You may have assumed I wasn't going to come out with another carrot cake recipe because I already have carrot cake cookies, my famous carrot cake balls, a creamy carrot cake smoothie in my first cookbook Joyous Health, a raw carrot cake square and delicious and healthy muffins in my free guide Little Food Lovers: Healthy Snackers. But I'm not done yet!
This carrot cake loaf is the quintessential comfort food. And you'll be happy to know it's also:
- Gluten-free
- Dairy-free
- You can make it egg-free by using 2 flax eggs
- Packed with fibre, phytonutrients, vitamins and minerals, good fat
- It's hearty, delicious, a total crowd-pleaser and kid-approved too!
Just imagine yourself sipping a Rise & Shine Tea Latte with a slice of this carrot cake loaf sitting in front of a fireplace.
Or what about on a rainy Monday morning slathering it with some coconut yogurt and enjoying it along with a turmeric latte or your morning coffee.
Have I given you enough reasons to enjoy this loaf? I sure hope so! Since I've already shared the benefits of carrots with you many times or maybe your grandma has told you that carrots are good for your eyes -- she's right. So rather than going into all the health benefits again, let's get to this recipe shall we?
The most important aspect to making your own baked goods taste damn good is using really good quality ingredients. And I used a gluten-free flour blend FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER! I don't know why it took me so long to do this. For some reason, I always felt like I was being lazy if I used a GF flour blend.
For breakfast, dessert or a power snack, this carrot cake loaf will satisfy your soul and your belly!
Ingredients
- 1-1/2 cups gluten-free flour blend*
- 1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
- 1-1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1 tsp ground ginger
- Pinch salt
- 2 eggs, whisked
- 1-1/2 cups grated carrots
- 2 tbsp melted coconut oil (measure when melted)
- 1/2 cup real maple syrup
- 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
- 1/2 cup raisins or dried cranberries
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F (180C). Grease standard size loaf pan or line with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, combine flour, shredded coconut, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and salt.
- In a separate bowl combine eggs, melted coconut oil, grated carrots and maple syrup.
- Add the wet ingredients to the large bowl of dry ingredients, stir together until combined.
- Fold in walnuts and raisins.
- Pour batter into loaf pan and bake for 45 minutes or until a fork inserted comes out clean. Let cool for 10 minutes, remove from loaf pan and let cool completely on cooling rack before slicing.
- Store in the fridge for up to 1 week or slice and freeze for up to 3 months.
Notes
Makes 9 slices.
*I used Bob's Red Mill Gluten-free All-Purpose Baking Flour Blend
I highly recommend you slather this cake with some rich and creamy coconut yogurt or some almond butter. And you don't need a fork to eat it, unless you want to. Use your fingers - that'll be just fine!
It freezes really well and you can refrigerate it for up to a week. Just make sure you wrap it well for the freezer so you don't get any freezer burn on it.
And before I go, did you know that all my recipes print out really nice? Just scroll to the red/pink bar on top of therecipe card and you'll see "PRINT" on the right side.
I look forward to hearing what you think of my new recipe!
Joy xo
Is there carrots in it?
ReplyOh boy, guess that would be helpful information, wouldn't it? hah! Sorry about that. It's in there now :) Thanks for bringing that to my attention.
Is the Celsius and Fahrenheit mixed up? Making 1 loaf and 12 muffins!
ReplyThanks for catching that Amanda, enjoy!
Can I use non- gf flour ?
ReplySure! I'm sure a spelt flour would work perfect, enjoy!
I like your recipes but I don't use them as I'm on Weight Watchers and I cannot quickly determine point values. Something you might want to consider for your future recipes is have the content such as calories, % of the different fats, sugar, protein, carbs.
ReplyThanks for your thoughts Joanne. Glad you enjoy my recipes!
I made this with a quinoa flour and almond flour blend and substituted the walnuts for hazelnuts (I'm allergic to walnuts) and it was amazing. You have the best recipes!
ReplyAmazing, thanks so much for sharing Christine. Glad it turned out awesome!
If you wouldn't mind, could you please share your flour blend ratios? Thank you
Hi Tracy, I don't know what the ratios are because I used a blend from Bob's Red Mill. The link to the actual bag I bought is in the post but here it is again: https://amzn.to/2QcgKHL
Hope that helps!
Sorry Joy, thanks for the link but I was trying to ask Christine what her ratios were for the quinoa and almond blend. I don't know how to direct it to her...? Oops..
I used 1 cup of quinoa flour and 1/2 cup of almond flour and it turned out amazing!
Thank you so much for letting me know!
Can you see it now? 1 cup quinoa and 1/2 cup almond flour :)
I’m allergic to walnuts. Can I replace with pumpkin seeds? Almonds? Thanks
ReplyYes any other nut or seed will do or you can simply omit it. Enjoy Katie!
