This vegan gluten-free carrot cake is moist, tender, perfectly spiced, and crowd-pleasing – especially topped with a (refined sugar-free) citrus glaze or vegan cream cheese frosting!
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
Easter is around the corner, and I’m in full-on carrot cake mode. I’ve already shared several ‘healthier alternatives,’ like my sugar-free carrot cake and no-bake carrot cake balls. Still, this ultra-moist, refined sugar free, gluten-free vegan carrot cake is one of my all-time favorites. Who says healthy can’t be delicious?!
This better-for-you vegan and gluten-free cake is just proof you really can have it all: flavor, texture, and a boost of fiber, and nutrients. It’s easy to make, too – you only need a few bowls and your pick of pan—round for a fancy finish or a loaf for ease (scroll down for pics!). Optionally, top it with a tangy citrus glaze or decadent vegan cream cheese frosting… It’s sure to disappear fast!
The Ingredients and Substitutes
- Carrots: Always use fresh; avoid dry, packaged shredded one.
- Gluten-free flour: I use a blend of rice flour (white or brown), tapioca starch (or cornstarch/arrowroot), and coconut flour. Check the recipe notes for substitutes.
- Ground almonds (almond flour): Or ground seeds/nuts like sunflower, cashew, walnut, or hazelnut.
- Spices: Add cozy depth with cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and nutmeg.
- Oil: I use coconut oil, but any neutral oil (like canola or vegetable oil) works well.
- Chia eggs: (or flax eggs) A simple blend of ground chia + water makes a thick, gelatinous binding egg replacement for vegan carrot cake.
- Maple syrup: or another liquid sweetener – brown rice syrup, agave nectar, etc. Brown sugar/coconut sugar may work, but you might need a little extra milk.
- Dairy-free milk: Full-fat coconut milk gives a super tender texture, though lite coconut or other plant-based milk (soy milk, homemade oat milk, almond milk) work too – just be sure to add a bit more oil to make up for the lower fat.
- Frosting: Optionally, use my dairy-free cream cheese frosting or a lighter citrus glaze (powdered sugar/erythritol + lemon juice + plant-based milk).
A complete list of ingredients with measurements and nutrition facts is in the printable recipe card below.
Recipe Variations
- Dried fruit: Add up to ½ cup of raisins, sultanas, dates, apricots, pineapple, etc.
- Pineapple: Add ½ cup well-drained crushed pineapple and reduce the carrots accordingly.
- Orange zest: (or lemon zest) for citrusy brightness.
- Mix-ins: Add ½ cup vegan chocolate chips, shredded coconut, and/or chopped nuts (walnuts, pecans, almonds, etc.)
- Alternative topping: i.e., vegan lemon frosting, coconut whipped cream, or vegan marzipan will taste delicious with this gluten-free and vegan carrot cake.
How To Make Vegan Gluten-Free Carrot Cake
- First, whisk the ground chia and water in a small bowl and set aside for 5 minutes to gel/thicken.
- Meanwhile, finely shred the carrots (using a box grater or food processor grating disk) and grease or line an 8×4-inch loaf pan (or 8-inch round pan). Also, preheat the oven to 190°C (375°F).
- Next, whisk all the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Add the wet ingredients and stir until combined.
- Fold in the carrots and pour the batter into the prepared pan, smoothing the top.
- Bake a vegan carrot cake loaf for 50-60 minutes or a round 8-inch cake for 35-40 minutes. It’s ready when it has a few cracks and a toothpick/ skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean (or with a few moist crumbs).
I prefer mine ever so slightly under-done for a gooey center.
- Leave it to fully cool on a cooling rack. Meanwhile, prepare the frosting/glaze (if using). Spread the frosting over the cake, optionally decorate with nuts/seeds or marzipan carrots, slice, and enjoy!
Enjoy it on birthdays, Mother’s Day, baby showers, afternoon tea, and anytime!
Storage Instructions
Store: In a paper towel-lined airtight container at room temp for 2-3 days (without frosting) or in the fridge for 5-7 days.
Freezer: Freeze this vegan and gluten-free carrot cake whole or sliced, with or without frosting, in plastic wrap for up to 3 months. Thaw in a fridge overnight or on the counter for a few hours.
