A couple of weeks ago, for Eric’s 25th birthday, I made a gluten-free carrot cake with loads of brown sugar, molasses, nuts, raisins, shredded coconut, and of course cream cheese frosting. It was this recipe and ohhh so delicious. (I may have scraped out the frosting bowl with a spoon after decorating it… don’t judge me.)
Anyways, it reminded me that I really don’t make carrot cake enough! Because every time I have a piece, I’m reminded how much I love it. Glutenous or not, loaded with nuts and dried fruit or not, fluffy or fudge-y, I don’t discriminate. I’m up for any kind of carrot cake any day.
Of course, for the sakes of our arteries and dental health, I can’t bake a real-deal carrot cake every week. So I came up with a healthier recipe for gluten-free carrot cake muffins. It’s a pretty excellent substitute if I do say so myself–and wholesome enough that you can eat it for breakfast 🙂
So without further ado, here’s the recipe–
Gluten-Free Carrot Cake Muffins (Dairy, Refined Sugar & Oil-Free)
Makes 9 standard-sized muffins
Ingredients:
- 1/2 c. unsweetened applesauce
- 1/3 c. maple syrup or honey
- 1 tsp. vanilla
- 2 eggs
- 1 1/4 c. gluten-free all-purpose flour*
- pinch of salt
- 1/2 tsp. baking soda
- 1/4 tsp. cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp. ginger
- 1/4 tsp. nutmeg
- 1 medium carrot, peeled and grated (~1/3 c.)
- 1/4 c. chopped walnuts
- 2 tbsp. raisins
- 2 tbsp. shredded unsweetened coconut
Instructions:
- Preheat the oven to 350F and grease or line 9 muffin cups.
- Mix applesauce, sticky sweetener, vanilla, and eggs.
- Add flour, salt, baking soda, and spices, and mix in all at once to ensure even incorporation.
- Mix in carrot, nuts, raisins, and coconut.
- Scoop batter into muffin cups by quarter-cupful.
- Sprinkle with oats before baking, if desired.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes, until knife inserted in the center comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs.
*I used King Arthur Gluten-Free All-Purpose Flour for this batch. However, this recipe, like most of my baking recipes, is quite forgiving and most gluten-free all-purpose flours should work (NOT single-ingredient flours or baking mixes with added leavening, however).
What’s your favorite kind of cake, though? My mom’s Hershey’s chocolate cake with chocolate buttercream has to be mine… she still makes it for my birthday every year! And it makes an even better breakfast the next morning… hey, sometimes you have to live a little ;P