleo almond flour carrot cake is:
- addictively moist
- tender, floofy, and springy
- balanced – just sweet enough
- loaded with finely grated carrots
- and ideal vehicle for tangy frosting (see below for options!)
- free of dairy, grains, gluten, and refined sugar
If paleo isn't your thing but almond flour is, feel free to use more traditional ingredients: rice flour in place of cassava, refined sugar, and dairy cream cheese frosting.
Ingredients & Substitution Suggestions
This almond flour carrot cake is made with a handful of easy to find ingredients that keep it grain-free and dairy-free.
Flours
A trio of flours – including almond flour – give this cake the most addictively moist and springy texture.
- Almond flour adds structure thanks to its high protein content and moisture thanks to its oils. I use blanched almond flour, but almond meal should work just as well. If you need a nut-free carrot cake, try using tiger nut flour which is actually a tuber, or grind sunflower seeds to a floury consistency.
- Cassava flour adds lightness. If you don't have any on hand, try using one-third the amount of coconut flour. Or try an all-purpose paleo flour blend. Or use sweet rice flour if grains are tolerated.
- Tapioca flour fluffs up the cake batter and makes is pillow-soft. Arrowroot should work best as a replacement if need be, but corn starch and potato starch can often stand in as well.
Other Ingredients
- Carrots make the cake golden and super moist. I like to grate them on the fine holes of a box grater for a smooth crumb. Any carrots will work; I tested this with super-sweet ones from my farmers market. Look for medium-sized carrots that are bright orange, crunchy, and flavorful, preferably with greens still attached for the freshest carrots.
- Oil makes the cake deliciously moist. Mild olive oil works well and is paleo; otherwise, a neutral oil such as sunflower or grapeseed give the cake a classic flavor.
- Coconut sugar or maple sugar sweeten the cake and keep it refined sugar-free. I like using half of each sugar. If you're good with sugar, feel free to use white or brown sugar here instead.
- Eggs lift and strengthen the batter. I use an extra egg in this cake where there would usually be some dairy. The extra egg makes the cake extra lofty and keeps it dairy-free at the same time.
- Cinnamon and ginger add subtle spice. Feel free to add in some cardamom for a masala chai-spiced carrot cake.
- Baking soda and baking powder lift the cake
- Salt sharpens the flavors.
How to Make Paleo Carrot Cake with Almond Flour
I've streamlined this recipe as much as possible to make it super simple to put together. It takes about 15 minutes of active time, 30 minutes in the oven, and an hour or so to let the cake cool before adding the topping.
This recipe makes one 8x8-inch square snacking cake or 12 cupcakes. For a layer cake or sheet cake, double the recipe and divide the batter between two 9-inch round pans, three 8-inch round pans, or one 9x12-inch baking pan.
Toppings Options Galore
Here are some favorite carrot cake toppings, with dairy-free and paleo options as well as more traditional dairy-full frostings:
- Paleo Cream Cheese Frosting: made with coconut yogurt, cashew butter, coconut oil, and maple syrup, with lemon juice for tang. You'll never know it's DF, vegan, and paleo.
- Less-Sweet Cream Cheese Frosting: made with traditional ingredients (powdered sugar, cream cheese, and butter) but one-fourth the sugar of most recipes for a balanced topping that won't make your teeth ache.
- Honey Cream Cheese Frosting (shown here): honey sweetens this frosting, adding lovely floral notes and bright acidity for an extra-silky finish.
- Vegan Cream Cheese Frosting: DF cream cheese, butter, and powdered sugar make a luscious dairy-free icing.
- Mascarpone Frosting: another reader-favorite recipe, made by whipping mascarpone and heavy cream with just a touch of sweetener for a cheesecake vibe.
- Whipped Coconut Cream: a simple dairy-free, paleo-friendly whipped topping made with canned coconut milk or cream whipped to floofy perfection.
Carrot Cake for Everyone
This allergy-friendly cake will please a variety of different eaters. It's:
- grain-free
- gluten-free
- dairy-free
- FODMAP-friendly
- low-histamine
- and can be made nut-free as well
Whether you're baking for yourself or a crowd, for food sensitivities or those who eat everything, this carrot cake is sure to please. I hope you love it as much as I do!
Bojon appétit! For more Bojon Gourmet in your life, follow along on Instagram, Facebook, or Pinterest, purchase my award-winning gluten-free baking cookbook Alternative Baker, or subscribe to receive new posts via email. And if you make this almond flour carrot cake, I’d love to know. Leave a comment and rating below, and tag your Instagram snaps @The_Bojon_Gourmet and #bojongourmet.
Super-Moist Paleo Carrot Cake with Almond Flour (Dairy-Free)
Print Recipe Pin RecipeIngredients
Wet Ingredients
- 8 ounces carrots (about 4 medium), grated on smallest holes of box grater (1¼ cups packed)
- 3 large eggs
- ¾ cup + 2 tablespoons (130 g) coconut sugar or maple sugar* (I like half and half)
- ½ cup mild olive oil (or other neutral vegetable oil)
Dry Ingredients
- 1 cup (110 g) blanched almond flour* (I like Bob's Red Mill)
- ½ cup (75 g) cassava flour* (I like Bob's Red Mill)
- 2 tablespoons (14 g) tapioca flour* (I like Bob's Red Mill)
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
- ¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
Topping:
Instructions
Prepare Things
- Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350ºF.
- Line an 8-inch square pan with 2 crisscrossing slings of parchment paper cut to fit.
Make the Batter
- In a large bowl, stir together the grated carrots, eggs, sugar, and oil until combined.
