Vegan paleo carrot cake made with almond flour and filled with yummy spices, chunky walnuts, and a creamy cashew frosting on top. Easy, healthy, delicious!
I know, I know – carrot cake? again? already?
But this one is different, I promise. Plus carrot cake and too much are words I’ve never used together. And it’s officially spring now (WAHOO) so that deserves another round of cake.
I don’t know about you, but in my head it’s been spring for a while now. The weather may still have some catching up to do, but when it does we will be waiting with open arms and welcoming plates of cake. Vegan Paleo Carrot Cake with cashew yogurt frosting, obviously.
When I posted this carrot cake made with oat flour, many of you asked for a grain-free version. Ask and you shall receive. A one-for-one sub – almond flour for oat – did not work. It took a bit of tweaking to get the texture right, but WORTH IT.
I try not to pick recipe favorites, so it would be wrong of me to say I like this version better. It would be wrong to say it’s naturally sweeter and more moist because almond flour does that to things. It would be wrong to say I devoured the whole thing in two and a half days. Wrong…but kinda true.
But really, I love both of my carrot cake children equally for different reasons – the oat flour is fluffier (and cheaper!), the almond is richer. And the original recipe has already gotten tons of great feedback, so you don’t just have to take my word for it.
Ingredient wise they are mostly similar. Here’s what we’ve got:
- applesauce OR non-dairy yogurt
- coconut sugar (but less this time!)
- lemon juice
- vanilla, cinnamon, ginger, salt
- almond flour
- tapioca starch
- baking soda
- grated carrots
- walnuts (or pecans or any nuts or no nuts)
Mix. Bake. Frost (if you want). And happy spring!
Vegan Paleo Carrot Cake
- Prep Time: 15
- Cook Time: 40
- Total Time: 55 minutes
- Yield: 9 pieces 1x
- Category: cake
- Method: baking
- Cuisine: american
Description
Vegan paleo carrot cake made with almond flour and filled with yummy spices, chunky walnuts, and a creamy cashew frosting on top. Easy, healthy, delicious!
Ingredients
- 1 cup non-dairy yogurt or unsweetened applesauce (240g)
- 1/3 cup coconut sugar (50g)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 1/2 cup tapioca starch (60g)*
- 2 1/2 cups almond flour (275g)**
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tbsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp ginger
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 1/2 cups grated carrots (180g)
- 1/2 cup walnuts (60g)
Cashew Yogurt Frosting
- 1 cup (120g) raw cashews (soaked overnight)
- 1/3 cup (75g) nondairy yogurt
- 2 tbsp maple syrup
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- Pinch of salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350F.
- To a mixing bowl, add the yogurt/applesauce, coconut sugar, lemon juice, and vanilla. Whisk to combine.
- Add the tapioca starch, almond flour, baking soda, spices, and salt. Stir to combine.
- Fold in the grated carrots and walnuts.
- Transfer to a baking pan (I used a 9×9″ square pan, but round is fine too) that has been lightly sprayed with oil or lined with parchment paper.
- Bake for approximately 40 minutes at 350F or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
- Remove from the oven and cool completely before frosting.
- Drain the cashews. Combine all the frosting ingredients in a high speed blender and blend until smooth and very creamy. If it gets stuck at a higher speed, reduce the speed to low and let it blend for a while (30-60 seconds).
- Spread onto the cooled cake and ideally refrigerate until the frosting is set (at least 2 hours). Or you can eat it immediately, but the frosting will be quite soft.
- Slice and enjoy! Keep leftovers in the refrigerator.
Notes
*You can substitute with arrowroot or corn starch. **For an oat flour version, try this recipe instead.
Nutrition
- Calories: 252
- Sugar: 9
- Fat: 16
- Carbohydrates: 23
- Fiber: 5
- Protein: 7
Keywords: baking, cake, birthday, vegan, paleo, gluten-free
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Anything to sub the sugar?
Haven’t tested with dates yet and while I think it will make the texture too mushy you can try it. You can also just scale back the sugar even further, it’s pretty sweet naturally 🙂
Darn the magic of almond flour! 😉😂 I can totally see why this might be your favorite…after watching the video and seeing the texture…it looks perfect!! Thank you for sharing a grain-free version!! I’m doing a little happy dance here because I think I found what I’m making for Easter 💗 although, I don’t know that I’ll be able to wait that long; maybe I should do a trial run 😉 I really wish I was your neighbor because I would have happily helped you eat this! Happy Spring, Natalie!! 🌷☀️
Right?! I was so rooting for oat flour on this one…YOU GOT THIS. But nope, almond still wins😆 Wahooo you’re easter is sounding awesome already! I told my sister she should’ve come to visit me this week because carrot cake is her fave. Oh well–her loss, more for me🤗🤗
Hi There I am new to Paleo but this recipe caught my eye , since next to a death by chocolate cake carrot cake is next. Can you use coconut flour to substitute for the almond flour?