FAQs
Can I make muffins?
I’ve already shared a recipe for healthy carrot cake muffins (also gluten-free). To try it here, though, divide the batter into muffin liners and bake for about 25 minutes.
Can I reduce the amount of oil?
You can sub a portion of oil with unsweetened applesauce, but I don’t recommend replacing it all, to avoid negative textural changes.
Baking Times for Loaf vs. Round Pan
I’ve baked this dairy and gluten-free carrot cake in an 8×4-inch loaf pan and an 8-inch round pan. The baking time for the loaf pan is 50-60 minutes and for the round 8-inch pan 35-40 minutes.
Top Recipe Tips
- Don’t use too much flour: I highly recommend measuring ingredients by weight.
- Use fresh carrots: They taste better, are much fresher, and can be finely shredded.
- To adjust carrot texture: Finely shredded carrot melds into the cake. Medium shreds provide more ‘bite’. Adjust as preferred, or even use a blend.
- For speedy prep: Shred the carrots with a food processor disk in just seconds.
- Monitor the cake: You can bake this gluten-free vegan carrot cake recipe in a loaf tin or round/square pan- which take different baking times (see FAQs). Test with a skewer for doneness—avoid over-baking to keep it moist.
More Gluten-free Vegan Cake Recipes
- Vegan gluten-free coffee cake
- Vegan lemon cake
- Hazelnut and date cake
- Gluten-free vegan coconut cake
- Vegan peanut butter chocolate cake
- Avocado chocolate cake
If you try this vegan gluten-free carrot cake recipe, I’d love a comment and ★★★★★ recipe rating below. Also, don’t forget to tag me in re-creations on Instagram or Facebook with @elavegan #elavegan – I love seeing them.
Vegan & Gluten-Free Carrot Cake
Video
Ingredients
Dry ingredients:
- 1 cup (160 g) white rice flour (see notes)
- ½ scant cup (50 g) tapioca flour (see notes)
- ¼ cup (33 g) coconut flour (see notes)
- ½ cup (45 g) ground almonds (see notes)
- 1 ½ tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- Spices to taste (see notes)
Wet ingredients:
- 2 ½ cups (375 g) finely grated carrots
- ½ cup (120 ml) canned coconut milk (see notes)
- ⅓ cup (110 g) maple syrup or agave syrup
- 2 Tbsp (28 g) coconut oil melted (see notes)
- 2 chia eggs (2 tbsp ground chia seeds + 6 tbsp water) (see notes)
- 1 Tbsp lemon or lime juice
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Frosting
- ⅓ cup (70 g) Erythritol or icing sugar
- 1 ½ Tbsp (21 g) dairy-free milk (use less if you use icing sugar)
- 2 ½ tsp lemon or lime juice
Instructions
- I recommend using a kitchen scale to measure the ingredients in grams for best accuracy. And don’t forget to check out the video for step-by-step visuals!
- First, whisk the ground chia and water in a small bowl and set aside for 5 minutes to gel/thicken.
- Meanwhile, finely shred the carrots (using a box grater or food processor grating disk) and grease or line an 8x4-inch loaf pan or 8-inch round pan. Also, preheat the oven to 375°F/190°C.
- Next, whisk all the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Add the wet ingredients and stir until combined.
- Fold in the carrots and pour the batter into the prepared pan, smoothing the top.
- Bake a vegan carrot cake loaf for 50-60 minutes or a round 8-inch cake for 35-40 minutes. It’s ready when it has a few cracks and a toothpick/ skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean (or with a few moist crumbs).Leave it to fully cool on a cooling rack. Meanwhile, prepare the frosting/glaze (if using).
- To make the icing, blitz the Erythritol in a spice/coffee grinder until it’s super fine, like powdered sugar. Whisk all icing ingredients together in a small bowl. If it’s too thick, add a splash more milk; if too thin, add more powdered Erythritol (or icing sugar). Spread the frosting/icing over the cake, optionally decorate with nuts/seeds or marzipan carrots, slice, and enjoy!
Notes
- Coconut flour: I don’t really recommend swapping it, but if you want to, just remember that coconut flour soaks up a lot of moisture. You’ll need to use at least ½ cup of another flour, like almond flour, to replace it—sometimes even a bit more, depending on the texture of your batter.
