Lightly sweetened, my Nut Free Paleo Carrot Cake recipe from scratch is fantastic if you’re on a Low Carb Diet.
Nut Free Paleo Carrot Cake
I made this carrot cake recipe without nuts so those who are allergic to nuts could enjoy it too.
Many paleo dessert recipes use almond flour and most carrot cake recipes contain nuts, so I thought it would be nice to change it up and make a carrot cake recipe with no nuts.
Nut Free Paleo Desserts
Check out my Nut Free Desserts page for more awesome nut free dessert ideas!
Gluten Free Carrot Cake Recipe from Scratch
This Gluten Free Carrot Cake recipe made with coconut flour could not be simpler to throw together.
How to Make Carrot Cake from Scratch
Simply toss the ingredients in a food processor, transfer to a pan, and bake!
The Best Carrot Cake Recipe Ever
Although this recipe makes a fabulous Easter cake and is also rather lovely for Mother’s Day, it is just as fantastic year-round.
Insider tip: If your little one loves Carrot Cake this makes a stunning birthday cake.
Nut Free Paleo Carrot Cake
Ingredients
- ½ cup coconut flour
- ¼ teaspoon celtic sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 6 large eggs
- ½ cup coconut oil, melted
- ⅓ cup honey
- 1½ cups carrots, grated
- ½ cup currants
Instructions
- In a food processor combine coconut flour, salt, baking soda, and cinnamon
- Pulse in eggs, coconut oil, and honey
- Remove blade from food processor and stir in carrots and currants by hand
- Grease a 7 inch springform pan with coconut oil and dust with coconut flour
- Transfer batter into prepared pan
- Bake at 350°F for 45-60 minutes
- Cool for 1 hour
- Serve
Two Layer Carrot Cake Recipe from Scratch
This Nut Free Paleo Carrot Cake recipe makes one round cake.
If you would like to create the gorgeous layer cake in the photo above, make the cake recipe above two times.
Springform Cake Pan
If I had to choose a favorite cake pan, my springform pan would win, hands down, every time.
I love how easy it is to release the cake from a springform pan, and I think this is the one cake pan that belongs in my kitchen and yours. You won’t ever fight to release your cake again!
Does Cake Pan Size Matter?
Yes! I’ve tested this Carrot Cake recipe in many different-sized cake pans. My favorite way to bake it is using the 7-inch cake pan as indicated in the instructions for this recipe.
When made in a 7-inch cake pan the batter stacks up and the cake looks impressively tall and very festive.
The 7-inch cake pan is smaller than the traditional 8-inch cake pan which surprisingly yields a much flatter cake. It doesn’t look quite as pretty, however, it also worked well.
Elegant Cake Stands
A cake stand can really elevate your cake. Here are some of my favorite cake stands to make your cake the star of the table.
Cream Cheese Frosting Recipe with Carrot Cake
For a traditional carrot cake, frost with Cream Cheese Frosting.
If you’re only going to frost the top and center of the cake, as I did in the photo above, make one batch of Cream Cheese Frosting.
If you want to frost the sides, make two batches.
Recipe for Dairy Free Frosting for Carrot Cake
For those in need of a dairy-free carrot cake, top this with my incredible Coconut Whipped Cream recipe, along with toasted shredded coconut.
Gluten Free Cakes with Almond Flour Recipes
Although this Carrot Cake does not contain Almond Flour, my original Carrot Cake does. The nutty Almond Flour creates a rich cake that is both high in protein and healthy fat.
Homemade Cake Easy Recipes
Here are some other easy cake recipes for you:
Gluten Free Vanilla Cake with Chocolate Frosting
Looking for another nut free cake? My six ingredient (yes, SIX) Vanilla Cake with Chocolate Frosting is also made with coconut flour.
This Vanilla Cake is one of our family favorites for birthday celebrations.
Readers have left me darling stories about this cake and how its changed gluten free cakes for their families. I hope you try it and share your experience!
Apple Cake Recipe Easy
My Easy Apple Cake recipe contains my go to super spice, cinnamon. In addition to tasting fantastic, cinnamon is known to help regulate blood sugar.
This dessert with apples is made with a base of almond butter and eggs and lightly sweetened with apples and honey.
My recipe for almond butter cake is perfect for casual everyday celebrations or holidays like Easter, Passover, and Rosh Hashanah.
This cake recipe that’s dairy free is wonderful topped with Coconut Whipped Cream.
Low Carb Strawberry Shortcake
One of the easiest and most stunning cakes on my website, you and your guests will be blown away by my Low Carb Strawberry Shortcake.
This low carb vanilla cake smothered in whipped cream is a wonderful summer dessert, but so good we serve it all year long.
Dessert Without Eggs
I don’t like to leave anyone out! That’s why I’m including this dessert without eggs.
Try my Golden Turmeric Bars if you’re a vegan or in the mood for some immune support from the turmeric.
For more dessert without eggs, check out my Egg Free Diet page.
Carrot Cake with Almond Flour
If coconut flour isn’t your thing, check out my fan favorite Carrot Cake recipe with almond flour –it has over forty five thousand shares and three hundred comments!
Simple Cake Recipes from Scratch
I hope I’ve inspired you to make your own easy cake recipe from scratch. What’s your favorite type of homemade dessert? Leave a comment and let me know!
This post is an oldie but goodie from the archives, I first shared this Nut Free Carrot Cake recipe in 2016.
Jeanette Regas says
I just made these as muffins with no frosting. They were delicious and moist and sweet enough! Loved them!
