Gluten-Free Vegan Carrot Cake Cupcakes

These Gluten-Free Vegan Carrot Cake Cupcakes are super moist, fragrant and fruity, and covered with a delicious “cream cheese” frosting!

My Tropical Carrot Cake has been very popular, so I decided it was time to make more carrot cake recipes. And I hadn’t made any gluten-free vegan carrot cake cupcakes yet, so it seemed like a good idea to fuse the two!

And, unlike my Tropical Carrot Cake, I wanted to create a more classic carrot cake recipe this time. Instead of pistachios and coconut, I went for walnuts, and instead of dried mango, I went for more traditional raisins.

Why you’ll love these Gluten-Free Vegan Carrot Cake Cupcakes:

• they’re undetectably vegan and gluten-free
• they’re moist and fluffy 
• they’re subtly spiced
• they’re fruity and fragrant 
• they’re covered in a tangy “cream cheese” frosting
• they’re refined sugar free 
• they’re easy to make
• they come together in one bowl
• they make an adorable dessert for birthdays, Mother’s Day, baby showers and bridal showers!

How to make these Gluten-Free Vegan Carrot Cake Cupcakes

Scroll down to the bottom of the post for the full recipe including measurements and full instructions.

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

Tip: Use a box grater to grate the carrots and a measuring jug to measure out the plant-based milk.

• Transfer the mixture into cupcake cases in a muffin/cupcake tin.

• Bake in the oven for around 15 minutes.

How to make vegan “cream cheese” frosting

• Place coconut cream, lemon juice, maple syrup and vanilla in a bowl and use an electric whisk to whip up until fluffy.
• You can apply the frosting with a palette knife for frosting, a spatula, or a piping bag depending on how fancy you want to be.

Top tips for making the frosting

• For super fluffy frosting, make the frosting fresh and top the cupcakes with it just before serving – the frosting does set well, however, and frosted cupcakes will keep their shape and texture for up to a few days in the fridge.
• Make sure the cupcakes have cooled completely before applying the frosting, otherwise it will melt!
• The recipe below yields a medium-sized amount of frosting per cupcake. However, if you do want to apply a generous amount of frosting (like in my photos), I’d recommend doubling the amount of frosting.

I decided to decorate these cupcakes with walnuts, but you can use whatever you like!

How long do these Gluten-Free Vegan Carrot Cake Cupcakes keep for?

These Gluten-Free Vegan Carrot Cake Cupcakes are best enjoyed fresh, but they do keep covered in the fridge for up to a few days.

Substitutions you can make to this recipe:

• 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 substitute the ground almonds (almond meal) with ground walnuts
• for a nut-free version: substitute the ground walnuts with ground sunflower seeds or use 30g (¼ cup) coconut flour instead of 150g (1 ¼ cup) ground walnuts
• you can substitute 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 substitute the walnuts with pecan nuts or pistachios
• you can use plain flour, wholemeal (whole wheat) flour or spelt flour instead of the gluten-free flour if you’re not gluten-free.

More gluten-free vegan cakes:

• Lemon Blueberry Cake
• Cherry Bakewell Cake
• Black Forest Cake
• Lemon Drizzle Cake
• Orange Pound Cake
• Peanut Butter Chocolate Cake
• Gingerbread Loaf Cake

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.

Gluten-Free Vegan Carrot Cake Cupcakes

These Gluten-Free Vegan Carrot Cake Cupcakes are super moist, fragrant and fruity, and covered with a delicious "cream cheese" frosting!

4.58 from 21 votes

Print Pin Rate

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

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

Prep Time: 25 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 45 minutes

Servings: 12 cupcakes

Calories: 312kcal

Author: Rhian Williams

Ingredients

For the cupcakes:

• ▢ 60 g (¼ cup) coconut oil (or sub olive or vegetable oil)
• ▢ 230 ml (1 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 , grated (one medium-sized carrot)
• ▢ 50 g (⅓ cups) raisins or sultanas
• ▢ 30 g (¼ cup) walnuts , roughly chopped
• ▢ 150 g (1 ¼ cup) ground almonds (almond meal) **
• ▢ 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:

• ▢ 400 g (14 oz) tin of full-fat coconut milk ***
• ▢ 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• ▢ 2 tablespoons maple syrup (or sub any other sweetener)
• ▢ ½ teaspoon vanilla extract

To decorate (optional):

• ▢ 12 walnut halves

Instructions

For the cupcakes:

• 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, walnuts, and ground almonds
• 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 between 12 cupcake cases in a cupcake tin
• Bake in oven for 15-20 minutes until risen and an inserted skewer comes out clean
• Once out the oven, leave the cupcakes to cool completely before applying the frosting

For the frosting:

• You'll need to keep your tin of coconut milk in the fridge overnight for the rich creamy bit to separate from the watery bit at the bottom. Make sure it is full fat coconut milk, otherwise this separation won't happen and you won't be able to make this cream!
• Open the tin upside down - the coconut cream will be at the bottom and you can just pour off the watery liquid (save this for adding to soups or smoothies)
• Place the thick, creamy part into a bowl
• Add the lemon juice, maple syrup and vanilla extract
• Use an electric whisk (or a manual one and a lot of elbow grease) to whip up the coconut cream until light and fluffy

To decorate:

• Once the cupcakes have cooled completely, use a knife or spatula to apply an even amount of frosting to each of the cupcakes
• Decorate each cupcake with a walnut half if desired
• Best when fresh, but keeps well covered in the fridge for up to a few days

Notes

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

**You can alternatively use almond flour

***You can alternatively use 200g (7oz) coconut yogurt

Top tips for making the frosting

• For super fluffy frosting, make the frosting fresh and top the cupcakes with it just before serving - the frosting does set well, however, and frosted cupcakes will keep their shape and texture for up to a few days in the fridge.
• Make sure the cupcakes have cooled completely before applying the frosting, otherwise it will melt!
• The recipe below yields a medium-sized amount of frosting per cupcake. However, if you do want to apply a generous amount of frosting (like in my photos), I’d recommend doubling the amount of frosting.

Nutrition Facts

Gluten-Free Vegan Carrot Cake Cupcakes

Amount Per Serving

Calories 312 Calories from Fat 198

% Daily Value*

Fat 22g34%

Saturated Fat 11g55%

Sodium 61mg3%

Potassium 209mg6%

Carbohydrates 28g9%

Fiber 3g12%

Sugar 12g13%

Protein 5g10%

Vitamin A 1390IU28%

Vitamin C 3mg4%

Calcium 97mg10%

Iron 2.3mg13%

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

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