These grain free, paleo-friendly healthy spiced carrot cake and sweetened with only pure maple syrup, contain no gluten or dairy, are ready in 30 minutes and taste great with the option maple labneh frosting.
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If you have a long love affair with carrot cake (like me) then these healthy spiced carrot cake are for you! They have everything you love about the traditional carrot cake, but made more allergen friendly (dairy free, gluten free, soy free) with just a small amount of maple syrup to sweeten them.
With school back in full swing everyone is looking for healthy alternatives for lunchboxes and while these are perfect in many ways- reward they contain almond meal, so if you’re school is nut-free they are a no-go.
If you’re after some nut-free options try these Nut free chocolate bliss balls, Grain free chocolate chip cookies, Easy berry gummies or Healthy raspberry maple muffins.
INGREDIENTS FOR HEALTHY SPICED CARROT CAKE
- Almond meal or flour– my go-to for grain free baking, it is widely available and has a great flavour and texture. I have not tested this recipe with any other flour, sorry.
- Tapioca or arrowroot flour–
- Ground cinnamon, ground nutmeg, baking powder and salt– the usuals
- Fresh, room temperature eggs–
- Pure maple syrup– maple syrup is great for baking as it adds both moisture and sweetness to a recipe and, unlike honey, it doesn’t burn easily or have an overpowering flavour.
- Extra virgin olive oil or ghee– I have tried both and they both work well. Oil is easier and quicker to use (as there is no need to melt it), and you cannot taste the olive oil in these healthy spiced carrot cake. Ghee is a great option if you prefer to bake with ghee.
- Finely grated carrot. Use the small grater holes on your grater- this spreads the carrot and moisture more evenly and the final bake is lighter and fluffier.
- Walnuts– optional but always great in carrot cake. Walnuts add a nice crunch and the slight bitterness balances the sweet and spiced tastes. You can substitute for pecans, too.
- Chopped dates are added as an optional ingredient. These healthy spiced carrot cake are only slightly sweet, so if you love a sweet cake add the dates (or use dried currents).
TIPS
- Use kitchen scales for this recipe. Grain free baking- most baking- requires accuracy and scales are the best way to get accurate results. If you don’t have scales ensure you use the spoon and scrape method of measuring.
- If you use ghee for this recipe melt it over a low flame then set aside to cool down before adding it to the batter. Ghee is a beautiful superfood, but we don’t want to burn it!
- You can add anything else you like to the batter- I have added shredded coconut and pineapple chunks, but sultanas, raisins, chopped dried figs, chopped pecans, chocolate chips or seeds will all work well.
If you’re after more delicious and easy paleo snack ideas, try;
- Easy berry gummies
- Lemon blueberry cheesecake gummies
- Fermented blueberry lemon bliss balls
- Paleo vegan chocolate bread
- Raw blueberry swirl cheesecake
- Healthy passionfruit bars
We hope you enjoy these healthy spiced carrot cake muffins as much as we do. They are so fluffy, mildly sweet, spiced and wonderful for a snack or celebration. If you do make these paleo friendly carrot cake muffins, let us know in the comments. Your reviews help other find this recipe too.
The best healthy spiced carrot cake muffins
Description
These grain free, paleo-friendly healthy spiced carrot cake and sweetened with only pure maple syrup, contain no gluten or dairy, are ready in 30 minutes and taste great with the option maple labneh frosting.
Ingredients
210g (1 + 3/4 cup) blanched almond flour or meal
42g (1/3 cup) tapioca or arrowroot flour
2 tsp baking powder
½ tsp fine salt
3 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground nutmeg
2 large eggs, lightly whisked
150g (1/2 cup) pure maple syrup
240g (2 cups, packed) finely grated carrot
110g (1/2 cup) extra virgin olive oil or melted ghee/butter
65g (1/2 cups) walnuts, roughly chopped
Optional: 70g (1/2 cup) finely chopped dates
Optional Cream cheese frosting
250g labneh or cream cheese, at room temperature
¼ cup Greek Yoghurt
¼ cup maple syrup
1 Tbsp lemon juice
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180 C. Line a 12 large hole muffin tray with patty pans, or lightly grease. Set aside.
- Sift almond meal, tapioca/arrowroot, baking powder, salt and spices into a large mixing bowl then mix until uniform. Add the remaining ingredients and, using a wooden spoon, fold together until you have an even, moist batter. You can slightly over mix this batter, so make sue everything is uniform.
- Evenly spoon the batter between the 12 muffin holes and place into the preheated oven. Bake for 25 minutes or until cooked through when tested with a skewer. Allow to cool for 10 minutes in the pan before gently transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
- While the carrot cakes cool prepare the cream cheese frosting. Add all ingredients to a bowl and use mixers to beat for 3-4 minutes or until smooth and glossy. Transfer to the fridge to firm up while the cakes cool.
- Once the carrot cakes have cooled completely (this will take a 3+ hours) spoon or pipe on the frosting. Decorate with mini chocolate eggs or extra chopped walnuts. Enjoy straight away, storing any leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.
Do you think this would work with gluten free 1-1 flour? With maybe a bit of extra arrowroot added? Can’t eat almond flour. Looks DELISH as all your recipes do 🙂
Hi Virginia- I think it would, yes. Let me know if you try it.
What could I sub instead of the eggs? xx
You could try an egg replacer or chia/flax eggs but note I have not tried either of these options. Please let me know if you try them and how they turned out. cheers, jade x
Toddler and adult approved! So yummy and quick to make. Didn’t make frosting but I will next time and just use coconut yoghurt as we are dairy free 🙂
★★★★★
Hi Natalie- I’m so happy to hear this. I’ve used coconut yoghurt before too.
Made these as mini muffins and had some leftover I cooked in a loaf pan (adjusted cook time for the loaf slightly, maybe 30 mins)… anyways, they turned out delicious and my two-year-old and I devoured them!
★★★★★
Definitely trying out the loaf version next- thanks Renee