Grain free flours, warming spices, natural sweeteners and freshly grated carrots come together beautifully in this moist and tender paleo carrot cake loaf! | Gluten Free + Nut Free
Original recipe shared on March 19, 2016 – updated March 15, 2024 with improved photos, recipe, tips and ingredient explanations.
⭐Paleo Carrot Cake Highlights⭐
- Allergy Friendly: This recipe is gluten, grain, dairy and nut free making it a great go-to those of us who need to be mindful of dietary restrictions and lifestyles.
- Easy to Make: The cake comes together quickly and easily with few tools or equipment required beyond your basic baking staples (bowls, spoons, cake pans, etc). All-in-all it’s a fairly easy recipe to whip up.
- A Healthier Option: Not only is this recipe grain/nut free, it’s also naturally sweetened with honey or maple syrup making it refined sugar free too! It’s a tasty way to treat yourself while also being mindful of how you’re nurturing your body.
Recipe Step summary
- Mix the dry ingredients in a large bowl.
- Mix the wet ingredients in a separate large mixing bowl or jug.
- Combine wet and dry ingredients.
- Add the pan and bake.
Dry Ingredients
- Coconut Flour & Tapioca Starch: Coconut flour is rich in fat, fiber and protein while tapioca starch helps to bind and lighten the overall texture. Instead of tapioca you can also use arrowroot flour/starch.
- Tip: Make sure to sift the coconut flour if it’s looking a little lumpy.
- Cream of Tartar & Baking Soda: Basically our baking powder duo. They are actually 2 out of 3 ingredients needed to make baking powder. Cornstarch is the 3rd ingredient in baking powder which can be tricky for people needing to adhere to a grain free diet.
- Cinnamon, Ginger, Nutmeg & Salt: Just a few warming spices to add a little more character to our humble carrot cake.
Wet Ingredients
- Eggs & Coconut Oil: For the fat and moisture – coconut flour needs a lot of these!
- Maple Syrup or Honey: You only need 1/4 cup of either.
- Vanilla Extract: For a little flavor.
- Carrot: Use a box grater with the large holes to keep it simple or use a food processor with the shredding attachment to make it faster and easier.
Combine & Bake
- Make sure to scrape the bottom and sides of the pan to fully incorporate all the flour.
- Transfer the cake batter/dough to the prepared pan and smooth evenly over the top.
- Bake for about 40 minutes until cooked through. I recommend you rotate the pan in the oven about 30 minutes in to ensure it browns evenly on the top.
Can I substitute the coconut flour?
No. This recipe has been designed and tested with coconut flour in mind. Any other flour would require testing and adapting before I could recommend anything solid.
Other Carrot Cake Recipe That You Might Prefer:
- Gluten Free Carrot Cake Loaf (Vegan Option)
- Made with regular flour and includes an egg free option.
- Paleo Carrot Cake With A Cashew Cream Frosting
- Similar to this recipe but it’s scaled up to be a 2-layer cake and includes and cashew cream paleo frosting.
- Gluten Free Carrot Cake
- A classic carrot cake recipe with a cream cheese frosting. Recipe notes also include tips on turning it into a sheet cake and cup cakes.
- Vegan Carrot Cake Bars
- Made with almond flour, flax eggs and a cashew cream frosting.
- Carrot Cake Bliss Balls
- A quick and easy snack ball recipe to satisfy the carrot cake cravings without all the fuss.
More Delicious Paleo Recipes
Enjoy!
Let me know if you try this paleo carrot cake recipe! Leave a comment and review with your thoughts. I always appreciate the feedback and serving suggestions that you come up with!
Recipe
Paleo Carrot Cake Loaf (Coconut Flour)
Yield:
9 slices
Prep Time:
20 minutes
Cook Time:
40 minutes
Total Time:
20 minutes
Freshly grated carrot, warm cinnamon and ginger spices and grain free flours
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup coconut flour (55g)
- 1/2 cup tapioca starch
- 1 tsp cream of tartar
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp ground ginger
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 4 eggs, room temperature
- 1/4 cup coconut oil, melted and cooled (55g)
- 1/4 cup pure maple syrup or honey (80g)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup grated carrots, loosely packed (110g)
Optional Glaze
- 1/2 cup powdered coconut sugar or regular icing sugar (30g)
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 2 tsp maple syrup or dairy free milk
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Need help converting to weights? Check out my cups to grams Conversion Guide.
