Carrot cupcakes in October? Sure, usually, you bake carrot cake in spring or summer when it’s warm and sunny outside. But last weekend we celebrated my best friend’s baby shower, and she loves carrot cake. So I had to put the apples and pumpkin aside and made her favorite cake. And let’s be real, you can never have enough of a good old carrot cake.
There are a ton of recipes out there, and one of my favorites is the one for this vegan carrot cake. But I always like to try new recipes, so I decided to make carrot cupcakes. I omit refined sugar in this recipe and they are gluten-free. Not because I think gluten is bad, but rather because I really like the taste of the almond and coconut flour. And being able to cater to your gluten-intolerant friends is a nice side-effect.
I love baking cupcakes because they look very delicate and are easy to serve and eat. But sometimes I wish they wouldn’t require an overly sweet buttercream. Not with these carrot cupcakes! The frosting is plain cream cheese, lightened up with some milk (I used almond milk), and sweetened with maple syrup. To make them dairy-free, you could sub for a coconut frosting using the solid part of coconut milk.
Either way, these gluten-free carrot cupcakes might become my new favorite recipe!
If you are a carrot cake lover, make sure you check out this carrot cake porridge. Or if you prefer more traditional cupcakes, try these white chocolate cardamom cupcakes or these rose and pistachio cupcakes.
Have fun baking!
Love,
Marion
Gluten-free Carrot Cupcakes
March 16, 2021
: 12
: 30 min
: 20 min
: 50 min
: easy
Ingredients
- For the cupcakes:
- 200g (2 cups) ground blanched almonds
- 40g (½ cup) coconut flour
- 40g (½ cup) shredded coconut
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 4 large organic free-range eggs
- 160ml (2/3 cup) pure maple syrup
- 80ml (1/3 cup) tahini
- 60ml (1/4 cup) milk (I used almond milk)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 80ml (1/3 cup) melted coconut oil
- 3 medium-sized (3 cups) shredded carrots
- 50g (1/2 cup) chopped walnuts
- 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- For the frosting:
- 400g (2 cups) full fat cream cheese
- 60ml (1/4 cup) milk (I used almond milk)
- Maple syrup, to taste
- Some extra walnuts for decorating
Directions
- Step 1 Preheat the oven to 350°F / 180°C and line a 12 cup muffin tin with paper cases.
- Step 2 In a small bowl, mix ground almonds, coconut flour, shredded coconut, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt.
- Step 3 In a separate bowl, mix eggs, maple syrup, tahini, almond milk, vanilla extract, and coconut oil. Add the shredded carrots and apple cider vinegar and mix until combined.
- Step 4 Using a wooden spoon, carefully fold in the dry ingredients and chopped walnuts. The dough should be quite thick. If it’s too thick though (the coconut flour absorbs a lot of liquid), add a little bit more almond milk. Don’t overmix.
- Step 5 Scrape the dough into the prepared muffin tin and level with a teaspoon. The cupcakes won’t rise a lot, so fill them up all the way.
- Step 6 Bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Step 7 Transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely.
- Step 8 To make the frosting, whisk the cream cheese, slowly adding the almond milk until smooth. Add maple syrup until you have the desired sweetness.
- Step 9 Using a teaspoon, spread the frosting on top of the cupcakes and decorate with walnuts.
