The Best Vegan Carrot Cake (Gluten Free)
This is honestly the best vegan carrot cake I’ve ever had, and it’s a crowd favorite with even non-vegan eaters. Entirely gluten free and topped with a creamy dairy free cream cheese frosting, this easy one bowl carrot cake is soon to be your favorite too!
Reasons to love this vegan carrot cake
Just wait until you try this carrot cake recipe. Seriously, whether you’re vegan or not, I know you will fall in love with it.
This secretly vegan cake‘s flavor is full of rich and sweet spices, and just lightly sweet while being so tender and perfect in texture. Using a dairy free vegan cream cheese frosting, you’ll be able to create a carrot cake fit for a bakery (or even better!).
Pretty cool, right?
If you need more proof, then the carrot cake king himself (my dad lol) claims this is his favorite carrot cake. Carrot cake is his favorite cake of all time, so I wanted to make sure that this healthy carrot cake would pass his high standards 😉
Now, my dad is not one to like many gluten-free and/or vegan creations, but this carrot cake changed his mind!
This is also one of those vegan cakes that both kids and adults will enjoy, all while getting some good beta-carotene in!
So let’s get into the ingredients for this vegan carrot cake! Because there are a few ingredients that, yes, they’re common in the kitchen, but I’m betting you probably have never tried them in a carrot cake 😉
Gluten Free Carrot Cake Ingredients
For this healthier carrot cake, you’ll need a few key ingredients:
- Grated Carrots: if you want an arm workout, you can grate about 6-7 medium carrots.
- Oat flour: If you don’t want to use oat flour, you can also use all purpose flour or cake flour. Either will work! I made my own oat flour. It’s cheaper that way over going to the store and purchasing a whole bag of oat flour (because often times, oat flour goes bad easily!). All you need to do is take about 2 cups of gluten free rolled oats and pulse them in a blender or food processor until it’s in a powder! 2 cups of oats will yield about 1 1/2 cups oat flour for those who are going to make their own.
- Unsweetened applesauce: this is my all time favorite egg replacement and yields the most lush and tender cakes that even classic bakers will drool over! Most vegan cake recipes use flax eggs. This isn’t my favorite ingredient, as sometimes not enough water is added, or too much. If you can’t use applesauce, you can sub in your favorite dairy free yogurt.
- Dairy free milk
- Brown sugar: You can also sub in coconut sugar.
- Granulated sugar: Be sure that your granulated sugar is vegan. I always use Florida Crystals for that reason.
- Vegan butter: I recommend using Miyoko’s vegan butter, or if you’re nut-free, sub in either coconut oil or Flora Plant Butter.
- Leavening agents: this is your baking powder and soda
- Spices: well, you can’t have a carrot cake without the spices! I use a blend of cinnamon, Allspice, and nutmeg! Hits the spot!
Traditionally, carrot cake also contains chopped walnuts or pecans and raisins. What makes this healthy carrot cake slightly different from others is that it’s entirely nut free as well. I always try to keep my nut allergy people in mind when creating these vegan and gluten recipes because I feel they’re highly underserved! SO I omitted the walnuts…and the raisins (because truthfully, I don’t like when carrot cake has raisins!).
However, you may find the optional add-ins listed in the notes section of the recipe!
Now onto the vegan cream cheese frosting, because you cannot do a vegan carrot cake with any other frosting, in my humble opinion. And it’s not even complicated! Check out the ingredients below!
We’ve really come a long way with vegan “dairy” options. I personally find that vegan cream cheeses tastes just as good, if not better, than regular cream cheese.
For the frosting you’ll need:
- Vegan cream cheese: I know that Trader Joe’s has a good one that’s more affordable than most name brands, but if you do have a favorite name brand, I love using either Kitehill or Miyoko’s.
- Vegan butter: for a vegan butter that tastes good and is simple, I highly recommend Miyoko’s or Forager Project.
- Dairy free milk
- Powdered Sugar: Also known as confectioners’ sugar! Again, I recommend Florida Crystals, as they’re 100% certified vegan.
How to make a one bowl vegan carrot cake
For the full written instructions and ingredient measurements, see the bottom of this post in the recipe card. You can also hit the “jump to recipe” button at the top of this post! Here, we’ll go over a brief overview of the steps, along with providing visuals for a better understanding of the recipe.
