Vegan Carrot Bread (Gluten-Free)

This Vegan Carrot Bread is moist and fluffy, subtly spiced and covered in a rich cream cheese frosting. It comes together in one bowl and the recipe is easily customisable. It’s gluten-free and refined sugar free too! Perfect for dessert or an indulgent breakfast or brunch.

How to make this recipe

Scroll down to the bottom of the post for the full recipe.

• Mix together all the ingredients in a glass mixing bowl.

Tip: Use a food processor to grind up the walnuts until they form a fine powder.

• Transfer the batter into a one-pound loaf tin.

Tip: Make sure to line the loaf tin with greased baking paper – this will make removing the bread from the tin so much easier!

• Bake in the oven for 45 minutes.

• Transfer to a cooling rack to cool down before applying the frosting.

• Use a knife (or palette knife for frosting) to spread the frosting over the top of the loaf.

Frosting alternatives

If you’d prefer not to use this cashew-based vegan cream cheese frosting, you can use a coconut cream-based cream cheese frosting instead, or a normal cashew buttercream.

How to decorate

I decided to decorate this carrot bread with chopped walnuts, but you can use whatever you like: chopped pecan nuts, chopped pistachios or coconut flakes all work well!

Substitutions you can make

• You can use any type of oil: coconut oil, olive oil or vegetable oil.
• You can use any type of plant-based milk: almond milk, rice milk, soy milk, cashew milk, oat milk etc.
• You can use any type of liquid sweetener: maple syrup, agave syrup, brown rice syrup etc.
• You can replace the ground walnuts with ground almonds (almond meal).
• For a nut-free version: replace the ground walnuts with ground sunflower seeds or use 30g (¼ cup) coconut flour instead of 150g (1 ¼ cup) ground walnuts and omit the frosting.
• You can replace the raisins with any other dried fruit such as dried cranberries or chopped dates, or dried mango, dried pineapple or dried papaya for a tropical vibe.
• You can add a couple of tablespoons of desiccated coconut to the batter.
• You can use plain flour, wholemeal (whole wheat) flour or spelt flour instead of the gluten-free flour if you’re not gluten-free.
• To make it less sweet, you can halve the amount of maple syrup and omit the frosting.
• To make a more savoury bread, omit the maple syrup and the frosting.

How long does this keep for?

This Carrot Bread definitely tastes best when fresh, but keeps covered in the fridge for up to a few days.

More vegan sweet bread recipes

• Gluten-Free Vegan Pumpkin Bread
• Gluten-Free Vegan Blueberry Banana Bread
• Gluten-Free Vegan Chocolate Pumpkin Bread
• Gluten-Free Vegan Chocolate Banana Bread
• Gluten-Free Vegan Zucchini Bread
• Gluten-Free Vegan Chocolate Zucchini Bread
• Gluten-Free Vegan Apple Bread
• Gluten-Free Vegan Orange Bread
• Gluten-Free Vegan Lemon Bread

If you try out this recipe or anything else from my blog, I’d really love to hear any feedback! Please give it a rating, leave a comment, or tag a photo @rhiansrecipes #rhiansrecipes on Instagram! Thank you.

Watch how to make this recipe

Vegan Carrot Bread (Gluten-Free)

This Vegan Carrot Bread is moist and fluffy, subtly spiced and covered in a rich cream cheese frosting. It comes together in one bowl and the recipe is easily customisable. It's gluten-free and refined sugar free too! Perfect for dessert or an indulgent breakfast or brunch.

3.95 from 20 votes

Print Pin Rate

Course: Breakfast, Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: gluten-free carrot bread, vegan carrot bread, vegan carrot cake

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Cook Time: 45 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes

Servings: 10 slices

Calories: 350kcal

Author: Rhian Williams

Ingredients

For the bread:

• ▢ 60 g (¼ cup) coconut oil (or sub olive or vegetable oil)
• ▢ 200 ml (⅘ cup) unsweetened almond milk (or any other plant-based milk)
• ▢ 2 tablespoons lemon juice *
• ▢ 8 tablespoons maple syrup (or sub any other sweetener)
• ▢ 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ▢ ¼ teaspoon ground ginger
• ▢ 1 teaspoon mixed spice (or sub a mixture of nutmeg, cinnamon and cloves)
• ▢ Pinch salt
• ▢ 100 g (3.5 oz) carrot , peeled and grated (one medium-sized carrot)
• ▢ 50 g (⅓ cup) raisins or sultanas (or sub finely chopped dried mango or papaya)
• ▢ 150 g (1 ¼ cup) ground walnuts **
• ▢ 150 g (1 ¼ cup) gluten-free flour blend (or sub plain flour if not gluten-free)
• ▢ 2 heaped teaspoons baking powder (ensure gluten-free if necessary)
• ▢ ¼ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)

For the frosting:

• ▢ 100 g (⅔ cup) raw cashew nuts soaked in cold water overnight or in hot water for 15 minutes
• ▢ 6 tablespoons maple syrup (or sub any other sweetener)
• ▢ 3 tablespoons lemon juice

To decorate (optional):

• ▢ Walnuts , roughly chopped

Instructions

For the bread:

• Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius (350 degrees Fahrenheit).
• Place the coconut oil in a large bowl and melt over a saucepan of boiling water or in the microwave (skip this step if using any other oil).
• Once melted, add the milk to the same bowl along with the lemon juice, maple syrup, vanilla, ginger, mixed spice, salt, grated carrot, raisins and ground walnuts.
• Sift in the flour, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda.
• Mix well, adding a tiny splash more milk if it's looking too dry.
• Transfer mixture into a loaf tin lined with greased baking paper (I used a one-pound loaf tin).
• Bake in the oven for 45 minutes until risen and golden brown and an inserted skewer comes out clean.
• Once out the oven, transfer the loaf from the baking tin onto a wired rack to leave it to cool completely before applying the frosting.

For the frosting:

• Drain the soaked cashews and add to a food processor or blender with the maple syrup and lemon juice.
• Whizz until completely smooth, adding some plant-based milk or water to thin out if necessary.

To frost and decorate:

• Use a knife (or palette knife) to spread frosting over the top of the loaf.
• Decorate with chopped walnuts, if desired.
• Tastes best when fresh, but keeps covered in the fridge for up to a few days.

Video

Notes

*The lemon juice is crucial as its acidity needs to react with the alkali bicarbonate of soda to make the bread fluffy. If you don’t want to use lemon juice, replace it with 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar.

**You can alternatively use ground almonds/almond meal or almond flour.

• This is definitely a sweet recipe – it’s similar to a Carrot Cake. To make it less sweet, you can halve the amount of maple syrup and omit the frosting, or omit the maple syrup all together if you want to make a more savoury bread.
• If you’d prefer not to use this cashew-based vegan cream cheese frosting, you can use a coconut cream-based cream cheese frosting instead, or a normal cashew buttercream.

Nutrition Facts

Vegan Carrot Bread (Gluten-Free)

Amount Per Serving

Calories 350 Calories from Fat 189

% Daily Value*

Fat 21g32%

Saturated Fat 7g35%

Sodium 66mg3%

Potassium 293mg8%

Carbohydrates 39g13%

Fiber 3g12%

Sugar 19g21%

Protein 6g12%

Vitamin A 1671IU33%

Vitamin C 4mg5%

Calcium 96mg10%

Iron 2mg11%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

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