Gluten-Free Carrot Cupcakes
Categories: All, Cakes, Desserts, Frosting, Recipes
Tags: , Carrot Cake, Carrot Cake Frosting, Cream Cheese Frosting, Dairy-Free Cream Cheese Frosting, Dairy-Free CupCakes, Gluten-Free Carrot Cake, Gluten-Free Cupcakes, Healthier Cake Recipes
Carrot cake has long been one of my favorite desserts. As a baker though, I have never enjoyed carrot cake quite as much as I ought, knowing just how much oil goes into the typical recipe. Spoiler alert: most carrot cake isn’t really “good” for you! This recipe, to the contrary, isn’t really all that “bad” for you!
Using alternatives like fresh pineapple, coconut and yogurt, this recipe is as moist as you remember traditional carrot cakes, but not oily at all. With yummy fruit, honey and yogurt, it also doesn’t have as much sugar as you might expect. The price you pay for this healthier modification is only that the recipe works out better as cupcakes than in a large cake format. Not to say that you couldn’t bake this as a cake, but as with any lower fat recipe, it is far easier to control the bake time and add extra support (i.e. no sinking!) in a smaller format.
As you’ll see, these cupcakes are gorgeous, moist and tasty as can be. No one will suspect you’ve done a switcheroo on the ingredients (gluten-free or not!). So enjoy these carrot cupcakes knowing not only that they’re gluten-free and no one will know it, but that they are also far less sinful than ordinary carrot cake. (And by the way, they are delicious with or without the decadent frosting!)
Carrot Cupcakes
- 2 cups carrots, peeled, grated and packed
- 1/2 cup shredded coconut (unsweetened or sweetened)
- 1/2 cup raisins or sultanas
- 2 cups crushed fresh or canned pineapple, undrained
- 3 eggs
- 1/4 cup honey or agave nectar
- 1/2 cup granulated cane or palm sugar
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil of choice
- 1/4 cup vanilla yogurt (dairy or coconut, soy or almond)
- 2 1/4 cups Jules Gluten Free™ All Purpose Flour
- 2 tsp. baking powder
- 1 tsp. baking soda
- 2 tsp. cinnamon
- 1 tsp. ground ginger
- 1 tsp. nutmeg
Preheat oven to 325° F. Line 24 muffin cups with cupcake liners.
Peel, then grate carrots. Pack to measure to 2 cups.
In a large bowl, combine grated carrots with coconut, raisins and pineapple. Set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, beat eggs until light. Add honey and sugar, then beat until frothy. Stir in oil and yogurt. Gradually mix in the Jules flour, baking powder, baking soda and spices until well mixed. Fold in the carrot mixture.
Spoon batter into muffin cups, filling 2/3-3/4 full. Bake for 20 minutes, then begin checking with a toothpick for doneness. The cupcakes may require up to another 10 minutes of bake time, depending on size and how your oven bakes. Remove from the oven when the toothpick comes out mostly clean and the cupcakes spring back to the touch. Allow to cool completely on wire racks before frosting.
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Karen G said: on March 2, 2013
I cannot wait to make these! My son loves a carrot cake recipe much like this – using all purpose flour. He has loved other GF recipes of yours (he requests your Chewy Breakfast bars every week for easy take away breakfast) and these sound delicious. Is there any way to figure out the calorie count on these?
Jules said: on March 2, 2013
Karen- so glad you and your son will be enjoying this recipe soon!!! I don’t have a calorie count on the recipe, mostly because there are so many variables like the type of yogurt used. We also don’t have the wo-man (!) power to run all my recipes through nutritional software, but I’ll put this on the recipe list to try to run through sometime. Enjoy!
Janis said: on March 2, 2013
Will applesauce work as a substitution for the oil in the recipe?
Jules said: on March 2, 2013
Hi Janis, you could sub applesauce for the small amount of oil but the result will be more dense. Not necessarily bad or anything, but expect the cupcakes to be more dense than the picture of mine.
sharon said: on March 2, 2013
This recipe sounds good enough to entice me to bake, but I am not cooking for a family – just for me. Do you think this recipe can be reduced to make fewer cupcakes? Carrot cake/cupcakes has always been a fav or mine, but even so, I don’t need to eat 24 of them.
Jules said: on March 2, 2013
So glad you want to try this recipe, Sharon! It should be easy to cut in half to make fewer cupcakes. For the eggs, use one full egg and one egg white. Hope that helps!
Jayne said: on March 2, 2013
These sound delicious! I’ll probably use plain yogurt with a splash of vanilla since that’s what I have on hand.
Jules said: on March 2, 2013
Jayne, I think that would work just fine! Enjoy!
Michaela Davis said: on March 2, 2013
Jules, I miss carrot cake so much, unfortunately there are issues…do you have substitute suggestions for carrot and pineapple? I know that it’d no longer be “carrot” cake, but that flavor is so wonderful, I’d love to give it a try.
Jules said: on March 2, 2013
Michaela – try zucchini instead of carrots and applesauce instead of pineapple – that could be a fun cake!
Mary Anne said: on March 2, 2013
Can egg substitute and sugar substitute be used in this recipe?
Jules said: on March 2, 2013
Hi Mary Anne – I would think that coconut palm sugar or blown stevia or splenda would work fine, especially since there is not a lot of sugar in the recipe as it is. Regarding the egg sub, as I said to Susan, I didn’t offer an egg sub in this recipe because I haven’t tried one yet, and I’m leery of using subs when the recipe works well with 3 eggs. There’s not a lot of fat otherwise in the recipe to support it, either. You could try your favorite sub, knowing that the result will be more dense, but they’ll still taste good. Baking as cupcakes will help, though.