Elana says
Jeanette, I’m so glad to hear these were delicious and moist and sweet!
Kay Moore says
Hi Elana, I’m putting on a baby shower for about 25 people, could this recipe be adapted for a 9×13 cake pan or small cupcakes very easily? What are your thoughts on this?
Elana says
Kay, I haven’t tried that so not sure what adjustments would need to be made. If you do experiment please let us know how it goes. Happy baby shower :-)
Sean Redmond says
Elana,
If I wanted to use pure stevia powder, how much would be needed to match 1/3 cup of honey? Also would I need to adjust any other ingredients to account for less bulk of the honey?
Elana says
Sean, thanks for your comment! I haven’t tried that so not sure, if you do experiment please let us know if it works :-)
Shannon says
This is one of my favorites, but I just learned I cannot have almond or coconut flour due to SIBO. I’d love to try it with tapioca flour. Would I need to reduce the number of eggs?
Elana says
Shannon, I’m so sorry, I haven’t ever cooked with tapioca flour so not sure how that would work.
Melanie Phares says
Just made this and it was spectacular. Better after chilling over night. Was visiting Mom in Albuquerque. Go figure, no coconut flour at any grocery very close, but found some Nutiva Hemp Protein at a GNC and substituted that. So good that I’m nervous to try the coconut flour now that I’m at home. Making again tonight for tomorrow’s Christmas Dinner.
Elana says
Melanie, thanks for letting us know this was spectacular!
Nikki says
I thought that this was alright for what it was. It really tasted, to me, like a slightly grainy egg souffle with some carrots in it. With a decent amount of cream cheese icing (I used greek yogurt cream cheese to make it a bit healthier) it was pretty good. I liked it and finished the entire cake over the course of a week.
I’d never say, as an avid home baker, “this is better than real carrot cake!” However, the fact that it is so much better for you is attractive to me at this point in my life.
Elana says
Nikki, I’m sorry this was not amazing, we like this even more than the real thing because it is so moist. If you make it again, for best results follow the recipe without making any substitutions and also use the recommended brands of ingredients that are linked in the highlighted green text in the ingredients portion of the recipe :-)
Jennifer W says
I over cooked the cake so it came out more like bread but was still tasty. We made French toast with it the following morning and it was phenomenal! This will be one of my go to recipes for Sunday morning breakfast from now on. YUM
Elana says
Jennifer, so glad to hear this turned out well!
Janie says
Hi Elana! Have you ever baked this recipe as cupcakes?
Elana says
Janie, I haven’t. If you do I hope you’ll let us know how it goes :-)
Alyssa says
I just made cupcakes using this recipe. I wondered if they would stick in the cupcake tins, so I added a little more coconut oil than called for, plus greased my non-stick pans. No luck – they still stuck to the bottom! Has anyone else had an issue like this? I ended up just tipping the cupcakes upside-down and icing over the jagged bottoms, which hid it well, and they were delicious. Any suggestions are welcome, as I really liked them as cupcakes!
Elana says
Alyssa, thanks for sharing your experiment with this recipe with us. So glad they were delicious!
Debbie says
You can lightly grease the bottom of the pan, then line with parchment paper, then lightly grease the parchment paper. For cupcake tins its a little labor intensive to cut out the parchment paper, but it works perfectly.
Nancy says
I made two cupcakes because I wanted to try some before serving the actual cake-if the actual cake came out tasting like cardboard. I just put some of the batter in a cupcake tin in cupcake liners. They didn’t peel back from the paper so well and both child and husband said they needed to be sweeter.
Elana says
Nancy, thanks for your comment. I haven’t tried making this as cupcakes so not really sure how that would go. Thanks for filling me in on the results of your experiment!
Debbie Walton says
I wish to remove the sugar completely. Having experimented with coconut flour, do you have any advice on where to start in adjusting the ratio liquid ingredients to dry ingredients when removing the 1/3 cup of syrup? Thanks
Elana says
Debbie, I haven’t tried that so not sure. Here’s a link to my Keto Recipes page, those recipes do not have any sugar in them:
https://elanaspantry.com/diets/keto/
Enjoy!
Elana
Debbie says
I use coconut nectar because of its very low glycemic index. It has a nice rich flavor too, which is similar to the brown sugar in a regular carrot cake. I would say use 1/3 c plus 1 tbsp. Other than that you could try mashed banana but that probably would change baking time and possibly consistency. Maybe ever more carrots, just make sure they are very sweet carrots.
Enli says
I like your cakes :) this one sounds great! I’m just concerned about backing with honey. Please can you tell me what do you think about this?
Elana says
Enli, I do use honey in some of my baked goods recipes and I don’t worry about it :-)
laurie says
what can I use to replace the coconut products…they give me pain in stomach. I can eat nuts without any issues. All oils bother but I have no problem with butter , or light mayo. A lot of people now dont eat carrots which I don’t understand …they say they are high on the glycemic idex but it is better to have that than candy or processed foods since it grows in the ground. I love them grated in everything.
Elana says
Laurie, here’s a link to my Paleo Carrot Cake for you which is made from almond flour:
https://elanaspantry.com/carrot-cake/
Enjoy!
Elana
Debbie says
another thing you can try to replace coconut oil is avocado – I know it sounds really odd, but they are rich in oil and if you have a very ripe one you can whip it up like you would for guacamole, and they are so bland when mixed with these other ingredients you won’t even know it’s avocado. If you can eat even light mayo my guess is you could do this without side effects. Good luck. I hope that works because this cake really is yummy.