Gluten-Free Vegan Carrot Cake Cupcakes

Here’s why you need these Gluten-Free Vegan Carrot Cake Cupcakes in your life. They’re:

• super moist
• full of flavour
• slathered with a delicious cream cheese frosting!

My Tropical Carrot Cake was very popular, so I decided it was time to make more carrot cake recipes. And I hadn’t made any gluten-free vegan 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.

The base of these Gluten-Free Vegan Carrot Cake Cupcakes is my favourite sponge recipe – it comes together in one bowl, requires only familiar ingredients, and is seriously moist. It also happens to be refined sugar free and the ground almonds not only create a wonderfully fluffy texture, but also add fibre and protein.

For the topping, I went for coconut whipped cream mixed with lemon juice and maple syrup, a combination that creates a slightly tart, perfectly sweet, cream cheese-like frosting.

I hope you’ll love these Gluten-Free Vegan Carrot Cake Cupcakes! For more cakes, check out my:

• Lemon Blueberry Cake
• Cherry Bakewell Cake
• Black Forest Cake
• Lemon Drizzle Cake
• Peanut Butter Chocolate 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 on Instagram! Thank you.

Helpful tools to make these Gluten-Free Vegan Carrot Cake Cupcakes:

For the cupcakes:

glass mixing bowl

box grater

measuring jug

muffin/cupcake tin

cooling rack

For the frosting:

electric whisk

palette knife for frosting

Gluten-Free Vegan Carrot Cake Cupcakes

These Gluten-Free Vegan Carrot Cake Cupcakes are super moist, full of flavour and slathered with a delicious cream cheese frosting.

4.58 from 7 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: 274kcal

Author: Rhian Williams

Ingredients

For the cupcakes:

• 60 g (1/4 cup) coconut oil (or sub olive or vegetable oil)
• 230 ml (1 cup) unsweetened almond milk (or any other plant-based milk)
• Juice of 1/2 lemon*
• 8 tablespoons maple syrup (or sub any other sweetener)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon mixed spice (or sub a mixture of nutmeg, cinnamon and cloves)
• Pinch of salt
• 100 g (3.5oz) grated carrot (one medium-sized carrot)
• 50 g (1/3 cup) raisins or sultanas
• 30 g (1/4 cup) walnuts, roughly chopped
• 150 g (1 1/4 cup) ground almonds** (almond meal)
• 150 g (1 1/4 cup) gluten-free flour blend (or sub plain flour if not gluten-free)
• 2 heaped teaspoons baking power (ensure gluten-free if necessary)
• 1/4 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)

For the frosting:

• 400 g (14oz) tin of full-fat coconut milk***
• Juice of 1/2 lemon
• 2 tablespoons maple syrup (or sub any other sweetener)
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

To decorate:

• 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, transfer cupcakes onto a wire rack 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
• 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

Nutrition Facts

Gluten-Free Vegan Carrot Cake Cupcakes

Amount Per Serving

Calories 274

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

Made the recipe?Tag @rhiansrecipes on instagram and use the hashtag #rhiansrecipes!

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