Unfortunately coconut flour won’t work here. Coconut flour is very unique and can rarely be substituted
into recipes that aren’t designed for it, sorry!
Hello Natalie here in my country is difficult to find nondairy yogurt. Can you give me ideas to sub the cashew yogurt frosting? Thank you so much!
Just nondairy milk will work, although won’t give it that same tangy flavor so consider adding a little extra lemon juice. And less milk as well, try 3-4 tbsp. Good luck!
I have to say, I’ve always had way better luck with almond flour than oat. Oat just always turns out more dry. OMG that frosting looks like a creamy dream too! I could totally just spoon that straight up 😉 . I’ve recently fallen IN LOVE with Kite Hill’s Greek-Style yogurt so this looks like the perfect recipe to use it in. It’s so thick and has a delicious tang.
xxMeah
★★★★★
Yes completely agree on almond vs oat! Besides the price, I just love the taste and texture and everything about almond flour baked goods. Oooh yes, Kite Hill is another fave of mine. Haven’t seen their greek yet but I will look for it 🙂 Thanks Meah!
THANK YOU; THANK YOU; THANK YOU for another grain-free cake recipes – and my fav carrot cake!!!
Did I say “THANK YOU??”
Hahaha! I am so happy you are excited about this one Iris. I am obsessed with this version, can’t wait for you to taste it 🙂
My husband and I enjoyed this very much; I didn’t frost it, but did add a couple handfuls of raisins. My husband said to keep the recipe.
Oooh love the raisin addition, that sounds delicious! I am so happy you both liked it, thanks for the feedback Alexandra 🙂
2 carrot cakes in the same month, who in the world would argue with that?! Not me, haha! This looks like a really, really moist cake! Almost like carrot cake bars! I’m laughing at your comment about your carrot cake children, yup, definitely can’t pick a favorite child, that would just be mean! How sweet of you to provide both an oat version and a grain-free version..it must have been so tough to keep making carrot cakes and eating them, bahahaha. And who could blame you for devouring it in 2 days, um, I don’t know if I’d even make it that far. I have such a weakness with cake…and cookies…and brownies. I’m loving that it’s Spring now too because I’m in full cake-creating mood and all I want to do is bake!
I didn’t think anyone would be tooooo upset about the over abundance of carrot cake haha! I almost called them carrot cake bars/blondies or something, but in the end it turned out fluffy and more cake like than I was expecting plus just so dang moist–gah i love you almond flour <3 ...and donuts...and muffins...and ice cream lol! I feel ya, its a tough job we have 😀 Oooh well please please please embrace that cake baking urge and SHARE these beautiful springy creations to be already🤗
I’m thinking loaf pan and/or cupcakes – any timing advice?
I’d recommend cupcakes over loaf–loaf may not cook through properly. And for cupcakes about 30 minutes should be perfect 🙂
Yum!! Can not wait to try this!! Do you use plain unsweetened non dairy yogurt?
Yep, I used unsweetened cashew yogurt! But other kinds work too, unsweetened is best 🙂
Just made it for my birthday. Everyone loved it! Yummmmm!!!! Thank you Natalie☺
★★★★★
Woohoo!! Happy belated birthday and I am so happy it was a success🤗 My favorite kinda bday cake too!
I would love to make this for my daughter’s birthday, and wonder if I should take the cake out of the pan to frost, or leave in the pan? Also, I’m thinking of adding raisins, how much would you recommend?
Thank you!
I personally think it’s easier to just frost it in the pan. Maybe not as show-stopping for presentation since you can’t frost the sides that way, but you can still decorate the top 🙂 I would recommend about 1/4-1/3 cup raisins. Happy baking!
hello natalie 🙂 greetings from Portugal 🙂 can I substitute the non dairy iogurt or applesauce for oat cream?
Hi Shana! We don’t have oat cream here, so it’s not a product I’m familiar with😕 But is it creamy and thick similar to yogurt or more like milk? If its similar to yogurt, then yes that should be fine!