- White rice flour: You can use brown rice flour instead. Sorghum flour might work as well. Also, regular flour or spelt flour should be fine.
- Tapioca flour/starch: You could use cornstarch, potato starch, or arrowroot flour.
- Ground almonds (almond flour): You can use any other ground nuts/seeds (e.g. hazelnuts, cashews, walnuts, sunflower seeds, etc.) instead of ground almonds.
- Canned coconut milk: If you don't like the taste of coconut, I would suggest using your favorite plant-based milk with the addition of 3 tablespoons oil.
- Maple syrup: Any other liquid sweetener like brown rice syrup, agave syrup, etc. is fine.
- Coconut oil: Can be replaced with canola oil.
- Chia eggs: Flax eggs should be fine too.
- Check the step-by-step photos above in the blog post.
- 2 tsp of cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp of ground ginger
- Optional spices: Nutmeg, ground cloves to taste
Nutrition information is an estimate and has been calculated automatically
„Simple and Delicious Vegan“ Cookbook by ElaVeganCLICK HERE to order!If you use Pinterest, feel free to pin the following photo:
Can this cake be made a couple days in advance?
Yes, absolutely.
What can I do to make this delicious cake taller and keep it fluffy?
Hi Joana, you can try a few things to help the cake rise higher and stay fluffy:
Make sure you measure with a kitchen scale in grams (cups can be tricky and lead to dense results).
Lightly squeeze out some moisture from the carrots before adding them, since too much liquid can weigh the cake down.
Check that your baking powder and soda are fresh. If they’re older, the cake won’t rise well.
Using a slightly smaller pan (e.g. 7-inch round instead of 8-inch) will also give you more height.
For even more lift, you can try replacing the chia eggs with flax eggs or whipped aquafaba.
This looks good. Do you think it would work without maple syrup? I cannot have any sweeteners.
To be totally honest — without any kind of sweetener, it’s probably not going to taste great. The carrots help a little, but on their own, they’re not sweet enough for a cake like this.
I’d really recommend using date paste instead. It’s a natural option with fiber and nutrients, and it works great in baked goods. Just replace the maple syrup with the same amount of smooth date paste. It’ll taste way better, promise! 😊
Your recipes are my go to always. I am looking forward to baking this cake and was wondering what you sprinkle on top of the icing? Thank you for all your wonderful recipes!
So glad you’re enjoying my recipes! 😊
The round cake was topped with chopped almonds, and the loaf had grated carrot and chopped pistachios.
could I use water instead of coconut milk or plant milk with oil?
Yes, you can use plant milk with oil (I would suggest adding 2 tablespoons of oil in addition). 🙂
I meant to ask if I could you water or plant milk WITHOUT oil.
I do not recommend it. Coconut milk and plant milk with oil add creaminess and flavor, so using just water will result in a less rich and drier final product.
okay, thanks.
Thank you to share this re
You’re welcome!
Followed this recipe to use the carrot/ginger pulp from my homemade juice. Turned out really great ! Used cashews for icing .
So happy it turned out delicious! 🙂
I just made this following your recipe exactly and it turned out fabulous! This is a very good recipe. I baked it for 40 minutes in a large loaf pan. I will make this again soon as the loaf is almost gone lol.
That’s good to hear, Samantha! Thanks for your great feedback. 🙂
Does it need xanthan gum for texture?
No xanthan gum needed as written. The flour mix + chia eggs + carrot + tapioca already create the texture you’d want in a moist, gluten-free carrot cake. 🙂
Hi
your recipes are my go to ones now quite regularly…they are all highly effective…i pinned this one under my art board in pinterest
Aww, thanks so much for your compliment! 🙂
New favourite carrot cake recipe!
Delicious texture and flavour, I used a paket of premixed lebkuchen spice I had sitting around and it worked great for flavour 🙂 Thank you for this recipe!
Hi Elle, that’s a great idea with the Lebkuchen spice! I bet it was so yummy. 🙂
Thanks for sharing.
Looks yummy. For the ground almonds, can we use blanched almond flour? Or does it have to ground almonds including the skin?