Instructions
- Prep: Position an oven rack to the bottom third of the oven (it should sit just below the middle). Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C). Line or grease an 9x5 inch loaf tin and set aside for later.
- Dry Ingredients: In a large bowl whisk together the coconut flour, tapioca flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and salt. Set aside.
- Wet Ingredients: In a separate bowl whisk together the eggs, melted coconut oil, maple syrup or honey, and vanilla extract until well combined. Stir in the grated carrots.
- Combine: Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients. Mix together until a thick dough forms. Make sure to scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl to get rid of flour pockets.
- Fill Pan: Spoon the batter into the greased/lined loaf tin. It will be a thick batter so you may need to smooth the batter down so that it's even on all sides.
- Bake: Place in the center of the oven rack and bake for 40-45 minutes or until a knife comes out clean with only a few moist crumbs when inserted in the center. Make sure to rotate the pan after about 30 minutes to ensure it browns evenly on top.
- Cool: Remove fro the oven and let the cake cool in the pan about 10 minutes then remove and cool completely on a wire rack until you're ready to serve.
Glaze (optional): Whisk sugar, cinnamon, maple syrup and vanilla extract in a small bowl until smooth. Drizzle over the cake after it cools.
Notes
- Use arrowroot starch instead of tapioca starch.
- Use 2 tsp baking powder instead of cream of tartar and baking soda. Keep in mind baking powder usually contains a small amount of cornstarch.
- Make sure the wet ingredients and all room temperature. If the coconut oil were to come in contact with cold ingredients it will harden up making it difficult to evenly mix things together.
- You can make powdered coconut sugar by blending it on high in a high speed blender for about 30 seconds or so.
Nutrition Information
Yield: 9
Serving Size:
1 slice Calories: 174Total Fat: 9gSaturated Fat: 6gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 2gCholesterol: 83mgSodium: 189mgCarbohydrates: 29gFiber: 3gSugar: 10gProtein: 4gThis website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. Nutrition data is gathered primarily from the USDA Food Composition Database, whenever available, or otherwise other online calculators.
Monique says
Thank you for this recipe. It was a little too thick after mixing it up so I added 3 tablespoons of coconut yogurt homemade from coconut milk with another 2 tablespoons of honey and it was really good.
Sarah says
So glad you liked it! Thanks Monique!
Mallory says
Can this be made with flax instead of eggs?
Sarah says
Hi Mallory! I haven’t tried this with flax eggs yet so I can’t say for sure but I don’t think that they would work here – in the past I haven’t had much success using too many egg substitutes with coconut flour recipes. Wish I could be more hep here!
Mallory says
Hi Sarah! I get nauseous when I eat eggs, and am trying to heal leaky gut, SIBO, and other health issues, and I found your page when I was plumb tired of not trying something different after 3 months of low FODMAP! So I tried your recipe with flax instead of eggs, and in fact, tried it twice! It’s wonderful- perhaps a bit more moist and more dense/less fluffy than with eggs, but it is a welcome addition to my recipes with the number of limitations I currently have! I’ve never done a lot of baking, but I’ll be getting our mixer out a little more often! I have not ventured to make your frosting yet, but I hope to soon.
Mallory says
It might have worked as well as it did because I let the flax eggs sit for 30-40 minutes before I added them to the other ingredients!
Sarah says
Ooh that’s really great to know – thanks so much for coming back to let me know it worked for you! You’ve just given me a good excuse to make this tomorrow and try it out for myself 😀 Thanks Mallory!
liz says
For anyone with TREENUT allergies, coconut is off limits :/
Sarah says
Hi Liz! Coconut is technically considered to be a fruit, not a nut. While some people with tree nut allergies do react to coconut, many don’t. I know a lot of people who have tree nut allergies who have no problem eating coconut. I think it’s one of those things that you have to talk to your doctor about to decide whether it’s right for you or not. http://acaai.org/allergies/types/food-allergies/types-food-allergy/tree-nut-allergy
Dvora says
not always true. I am allergic to hazelnuts, pecans and walnuts, but not to cashews and macadamia nuts or coconut.