Here’s how to make the best vegan carrot cake:
- Start by creaming together the Vegan butter and sugar.
You can use a stand mixer or a large mixing bowl with a hand mixer.
- Then add in the remaining wet ingredients.
This is the applesauce, vanilla, and grated carrots. Mix on medium speed to combine.
- Add in the dry ingredients.
This is the oat flour, leavening agents, and spices. I sift them in to help with evenly distributing the spices throughout the cake. Then pour in the vegan buttermilk, and use a rubber spatula here to gently stir in the flour, being careful not to over mix. I try to mix just until there are no more dry streaks left.
- Divide the batter into cake pans.
I made this into a three layer 8″ cake, but you can also bake it in a three layer 6″ cake!
- Bake and cool the layers.
Once baked, it’s imperative that the layers full cool before you begin to frost and layer the cake. This is to prevent the cake from slipping and sliding onto the floor!
- Assemble and enjoy!
Carrot Cake FAQ’s & Tips
Absolutely not! If you’d like, you can swap in all purpose flour or cake flour (my favorite) for this carrot cake. If you don’t have oat flour, you can also use your favorite gluten free 1:1 baking flour.
Just keep in mind that not all gluten free 1:1 baking flours work on all recipes without adjustments. I’ve tested this recipe with Bob’s Red Mill, and it absolutely works.
You can definitely toss in 1/2 cup chopped walnuts to the batter if you’re not nut free. Or pecans, or raisins!
I recommend Violife cream cheese as a great nut free option.
You can use store-bought or homemade here. For homemade oat flour, see this post.
Yes definitely! Just be aware that the bake times will be slightly different.
Definitely! This layer cake recipe will yield about 24 cupcakes. You can also cut the recipe in half to make only a dozen.
Traditionally, carrot cake is made with cream cheese frosting, but if you’d prefer vegan buttercream, not a problem!
I still can’t get over how delicious this vegan carrot cake tastes, and with the vegan cream cheese frosting, you’re just going to be blown away!
I’m planning on making this recipe for Easter, but it’s also wonderful during fall and Christmas time 🙂
I’ll probably make this for my dad on Father’s Day as well, since he loved it so much! Oh, and don’t expect this cake to last you long, because it will for sure be gone in the snap of a finger!
Let me know in the comments below if you gave it a try, as well as leaving a rating down below ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ so that others may find it!
As always, I love to see your beautiful creations on Instagram and Pinterest, so be sure to tag me there.
Happy carrot cake baking!
More classic vegan cake recipes:
Amazing Vegan Funfetti Cake
Easy Gluten Free Vegan Lava Cakes
Gluten Free Vegan Red Velvet Cake
Want to save this recipe for later? Add it to your favorite recipe board on Pinterest!
If you make this recipe, please be sure to leave a comment and a rating ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ below. This helps others to find the recipes! As always, I absolutely love to see your beautiful creations on Instagram and Pinterest, so be sure to tag me there as well!
Print
Vegan Carrot Cake {Gluten Free}
- Prep Time: 15
- Cook Time: 30
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 18 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegan
Description
This is honestly the best vegan carrot cake I’ve ever had, and it’s a crowd favorite with even non-vegan eaters. Entirely gluten free and topped with a creamy dairy free cream cheese frosting, this easy one bowl carrot cake is soon to be your favorite too!
Ingredients
Vegan Carrot Cake
- 2 cups (180 g) grated carrots, about 6-8 medium carrots
- 3 1/2 (440 g) cups oat flour, all purpose flour, or cake flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp ground ginger
- 1/2 tsp all spice
- 1/2 tsp nutmeg
- 1/2 tsp cardamom
- 1 1/2 cup dairy free milk plus 1 tsp apple cider vinegar, room temperature
- 1 1/4 cup (230 g) brown sugar or coconut sugar
- 1/2 cup (100 g) granulated sugar
- 3/4 cup (150 g) unsweetened applesauce, room temperature
- 1/2 cup (113 g) vegan butter, room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Vegan Cream Cheese Frosting
- 1 cup (226 g) vegan cream cheese (room temperature)
- 1 cup (226 g) vegan butter (room temperature)
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- 2 tbsp dairy free milk
Instructions
- Prep: Preheat the oven to 350F, and line three 8″ cake pans with cooking oil and parchment paper. Make sure the carrots are grated, and mix together the dairy free milk with the apple cider vinegar.