- Place a medium mesh strainer over the bowl and add the almond, cassava, and tapioca flours along with the baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and ginger.
- Sift the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, stirring until well-combined. No need to worry about over-mixing since there's no gluten to toughen up!
Bake
- Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and smooth into an even layer.
- Bake the cake until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean, 25-35 minutes.
- Remove the cake from the oven and let cool completely, 30-60 minutes. Use the parchment paper "handles" to remove the cake from the pan and onto a serving platter, removing the parchment paper if you wish.
- Spread the paleo cream cheese frosting over the cooled cake. If the frosting is too soft to slice, chill the cake briefly (or up to 2 days).
- Cut the cake into squares and serve.
Video
Notes
- In place of coconut or maple sugar, use 1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons (130 g) white or brown sugar in place of the coconut sugar.
- In place of blanched almond flour, use almond meal, ground sunflower seeds, or tiger nut flour.
- In place of cassava flour, use sweet rice flour, GF AP flour blend, or try 3 tablespoons coconut flour
- In place of tapioca flour, try arrowroot flour, corn starch, or potato starch.
- In place of paleo frosting, top this cake with honey cream cheese frosting or classic cream cheese frosting if dairy isn't an issue.
- The cake can be baked and stored, covered, at room temperature for 1 day, refrigerated for up to 3 days, or wrapped and frozen for up to several months.
- The frosted cake can be covered and refrigerated for up to 2 days.
- Leftover cake keeps beautifully, refrigerated airtight, for up to 1 week.
Luna says
Amazing recipe! Thank you for putting out such amazing recipes that are true & tested. I made it with unrefined coconut oil and it came out really floofy & moist.I used half coconut sugar & maple sugar.
Alanna Taylor-Tobin says
Hi Luna,
I'm so glad you liked you the carrot cake and that it worked well with coconut oil - that's so great to know. Happy baking!
-Alanna
Andrea Eisenberg says
I've been wanting to try this since I saw you post this recipe - I just hate grating carrots. But I had an occasion to go to tonight and I knew there would be no gluten free options for me, so I bit the bullet and made this cake finally. It ended up being the hit dessert of the evening, better than all the gluten options! Very moist and spicy. I used your mascarpone frosting which was beautiful for this cake. Definitely will make this again! Probably soon since I grated twice as many carrots than I needed - lol!
Alanna Taylor-Tobin says
Ohhh I'm so glad the carrot cake was a hit and that it was worth grating so many carrots, haha! Hope you enjoy batch #2 as well!
nancy says
MOIST and terrific crumb! Made for my bday cake and it was perfect. Did half/half coconut & maple sugar and reduced to 120 grams total. Honey cream cheese frosting was great - 1/2 recipe was enough to top the cake. Excellent GF carrot cake with no compromises.
Alanna Taylor-Tobin says
Aw happy birthday Nancy! So glad you liked this cake and frosting, woohoo!
Christina Gibson says
Hi Alanna. I made this today and it smells wonderful. We will eat it in a couple days. The texture seems perfect. Somewhat of a pain doing the fine grate but worth it I know. I used brown sugar, gluten free AP, arrowroot. I will frost tomorrow with the Honey Cheese frosting. Your cakes freeze wonderfully as well. Thanks so much.
Alanna Taylor-Tobin says
I'm so glad the cake worked well with those ingredients. Please come back and let me know how you like it when you dive in. Bojon appétit ;)
Christina M Gibson says
It was delicious. I took it to a tennis match for the gals to have a treat. So moist and delicious. Everyone loved it. I used half the butter in the frosting and you didn't miss it. Such a simple recipe. Thanks so much.
Alanna Taylor-Tobin says
So glad the cake was a hit and that the frosting worked well with half the amount of butter - I bet that played up the cream cheese flavor even more. Brilliant!
Lulu says
Oh.
My.
Goodness.
Is this ever YUMMY!
This is my first recipe I have ever done from your site. I used the fine lemon micro plane zester to grate the carrots super fine. Then for the spice, I used one teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice. Been Paleo since 2016, and I do a lot of baking for after church’s coffee brunch. We have had GF members or visitors shocked to see there’s actually something they can eat. So I’m always looking for dependable recipes and that they turn out the first time.
I plan on BUYING the cookbook!❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️ thank you for such a fabulous carrot cake recipe. The next time I’ll plan ahead for the frosting you have instead of the organic coconut oil cream cheese frosting I keep on hand from the store.
Alanna Taylor-Tobin says
Hi Lulu,
Aw I'm so glad you love this carrot cake and that it worked well with the super finely grated carrots and pumpkin pie spice - brilliant!
Just a heads up that there aren't any paleo recipes in my cookbook - just gluten-free with a few vegan recipes. I got paleo-curious after I had already written it, so all my paleo recipes are on the website (which means they're free!) Let me know if I can recommend any others to you.
That's wonderful that your GF church members have something they can eat thanks to you! I know they appreciate it so much.
-Alanna
Lulu says
I’m sure I can tweak it if I need to. (Regarding cookbook) My goodness, this is like the carrot cake from the past. So moist❤️ sort of like pumpkin pie cake or bars that I love but haven’t made since going paleo. This is a keeper!❤️❤️❤️❤️
Alanna Taylor-Tobin says
Aw ok, fabulous! I'll be interested to know how you Paleo-ize any recipes in Alternative Baker. Please don't hesitate to ask if you need suggestions about any specific recipes!
Just in case it's helpful, I've shared a paleo pumpkin pie recipe that you might like. And I may be sharing another paleo pumpkin recipe this fall, so stay tuned... ;)