Hi Natalie, I got here from your instagram. Your food looks absolutely delicious and drool worthy. I tried making both thiscake and the raspberry chocolate chip cake but completely failed. I used a 9 inch square pan and followed the instructions and used the same ingredients as mentioned. Both times the cake did not cook through in the middle even after I baked them for almost 2 hours. Any idea what went wrong?
Really?! Hmm its really hard for me to say what could be the issue without being there but a few ideas:
1) Did you measure by weight or volume? Weight is much more accurate!
2) Was the batter really thin? More runny than in the video by chance?
3) Maybe try them as muffins, those cook through much better since they are smaller so get more even heat from all sides!
Hope that helps!
Thank you for your quick response. I always like to measure my ingredients by weight and the batter was thick like yours in the video.
I love baking and eating cakes with almond flour.
Will try them as muffins first. Do you think it might because I used almond meal? (Here in Australia, blanched and grounded almonds are called almond meal)
Will try as muffins and see if it works
Thank you
Hmm that could be it. Here almond flour and almond meal are quite different and not interchangeable, but idk if that is the same there. If it’s quite coarse it won’t be as absorptive though, so could definitely cause the finished product to be overly moist😬
Perfect recipe, delicious!
I added some raisins and so reduced sugar even further, to accommodate. Perfect, mild sweetness. And I made cake only, without the frosting because I’ve always liked it better that way…Thanks Natalie, for a wonderful recipe.
★★★★★
Oh that’s a great idea, plus I love a carrot cake with lots of mix-ins😋😋 Thanks for sharing, and I am so happy you liked it Keren!
I’m sure, it’ll make a fabulous breakfast/post pilates workout treat, in a few minutes…this is also why I make carrot cakes without the frosting, to have them for breakfast, so less sugar and richness, more carbs. I’ll try your GF carrot cake too, will be nice to recognize the differences between the two. All the best.
Hi, i was wondering if i have to put walnuts in this cake?
Nope, totally optional! You can skip them and it will still be delicious 🙂
Hi Natalie, I love your recepies your are really the most innovative vegan dessert queen ever!!! I just wondered if you had any other GF ideas for oat flour substitue that is not almond flour ? I play around with rice, sorghum, buckwheat, corn, tapioca and chickpea and I wondered if you have used any of these GF flours ? Always looking forward to your videos and blogs! Jazz 🙂
Hi Jazz! Appreciate the title haha, and so happy you enjoy the recipes🤗 So yes, i have experimented with some of those! I don’t use rice or sorghum much, but I love buckwheat and quinoa. Buckwheat is great for fluffy, but can make things a bit dry. Quinoa is also good for texture, but does have a quinoa flavor so skip it if you don’t like that. Tapioca is great but very sticky by itself, cassava flour (related but less starchy) is easier to work with. And chickpea flour is very versatile although I personally haven’t experimented with it a ton. Also green banana flour is another fun one! Happy to point you towards recipes with any of them😊
Hai Natalie, another super good recipe succeeded, I am very happy that I found you, often my recipes from the Dutch paleo sites do not work, but with your recipes always a success! I had no lemon juice but I used orange juice and the zest and then put everything in a bundt cake. Was delicious!
Merry christmas!
Aziza
Oh that sounds incredible, I love the sound of that orange addition! So happy you are enjoying the recipes Aziza, appreciate your support and merry merry christmas to you 🙂
hi does it have to be non dairy yogurt? Or can regular yogurt work also
Regular yogurt will work too!
My husband and I converted to a restrictive whole foods plant based lifestyle due to health issues related to Covid last year. While there are more and more vegan recipes being posted, many are not really healthy. When I saw the post for your carrot cake, I was really excited. Finally, a recipe that didn’t call for all-purpose wheat flour or a bunch of unhealthy ingredients like sugar and added fats. We haven’t had any cakes or pastries in nearly two years. Carrot cake is my husband’s absolute favorite, so I decided to give your recipe a try for his birthday. It was amazing! I added a 1/2 cup of each golden raisins and toasted pecans. Neither the cake or the frosting are overly sweet, but perfectly sweet enough. Because the ingredients were much healthier than other recipes I’ve seen, I felt good about serving this amazing treat to my husband. Thank you so much!
YAY!!! This made me so so happy to read, I am thrilled that you guys found and loved this one🤗🤗 Appreciate your review Kathy!