- Prep the dry ingredients: In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, spices, and leavening agents. Set aside.
- Make the carrot cake batter: In a stand mixer with paddle attachment, or a large mixing bowl with a hand mixer, cream together the vegan butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Then add in the applesauce, vanilla extract, and carrots. Mix on medium speed until combined. Sift in the flour, leavening agents, and spices in about 3 increments, alternating between pouring in the vegan dairy free milk mixture as well. Be careful not to over mix. I try to mix just until there are no dry streaks left.
- Bake: Divide the batter evenly into the cake pans. Bake the cakes for about 28-32 minutes, or until the toothpick comes out clean.
- Cool: Allow the cakes to cool in their pans for 10 minutes, then carefully transfer them to cooling rack to fully cool. Do not frost until the cakes are cool to touch, and there is absolutely no heat coming from them.
- Make the vegan cream cheese frosting: To prepare the frosting, cream together the vegan butter and cream cheese with a stand mixer or using a hand mixer and a large bowl. Sift in the powdered sugar in increments of 1 cup, beating the mixture between each cup until combined. Add in 1-2 tbsp dairy free milk if needed to achieve a smooth texture.
- Assembly: Frost the cake, applying about 1/3 cup frosting in between each layer, and coating the sides of the cake. If you’d like to pipe the carrots onto the sides, reserve about 1/2 cup total frosting and divide in two bowls. Color one with vegan orange coloring and the other with vegan green. I used a Wilton Piping Tip 66 and Wilton Piping Tip 1.
- Slice and serve! Store any leftovers in an airtight container and in the fridge for up to 4 days, or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Notes
Not gluten free? Swap in all purpose flour or cake flour at an equal ratio!
Walnuts/Raisins: If you’d like to add in walnuts, raisins, or pecans, you may add in 1/3-1/2 cup of each (if you’re using just walnuts, add in 1/2 cup, if you’re adding in all three, use 1/3).
The Original Paleo Vegan Carrot Cake Recipe:
This recipe has been retested and adjusted from its original to suit more households. However, there are some original readers that love the original Paleo Vegan carrot cake version, so I left it here in case you prefer this one!
Vegan Carrot Cake
- 1 cup shredded carrots (can buy pre-shredded)
- 1 1/2 cup oat flour
- 1 1/2 cup cassava flour flour
- 3 tbsp ground flax/chia seed (mixed with 1/3 cup water)
- 1 cup coconut milk with 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
- 1/2 cup olive oil or vegan butter (unsalted) (melted)
- 1/2 cup maple syrup
- 1 cup mashed sweet potato (pre-cooked)
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp all spice
- 1/2 tsp nutmeg
- 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tbsp baking powder
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 tsp sea salt
Vegan Cream Cheese Frosting
- 1 cup vegan cream cheese (room temperature)
- 1 cup vegan butter (room temperature)
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- 2 tbsp coconut milk
- 1 batch vegan caramel sauce (optional)
- Preheat oven to 375F and grease three 6″ cake pans with olive or coconut oil.
- In a large bowl, whisk together oat flour, cassava flour, baking soda, baking powder, spices, and sea salt.
- Pour in coconut milk, olive oil, vanilla extract, maple syrup, and ground flax seed mixture, and mix until well combined.
- Add in shredded carrots and mashed sweet potato. Mix thoroughly.
- Pour evenly into both cake pans and place cake pans in the oven.
- Bake for 40 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean.
- Remove the cakes from the oven and allow them to cool fully before frosting.
- *Follow instructions below for the frosting so that you make it while the cakes are cooling.
Vegan Cream Cheese Frosting
- In a medium bowl and using a hand mixer, beat together vegan cream cheese, vegan butter, and coconut milk.
- Add in powdered sugar and beat until it becomes thick.
- Set aside and cover until ready to frost (you can place it for a few minutes in the fridge, but not too long because you don’t want it to harden).
- Frost cake, top with vegan caramel sauce if desired, and enjoy!
