Carrot Cupcakes (Gluten-free + Dairy-free)

My teenage daughter pointed out to me that I had never made a carrot cake, and since she has multiple food allergies and rarely eats food cooked by others, that meant she had never had carrot cake. Like, ever. I understood at once that this was a failing I needed to rectify, and that's how this recipe came to be.

I usually look at gluten recipes first to get an idea of how to make baked goods with gluten before trying them without, but I was surprised to find that most of the carrot cake recipes online had a 1:1 ratio of flour to sugar, which seemed like a massive amount of sugar, even for a cake. This recipe has a fraction of the sugar without sacrificing taste.

Almond flour does the heavy lifting in this recipe, providing the light, delicate crumb I've come to know and love from baking with almond. Paired with the warm spices and chopped hazelnuts, these carrot cupcakes are a new favorite that was quickly devoured at our house.

Why cupcakes? If you've baked gluten-free for long, you may have encountered an unsightly sink in the middle of your gluten-free cakes after baking. One of the easiest ways to prevent that and provide more structure for a delicate batter is to bake them into cupcakes instead of a cake pan. This allows each cupcake to bake more thoroughly and develop a yummy crust as well.

Important Ingredients

• Almond Flour — Almond flour adds flavor and lightness to these muffins. Besides testing great, almond flour is also more nutrient dense than using only a gluten-free flour blend. I like this almond flour.

• Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free 1 to 1 Baking Flour — Bob's Gluten Free Blend is a great gluten-free blend that already has xanthan gum in it, so it's not necessary to add your own.

• Pumpkin Pie Spice — Using pumpkin pie spice is an easy way to get the right mix of ginger, nutmeg, cinnamon, and allspice.

• Coconut oil — The moisture of coconut oil balances the heaviness of the carrot in this recipe, and if you buy it in bulk, it's cheaper than vegan butter.

How to Make this Recipe

Mix dry ingredients. In a large bowl, add the almond flour, Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free 1 to 1 Baking Flour, chopped hazelnuts, baking powder, baking soda, sea salt, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, and xanthan gum in a bowl. Leave the brown sugar aside. We'll add it to the wet ingredients.

Add wet ingredients. In a medium bowl, melt the coconut oil until it is liquid but not hot. (Overly hot coconut oil may bake the egg when added.) Add the egg, brown sugar, grated carrot, coconut milk, apple cider vinegar, and vanilla. Stir well.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Preheat your oven so it will be ready when your cupcakes are in the pan.

Combine wet and dry. Slowly add the wet ingredients into the bowl of dry ingredients and stir till just combined. Don't overmix. The batter will be thick.

Pour your batter into a greased cupcake tin. This recipe makes 12 cupcakes.

Bake at 350 degrees. Bake for 18-20 minutes, or till the exterior of the cupcake has a slight crust but is not overly dark.

Frost with cream cheese frosting. Add your own favorite cream cheese frosting, or try my vegan cream cheese recipe.

Recipe Notes

Grate the carrots. I find it easiest to use a food processor to shred the carrots, but a box grater will work great as well.

Make it vegan. If you'd like to make this recipe vegan, eliminate the egg and add an extra 1 Tablespoon of almond flour to the batter. It may seem counterintuitive to add more dry ingredients, but when eggs are baked they become dry.

Alternative Nuts. While I chose hazelnuts for this recipe because they complement the warm flavors in this recipe, I think walnuts or pecans would also be a good match.

Remove cupcakes with a thin spatula. This Norpro Silicone Spatula is my favorite tool for scooping cupcakes out of the cupcake pan.