What if I don’t want the walnuts and raisins? Will that effect the result of the recipe, cause that’s a whole cup of stuff? Could I replace it with something else?
ReplyI think it will be fine actually. It will only affect the consistency and won't be as chunky. Enjoy!
Any idea how buckwheat flour would work in this? Our little guy is sensitive to a lot of grains, but manages well with buckwheat. Thanks!
ReplyI think it would work great with buckwheat flour! Let me know how it turns out :)
Thank you for this :) I was just gifted a kilo of organic carrots!
ReplyPerfect timing!!
Can you use swerve instead of maple syrup? Almond flour instead of suggested flour? Love your recipes. Thank you
ReplyHi Liz, I'm not familiar with using swerve so I can't say for sure if it's a good substitution. Re. almond flour, it's a very different texture than a gluten-free flour blend so I'm not sure. But if you try it out, please let me know!
Another reader "christine" posted that she used almond flour. Check out her comment :)
I don’t have shredded coconut in hand. Can I use coconut flour instead? Want to make it tonight.
ReplyHmmm, coconut flour is very different texture-wise and will change the outcome because it's a flour versus using dried fruit. I would suggest waiting and buying some shredded coconut :)
Hi Joy, Do you recommend any substitutes so as to make this vegan? Thanks :)
ReplyI have an egg substitution chart here if you want to make it egg-free: https://www.joyoushealth.com/3-download-egg-substitution-chart I've had some other people comment (either here are social media) that they made it without eggs.
Excellent recipe. It looks delicious. I want to use sweet potato flour. Do you know what I would combine it with to make it hold together. I cannot use almond flour. Would I be able to use chickpea flour with the sweet potato flour and in what quantities? Love your recipes! :)
ReplyI've actually never heard of sweet potato flour before so I have no idea how to use it. What brand do you buy? There is no almond flour in this recipe.
I ended up making it and used 1 and 1/4 cup almond flour, and 1/4 cup tapioca flour and it worked out great for anyone who is looking to make their own GF flour mix! Delicious recipe, we have made it 3 times recently !
ReplyOh wow, that's awesome you've already made it 3 times! Thanks for letting me know :)
excellent recipe! turned out perfectly, and was fun to make with my son. I used spelt flour, so I also added another egg as it seemed a little dry when I combined everything.
ReplyGood idea to add an extra egg! Changing up the flour can definitely change the moisture content but I'm glad to hear it worked out great for you!
I’m assuming I could change the carrots to zucchini and omit the raisins. Sounds amazing.
ReplyYou can but just keep in mind zucchini is much much wetter than carrots. So it may take much longer to bake and yes you can definitely omit the raisins!
Could you use chocolate chips or figs as a replacement for the raisins?
ReplyYes absolutely! That would be yummy too :)
The loaf was delicious but it didn't seem to rise that much. I baked it the full 45 mins
ReplyIt's definitely a more dense note but it should rise, perhaps not as much as a white flour loaf though. Does it taste good?
Hello. I would love to make this carrot loaf because it looks amazing and who doesn't love carrot cake?! But I have a walnut allergy. Can the walnuts be 'optional' or what would be a suitable substitute. Please and Thank you.
ReplyYes definitely, you can use any other nut or seed. Pecans would be really nice!
Has anyone tried with two flax eggs and how did it turn out? I know many times the flax eggs don’t work in recipes.
ReplyJust tried the recipes with gluten free oat flour. Looking forward to see how it turns out! Xo Michella
ReplyGreat idea! Hope it turns out great!
It did! It was a big hit! Thank you! Michella
ReplyHurray!
Hi Joy! This recipe looks amazing can’t wait to try! When you made the muffins did you need to adjust the baking time at all?
ReplyYes the baking time will be less. I would check them at 15 minutes and then again at 20 if they need longer. I find muffins in my oven (which is fast) are usually about 18 minutes.
Hmmmm, has anybody tried EINKORN FLOUR for this recipe? TXS in advance!
ReplyI'm looking forward to trying this in muffin form! Looks delicious. I have another coconut question. Do you have any thoughts on whether anything else could be substituted for the coconut?
ReplyBecause the shredded coconut is a small amount you can probably just omit it and the recipe will work just fine.
Joy, thank you for your very quick reply! I'm so excited about this. What a super way to add extra veggies into one's day! :-) I'm really pleased that my muffins will probably turn out fine without the coconut.
Replygreat!!
Absolutly amazing so yummy . I don;t usually go for carrot cake but thank you for turning me on to it. May 14 2022.
ReplyIf you enjoyed this, you must try my Paleo Carrot Cake - it'll knock your socks off! https://www.joyoushealth.com/27555-blog-carrot-cake-paleo-gluten-free