Sue said: on March 2, 2013
I’m grateful for any reduction of calories in my favorite foods. Thanks!
Jules said: on March 2, 2013
Glad the recipe will be useful to you, Sue!
Susan Niedenthal said: on March 2, 2013
I’m allergic to wheat, milk and eggs, but sure do love carrot cake. You usually add alternative ingredients, but I noticed this time it just says eggs. Is this one of those recipes that really won’t work well using egg replacer?
Susan
Jules said: on March 2, 2013
Hi Susan – I didn’t offer an egg sub in this recipe because I haven’t tried one yet, and I’m leery of using subs when the recipe works well with 3 eggs, particularly when there’s not a lot of fat otherwise in the recipe to support it. You could certainly try your favorite sub here, knowing that the result will be more dense. Baking as cupcakes will help, though. I’m sure they’ll still taste good!
Marie said: on March 3, 2013
Hi, Jules, in answer to Susan’s question regarding egg substitutes, I’ve used 1/4 cup applesause for each egg needed. I tried it in one of your bread recipes and it came out great. So, I’m sure it’ll work also in this recipe. I’ll try it soon.
Jules said: on March 3, 2013
Great, Marie – thanks!
Laurie Koochesfahani said: on March 2, 2013
Do you think Greek yogurt with higher protein content would work ok?
Jules said: on March 3, 2013
Yes, Laurie – I think it would work fine. Enjoy!
Amy said: on March 2, 2013
I can’t wait to try this recipe!
Paula Onink said: on March 3, 2013
They look delicious! My problem with coconut is it sometimes outshine the carrot. I am gonna give it a go.
Just made a carrot cake, with no other fruit/veggies. I missed the raisins, coconut and pineapple. Thanks.
Jules said: on March 3, 2013
Hi Paula, you can cut the coconut in half here and still get some nice texture out of it, if you’re afraid it will outshine the carrot. The other good tip would be to use unsweetened coconut instead of the regular sweetened kind. It really minimizes the coconut flavor – could be the perfect combination for you!
Maria said: on March 4, 2013
Is there a substitute I could use for yogurt? My husband is allergic to that too!
Jules said: on March 4, 2013
Maria – what in the yogurt is he allergic to? You can use a different kind of yogurt base, like coconut yogurt, if that helps. Otherwise, sour cream or soy sour cream would work.
Rivkah Buchin said: on March 4, 2013
Jules,
My husband and I love carrot cake! This recipe looks wonderful! Can’t wait to try it out. Thanks so much. I have your recipes in dropbox, always with “by Jules” on them so you receive proper credit. My sister is also gluten intolerant, so via dropbox I share your recipes with her. Thanks for making our lives easier and bringing delicious GF foods to us.
Jules said: on March 5, 2013
What a fantastic way to share, Rivkah! Modern technology isn’t all bad, is it?
So glad you’ll also be able to put this recipe to good use!
Jamie said: on March 6, 2013
I just made these with a flaxseed mixture instead of egg. I think they would be perfect if the pineapple had been drained. But, they’ve been baking an hour and skill have a raw, wet texture! Next time, I’ll drain the pineapple and maybe use a little less. But, I just wanted to report that a flax seed “egg” works, but requires less moisture. Thanks!
Jules said: on March 6, 2013
Great to know, Jamie – thanks!
Maureen Owen said: on March 25, 2013
Was wondering if you send to Canada and what would the cost be. Thank you
Jules said: on March 26, 2013
Hi Maureen – at this time we are unable to ship to Canada due to the expense. If you know of someone in the States who could receive shipments for you though, a lot of folks take advantage of our free shipping options and then have friends ship to Canada for them. I hope that can work for you until we can figure out a way to efficiently ship to Canada!
Beth Shindlet said: on March 31, 2013
Can you freeze the carrot muffins? Way too many to eat at once!
Jules said: on March 31, 2013
Hi Beth – yes! Just make sure they’re cooled and then put them in a freezer bag. They’ll keep well that way. Enjoy!
Beth Shindlet said: on April 1, 2013
Thanks. They’re really terrific but next time I’ll drain some of the pineapple juice. They took an hour in the oven and still soggy. I let them dry on the counter overnight and now they’re great. Thanks again for your wonderful flour and all the great recipes!
Beth Shindlet said: on April 1, 2013
Saw someone was asking about the calorie count. I calculated the calories using large eggs, sweetened coconut, unsweetened crushed pineapple, cane sugar, canola oil, low fat vanilla yogurt, and honey. For 24 muffins, each muffin is 140 calories
Jules said: on April 3, 2013
Beth – thanks much for running the calorie count on this recipe!
Fabienne said: on April 1, 2013
I just made this recipe for Easter as a cake (not cupcakes) and it worked wonderfully! The pineapple and coconut play off the carrot very well and minimize the difference in taste between gluten free flour and wheat flour. Everyone at the dinner table agreed that this was excellent cake all-around. I will be adding the recipe to my cooking notebook!
Jules said: on April 3, 2013
So glad your family loved the cake! Since my flour doesn’t have any taste or aftertaste, it really lets the true flavor of these yummy ingredients shine!
Maggie said: on April 25, 2013
I made these for my mother in law’s birthday dinner. They were fantastic! I subbed applesauce for the oil and added in some pecans. Even the gluten eaters agreed they were great. The leftovers disappeared within a couple of days.
Jules said: on April 25, 2013
Fantastic to hear, Maggie! I love the sub and I’m glad that it worked well for you. Sounds like you gave your MIL a treat made with love!