Thanks
Yes, blanched almond flour is perfect! 🙂
Great recipe but I didn’t follow it exactly so mine turned out very dense. I made a lot of subs Such as using a combo of Millet, Amaranth, chickpea, and Pecan flour with a bit of potato starch. I upped the spices (added all spice) and golden raisins. The cake had amazing flavor ! I probably just needed to add more liquid. Or maybe my baking powder was Old. Do you have any experience cooking with soda water? Would it react with something in the recipe to create fluffiness maybe?
Hi Kara! I am glad the flavor was amazing. I only used soda water in pancakes and waffles and it turned out great. 🙂
Hello,
I have made your lemon and your carrot cake recipies for the first time and even tough the taste was great I I had the same problem with both cakes. On the outside they were perfect but in the inside I think they were raw since the inside looks and feels like play dough (play dough) and it”s not good when you eat it. I did try leaving it more time to cook but it still didn’t work and the cake wasn’t fluffy.
I would greatly appreciate your advice and help. Thank you!
Hi Valeria, which mold did you use? Was it maybe small and deep? Did you lightly squeeze out the carrots before adding them to the batter? I never had this issue with the lemon cake because my pan is wide and not deep at all. I would recommend giving it a try with a round 8-inch cake pan. Hope this helps! 🙂
Hi Ela! I was not sure if I should leave my comment here as I’d played with your recipe so much I’m not sure if it’s still the same cake we’re talking about 😉 But it rose nicely in the oven and tastes very good, so perhaps the substitutes I used will help others in case they lack some ingredients 🙂
So the changes I made are:
rice flour – I used a mix of buckwheat flour, oat flour and cornstarch
tapioca flour – I used potato starch
ground almonds – I used chickpea flour
375 g grated carrots – I had only 200g carrots so I added 1 ripe banana
maple syrup – I used 9 tbsp erythritol mixed with 1/3 cup of water
coconut oil – I used peanut butter
coconut milk – I used 1 tbsp coconut milk powder mixed with ½ cup water
1 tbsp lime juice – I used apple cider vinegar
I blended all the wet ingredients in a blender (along with sugar+water, peanut butter and banana) and then mixed it with the dry and added the carrot. I baked it 45 minutes and made the icing using, again, apple cider vinegar in place of lemon as I didn’t have any.
The cake tastes very good – it’s rich, moist and lightly sweet.
Thank you Ela for this recipe and inspiration 🙂
Sounds wonderful! Thanks for sharing your substitutes. 🙂
If I don’t mind egg, can I use it? In what proportion of the flax eggs?
Hello Ela, maybe You’ve already clarified this, sorry if you did 🙂 Can I use buckwheat flour intead of rice?
Thank you
Hello Oriana, I never tried buckwheat in this recipe. It might work fine but I cannot promise it. 🙂
Hi. Do you think it would work with tapioca and arrowroot flour only? That is what I have on
hand.. I’m trying to make a bday cake for my husband.. tyia
No, that won’t work, unfortunately!
I will never use another carrot cake recipe again! My husband has a severe dairy/egg intolerance and has had to give up almost all desserts, including his favorite – carrot cake! I have tried SO SO SO many vegan carrot cake recipes and they have never come out close to the real thing. This one is moist, sweet but not too sweet AND I felt like it didn’t give me the nasty bloating feeling like regular cake would. The only thing I did for my recipe was take a couple of paper towels and squeeze out some of the excess liquid that my carrots had. I noticed my carrots were pretty moist and I saw a comment on here that mentioned their cake had come out too moist.. I lightly squeezed the carrots to get some of the excess liquid off but didn’t completely dry them out. LITERALLY PERFECT!! I will be making this cake again next month for my husband’s birthday.
Wow, that’s awesome, Kay! Thank you so much for your helpful comment. I appreciate it a lot and I wish I could pin your comment at the top of this page (which is unfortunately not possible). So happy you and your husband enjoyed the cake. 🙂
I have never tried carrot cake before, and I have to say this cake literally blew me away.
For someone new to baking, I wasn’t sure I’d be able to master it, but directions were perfect and easy to follow and like all your recipes… DELICIOUS!
Thank you for your magic
So glad you loved the cake, Chaya! Thanks so much for your great feedback. 🙂