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 slice
- Calories: 336
- Sugar: 35.1 g
- Sodium: 284.8 mg
- Fat: 10.1 g
- Saturated Fat: 3.6 g
- Carbohydrates: 58.3 g
- Fiber: 1.1 g
- Protein: 3.4 g
- Cholesterol: 13 mg
Keywords: vegan carrot cake, gluten free vegan carrot cake, healthy vegan carrot cake, healthy carrot cake
WHOA that is a work of art!
★★★★★
You are just the sweetest!
HELP!!! How much butter do I use in the batter. It just says 1/2 with no measurements?
Ah I’m so sorry!! There was a glitch in the recipe card code- 1/2 cup!!
Thank you so much! I look forward to making it for Easter!
Yay!! Enjoy 🙂
Hi! Can I sub rice flour with spelt or almond flour?
Hi Sari! I believe that you could! I haven’t tried it myself, but almond flour is typically a 1-to-1 ratio 🙂 I would actually recommend subbing in 3/4 cup coconut flour because that I have tried, and it’s very good! 🙂 I hope that helps!
Hi I want to use coconut flour instead of cassava flour will that work? If so what amount of coconut flour do I use? Thanks !
Hi Sara! Unfortunately coconut flour won’t really work on this cake- it would be very different ratios (since you don’t need a lot of coconut flour for recipes, but I just worry it wouldn’t work here!). I’m so sorry!
This cake is amazing! And that drizzle is just perfection! Couldn’t think of a better way to eat my veggies 🙂
★★★★★
I’m so happy to hear it!! Thank you so much for the review!
Can I use AP flour with good results??? Thank you!!!
Hi Katharina! I haven’t tried this recipe with AP flour yet so I can’t guarantee any results!
Followed recipe exactly as is. I have been baking for years but this did not turn out well. I used canned coconut milk. Was that a mistake? I used vegan Miyoko’s butter instead of love oil. Was that an error? The batter was so thick and dense. It did not “pour” into the pans which was first clue this was not going to turn out well. I do not have 6” pans so used two 9” pans. Could this be the issue? Baked over 40 minutes but it just never got dry. ☹️
Hi Dina! I’m so incredibly sorry to hear this. I’ve tested the recipe with both Miyoko’s and with olive oil, so it should have been just fine. The batter is meant to be thick, but did you use cassava flour? My other question what oven do you have? I use a convection oven, I know that’s something out of everyone’s control is the oven, which sometimes ends up messing up a recipe :/
Hi! Just baked this wonderful recipe. I love how it’s just the right sweetness with a very tender crumb. I do not have 6” pans, only two 9”. The layers were thinner so I baked about 10 minutes less which was perfect. The first cake I released from the tin had a bit of breakage, but nothing I couldn’t piece together while building the layer cake. Final note, the vegan cream cheese I bought tasted not great so I made a lemony vegan buttercream frosting . It worked well! Wish I could post a pic! Also, what’s that drizzle?!
★★★★★
Oh I absolutely love this!! So happy to hear it!! And that’s a wonderful note about the lemony vegan buttercream frosting! Sounds WONDERFUL! Oh, and the drizzle is my Paleo vegan caramel sauce 🙂 It’s in this post! I should have mentioned it, I’m adding it now! https://thebananadiaries.com/paleo-molten-lava-cake-with-salted-caramel/
What kind of coconut milk do I use? In a can or a boxed one like so delicious?
Hi Kate! I used the canned, but I’ve tried this with both canned and boxed (like so delicious) and both work wonderfully!
Could I use a nut milk in place of the coconut milk? Does it require a certain “thickness” or fat content?
Absolutely! You can use any dairy free milk- I just prefer coconut milk in here!
This carrot cake is the best I have made and I will always make it from now on. Love the healthy ingredients for my family and only used half the amount of powdered sugar for the icing.
★★★★★
Aw my goodness, the best comment!! So happy to hear 🙂 Enjoy and thank you for the rating!
Hi there, I can’t wait to make this! Is it 3 TBSP each flax & chia? or total combined?
Hi Jaclyn!! So excited for you to try!! So sorry for the confusion- you can use either ground flaxseed or ground chia seed (only 3 tbsp total!) or you can mix the two (again only 3 tbsp total!). Enjoy!
