This delicious Almond Flour Carrot Cake Recipe is the only one you will need! It's decadent, moist, and has the perfect tender crumb. Topped with homemade cream cheese icing, it doesn't get much better than this. Besides being delicious, it also happens to be gluten-free, keto-friendly, sugar free, and has only 2.7 net carbs per piece.
In this free 5-day email series learn all my tips for incorporating a low-carb lifestyle into the life of your family.
Since I already have a fancy layered keto carrot cake, I wanted to make a simple almond flour carrot cake for those days I just want to eat cake! When I'm not trying to impress anyone, I prefer bars, brownies, and cakes make in my old standard 8x8 glass baking dish.
Carrot cake is one of those desserts that pretty much has to be at any family party or holiday, especially Easter. Being able to create a gluten free version of a traditional carrot cake was so important to me. Who can resist all the incredible spices and cream cheese frosting? Not me!
And if you have never made a carrot cake before, this is the perfect one to start with. It is simple and delicious.
Ingredients Needed
- Almond Flour - Naturally, almond flour is the heart of the carrot cake. The nutty flavor of the almond milk is the perfect complement to the other ingredients.
- Sweetener - Carrots are naturally pretty sweet, but you will need a little bit more sweetener.
- Half and Half - You'll need to use half and half for both the healthy carrot cake itself as well as the icing. It's important for both, but you could also swap it for your favorite dairy-free milk or heavy cream.
- Butter - A little bit of butter is needed for both the cream cheese frosting and the cake.
- Eggs - Adding eggs helps all the ingredients to bind together well.
- Cinnamon - I love adding ground cinnamon, and it has the best spicy flavor! You could also use nutmeg, allspice, or pumpkin pie spice to change up the results.
- Baking Powder - To give the carrot cake a beautiful rise, you will need some baking powder.
- Shredded Carrots - Make sure the grated carrots are shredded pretty thin.
- Coconut Flakes - If you aren't a fan of coconut, you can leave them out, but I think they are fantastic in this gluten free carrot cake.
- Cream Cheese - There is always the star to the show, and for the icing, it's the cream cheese.
- Powdered Erythritol - Be sure to use finely ground powdered erythritol, or the texture will be off and strange.
- Vanilla - A sprinkle of vanilla is just what you need to complete the frosting.
How To Make Almond Flour Carrot Cake
There are only around 10 minutes of prep for this easy cake recipe. The rest is waiting for it to bake.
Step One: Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Then use non-stick spray to grease a glass 8x8 baking dish.
Step Two: Mix together the almond flour, sweetener, half and half, butter, eggs, cinnamon, and baking powder in a food processor. Mix until smooth.
Expert Tip: You do not need to separate the wet ingredients and dry ingredients. Just toss them all into the food processor together!
Step Three: Fold in the coconut flakes and shredded carrots.
Step Three: Spread the gluten-free carrot cake batter in the greased pan. It will be thick.
Step Four: Bake for 35 minutes or until it's firm when you touch it. The edges should be golden brown. Then let it cool completely.
Step Five: While the carrot cake is baking, cream together the cream cheese, sweetener, butter, half and half, and vanilla together in a large bowl. For best results, use an electric mixer or stand mixer with the whisk attachment so you get the right texture. If it's too thick, you can add a little bit more half and half.
Step Five: Add dollops of frosting all over the cooled cake. Then gently spread. Serve and enjoy!
Expert Tip: You have to be gentle when spreading the icing or the cake with crumble. It is best to drop small spoonfuls all over the cake and then spread those out.
Can you replace flour with almond flour?
In many recipes, you can replace wheat flour with almond flour. I normally like to use a combination of 3 parts almond flour to 1 part coconut flour. The coconut flour balances the oiliness from the almonds.
Does carrot cake contain gluten?
Traditional carrot cake has white flour and does contain gluten. This almond flour cake is gluten-free.
Can I substitute coconut flour?
No, I'm sorry for this recipe; you really need to use almond flour. It gives the cake a delicious texture, and if you went with coconut flour, it's going to turn out super dry. Coconut flour tends to absorb moisture, and for this recipe, we don't want that.
If you need to make this nut free a better sub would be sunflower seed flour. Sunflower seed flour can be used 1:1 to replace almond flour in almond flour recipes.
Variations
Nuts - I love to add nuts to carrot cake. Pecans, walnuts, and even hazelnuts are all pretty delicious. You can add them whole, but I prefer to chop them up fairly small. Sprinkle on top of the frosting or add them to the cake when you fold in the carrots.
Dairy Free - You can easily make this a gluten free dairy free cake by swapping in coconut oil or another vegetable oil for the butter and coconut cream for the half and half. For a simply dairy-free glaze just mix powdered sweetener with a little melted coconut oil until it is thin enough to drizzle on top. You can flavor the glaze with vanilla extract and/or cinnamon.
Layer Cake - If you are looking for a fancy low carb carrot cake with cake layers made in round cake pans and full of icing I have one of those too! Check out my keto carrot cake.
Raisins - I personally don't care for raisins in my carrot cakes but if you do and you aren't following a low carb keto diet feel free to add some!
Carrot Cake Muffins - You can turn this into muffins if you'd like. It will make about 8 regular sized muffins. Line you muffin tins with parchment paper liners and spray with cooking spray.
Cookies - Make sure to check out my variation on this to make carrot cake cookies!
Can You Make Carrot Cake Ahead Of Time?
Yes, you sure can! After you have baked the cake and allowed it to cool to room temperature, you can place it in a sealed container in the freezer or fridge. It's important that it is airtight, so it doesn't go bad quickly.
For added protection, you can even wrap it up in plastic wrap before putting it in an airtight container.
It will last in the fridge for up to 5 days and in the freezer for up to 3 months. Thaw the cake in the fridge before eating. The frosting is best when it's fairly cold.