HI! I would love to make this for Easter. I was wondering if it would be ok if I added some add-ins like raisins or walnuts to the recipe? Thanks so much!
Hi Kendall! Absolutely! You can add in both if you’d like 🙂
Hey! Can I use the same measurements and make cupcakes instead o a cake??
You can definitely turn these into cupcakes! You’ll get about 24 cupcakes with the cake right now- if you need only a dozen, you can cut the recipe in half!
This cake came out GREAT! I was a bit worried about how this would come out, I usually end up with dry or crumbly gluten free cakes, but this one was super moist and delicious. I made my own oat flour for it as suggested. I feel like it was fairly healthy & I am really impressed! The only thing I would change is next time I would add a little salt to the batter. Thank you!!
So happy to hear it!! Thanks for the review!!
Can you make this cake ahead of time and freeze unfrosted
Hi Laura! Yes you can! Here’s a great post from Sally’s Baking Addiction on how to properly freeze cakes- https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/how-to-freeze-cakes/ I’ve used this method several times and it’s great!
Hi, can I use more coconut sugar instead of the granulated sugar?
Absolutely! You might taste more coconut in the cake- as long as you’re okay with that, then it will work!
I have been baking for 3 weeks and this turned out AMAZING. Moist as Trudeaus speaking, the frosting is smooth as pre-Vegas Elvis, timing was dead on. The only issue I’m having as i sit here typing as I eat the results is that the cake layer and frosting layer on the inside seperate as i fork into the slice im having, which actually makes it easier to eat. I will gladly take that attribute over runny frosting. Thank you for posting this, its furthering my suspension of disbelief that a noob like me can actually participate in magic in the kitchen.
★★★★★
Oh my goodness; that is GORGEOUS!!
★★★★★
Thank you!!
hi can I use coconut oil instead of vegan butter? (in the new recipe, not the OG recipe)? also what if I dont have apple sauce, can I use some mashed up bananas? if yes, same amount as apple sauce? thank you! btw LOOOOVE the little carrots – I plan to do that for every single carrot cake/loaf/cupcake/muffins I make from this point forward! so creative!
★★★★★
If I bake this in a 9×13 pan how long would you suggest to bake it?
It will bake approx. 30-35 minutes! Start checking on it at around 27 minutes 🙂
Thanks so much! Can’t wait to bake this….looks delicious!
DELICIOUS! We loved this cake, actually, my whole family loved this cake. The cake tasted amazing as did the cream cheese frosting. All paired together it was perfect. Thank you for sharing your delicious recipe. The only thing I adjusted was the apple cider vinegar for the vegan buttermilk. I used 1 tablespoon instead of a 1 teaspoon.
★★★★★
Greetings Britt from New Brunswick Canada. I made your amazing cake for a family’s birthday celebration. I am the « Baker » for my family. I have been baking cakes for a long time and your carrot cake, by far, is the BEST cake I have made and my family agrees. The spices that you incorporated in this recipe added « bursting flavours » and the moistness made this cake wonderful! Now I know why it is your father’s favourite recipe!
I am so happy I stumbled upon your blog while searching on Pinterest for « Best Carrot Cake » recipe. Thank you so much for the recipe! Denise
★★★★★
Hey there! Can I sub for GF flour?
★★★★★
If you don’t need to make this a gluten free cake, you can use all purpose flour (use the weighted measurements!)
BEWARE! When you click the option to double the recipe the metric measurements don’t change, I just wasted a bunch of ingredients and time after trying to use the “2x” feature not realizing that the recipe didn’t update the grams. Please update this. I don’t want this to happen to other people trying to use the recipe.
★★★
Hi Yozelyn! I’m so sorry about this issue! This is an issue with the web developer of the recipe card- I will reach out to them now so that they’re aware of this bug! I”m so sorry!
Hi! I follow the recipe exactly but my vegan cream cheese frosting is splitting. What can I do?
I’m so sorry to hear this! It sounds like it was a bad batch of vegan cream cheese unfortunately (that’s happened to me!). Which brand did you use? Split frosting is really a hard one to fix which is so upsetting, I know and have been there! I’m so sorry! One of the tougher solves with vegan baking :/