It's important never to let the almond flour carrot cake set out longer than 1-2 hours at a time. The cream cheese frosting will spoil quickly if you allow it to sit out too long.
Ingredients
Cake Ingredients:
- 2 cups almond flour
- ¼ cup Joy Filled Eats Sweetener (or see alternatives in recipe notes)
- 2 oz half and half
- 2 tablespoon butter
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¾ cup shredded carrots
- ½ cup coconut flakes
Cream Cheese Filling:
- 4 oz cream cheese
- 6 tablespoon powdered sweetener finely ground
- 2 tablespoon butter
- 1-3 teaspoon half and half
- ½ teaspoon vanilla
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350. Spray an 8x8 baking dish with cooking spray.
- Combine the almond flour, sweetener, half and half, butter, eggs, cinnamon, and baking powder in a food processor. Process until smooth. Stir in the carrots and coconut flakes.
- Spread the batter in the prepared pan. Bake for 35 minutes or until firm to the touch and golden around the edges. Cool completely.
- Meanwhile, cream together the filling ingredients with an electric mixer until smooth. If it is too thick add more half and half. Drop dollops on the cooled cake. Gently spread the icing.
Notes
Nutrition
Marian C. says
Looks like a great recipe. Wondering if I could use half THM baking blend and half almond flour?
Also in the sweetener substitutions, my Pyure bag says half as sweet as sugar so that would make it more like Gentle Sweet than Super Sweet?
Taryn says
Yes, to 1/2 BB and 1/2 almond flour.
Do you mean twice as sweet? Generally, I've found Pyure to be sweeter than Gentle Sweet. I would recommend using less than the amount listed. It is always better to under-sweeten than over-sweeten.
Taylor says
I am obsessed with this carrot cake! So moist with amazing flavor and texture. And that cream cheese frosting on top is divine!
Natalie says
Couldn't believe that a gluten-free and sugar-free dessert can be so delicious. My kids loved your almond flour carrot cake, thanks!
Brandy says
Such a great recipe! The carrot cake came out amazing! We ate it up so fast. Can't wait to make again!
Macie says
Super yummy and easy to make! This is a keeper!
Allyssa says
Thank you so much for this almond flour carrot cake recipe! It tasted really amazing and super easy to make! Loved it
Sandra says
Great desert! I used erythritol and Belsoy instead of the half and half and it came out delicious! Will definitely do this again! Thank you!
Mvik says
May I be clarified? What is that Half and half in the recip? Not yet familiar with all the ingredients. Sorry 😞
Taryn says
Hi Mvik, it is a common ingredient in the US. It is half milk and half heavy cream. You can sub in light cream.
Rebecca says
I was super excited to try this recipe the cake was dry and dense first time joy filled recipe failed …. Will not make again
Taryn says
Sorry, you didn't care for it. Did you make any substitutions? It is normally very moist. Could your oven run hot?
Libby says
I was so excited to try this. Carrot Cake is my favorite. While the frosting is great (I used Neufchatel cheese), the cake is rather dense and dry. Could it be baking in a gas oven? I really want to figure out how to make it more moist.
Taryn says
Which sweetener did you use? Any substitutions? My guess is you may have just baked it too long.
Kathy says
Super easy recipe but I didn’t like the added coconut and I found it dry, even adding more cream.
I considered leaving the coconut out, but as I’m not a great baker, felt I should follow the recipe as was.
Taryn says
Did you add more cream before baking? That could throw off the entire recipe.
Laqueta Taggart says
Will switching out the carrots with zucchini work in this recipe?
Taryn says
I think that would work. If you try please let me know how it turns out!
Debbie Cushing says
We loved this recipe. Thanks again. Oh, my husband didn't even notice coconut.
Sharon Sixty-Seven says
I am so happy with this recipe! The texture of this cake is fantastic. Other than cheesecakes, this has to be my favorite keto dessert so far. I'd like to find a powdered sugar sub that doesn't have an aftertaste (I used a monkfruit/erythritol product which is good, but does have an aftertaste), but that is a minor detail. This recipe, as you said, is the only keto carrot cake recipe you'll ever need. It's a mix, spread, and bake recipe and came together so quickly and easily. I added chopped walnuts to the batter after mixing it. It is a keeper for sure. Thank you so much. It's going to be made often in my house.
Amy says
Can coconut be omitted? If so, should it be replaced by anything or can it just be left out?
Taryn says
You will need to use more almond flour or oat fiber.
Maggie says
I'm not a great baker 🙂 so I'm not sure if this question is obvious or not, can you use the pre-shredded carrots from the grocery store?
Taryn says
Hi Maggie, those are fine but they can be drier than freshly shredded. If the batter seems drier than my photos add a little extra sour cream.
Mickey says
I use splenda in my recipes. How much would I use for this carrot cake?
Taryn says
I'm sorry, Mickey, I don't test my recipes with Splenda. My guess would be to try the same amount. It is always better to slightly under-sweeten desserts as opposed to over-sweetening them.
Jenny says
This recipe sounds good and easy to make, but please explain to me exactly what is "half and half", I live in South Africa and am unfamiliar with this term and what ingredient it is, thank you.
Taryn says
Hi Jenny, half and half is a light cream. It is half milk and half cream and common in the US. It has about 12% milkfat.
Julie says
I realized I had all the ingrediants and just made it this morning. Came together so fast. Waiting IS the hardest part. Yum!
Chris P says
I look forward to making this as carrot cake is a favorite. I notice the recipe card states "cookie ingredients" and the nutritional info says "1 cookie", I think these need to be corrected. Thank you for the recipe.
Taryn says
Thanks for catching that! This is based on my carrot cake cookies so that's where the typo came from.