This is a recipe for healthier carrot cake cupcakes with cream cheese frosting. These cupcakes are super moist, delicious and cute. They are both vegan, gluten and sugar free, but still taste divine. Since they’re baked using healthier ingredients they’re good to serve both as a healthy afternoon snack or for dessert.
Who else love a good carrot cake? Or in this case carrot cake cupcakes. I do! It’s one of my favorite sweet treats. I love how the flavorful cinnamon spices cake together with sweet and juicy carrots make such a delicious combination, not to mention the lovely texture you get from the carrots. And then the frosting! The frosting is everything. But I do like my frosting less heavy and really prefer to keep them fresh and light. This carrot cake cupcake recipe is both vegan, gluten and sugar free and a healthier option than regular ones. The cupcake base is made with rice flour, out flour, apple sauce and just a little bit of olive oil. The olive oil can be replaced by more apple sauce if you prefer an oil free cake, but it will affect the texture slightly and make it a bit more yummy. The frosting is made using vegan cream cheese and vegan thick yogurt, which makes it lighter and have a fresher taste to it. Carrot Cake Cupcakes (Vegan, Gluten & Sugar Free)
A few tips:
- Make sure to really squeeze out the water from the grated carrots. Otherwise the cupcakes will turn out too wet.
- Preferably use sweeter apples for the apple sauce if making your own, since it provides sweetness to the cupcakes.
- Let the cupcakes cool down completely before adding the frosting, otherwise the frosting might melt.
- Store the cupcakes in the fridge, they are good to store for up to five days.
Ingredients for these Carrot Cake Cupcakes:
- Applesauce
- Applecider vinegar
- Olive or coconut oil
- Oat flour
- Rice flour
- Brown monk fruit sweetener
- Monk fruit sweetener
- Baking soda
- Salt
- Cinnamon
- Carrot
- Vegan cream cheese
- Vegan thick yogurt
- Stevia icing sugar
- Lemon juice
- Walnuts
Other recipes you might like:
- Mini Strawberry Cake (Vegan, Gluten, Dairy, Grain, Sugar Free)
- Cream Cheese Filled Banana Muffin Cups
- Fudgy Black Bean Cherry Brownies (Vegan, Gluten, Sugar & Oil Free)
- Pear & Pecan Muffins (Vegan, Gluten & Sugar Free, Naturally Sweetened with Fruit)
- Apple & Cinnamon Oat Muffins with Oat Crumble (Gluten & Sugar Free)
- Gingerbread Muffins with Lingonberries (Gluten & Sugar Free)
- Spiced Sheet Cake (Gluten, Sugar & Oil Free)
Carrot Cake Cupcakes (Vegan, Gluten & Sugar Free)
Ingredients
For the cupcakes
- 1 dl Unsweetened applesauce
- 2 tsp Applecider vinegar
- 1 1/2 tsp Olive oil (can be replaced by more apple sauce but it will affect the texture slightly)
- 2 tbsp Milk (I used oat milk)
- 1 1/2 dl Oat flour
- 1 1/2 dl Rice flour
- 1/2 (1/5) dl (cups) Brown monk fruit sweetener
- 3/4 (1/3) dl (cups Monk fruit sweetener
- 2/3 tsp Baking soda
- 2/3 tsp Salt
- 3 tsp Cinnamon
- 2 (2 dl) medium sized Carrots coursly grated
For the frosting
- 1 dl Vegan cream cheese
- 1 dl Vegan thick greek yogurt
- 3-5 tbsp Sugar free icing sugar (depending on how sweet you prefer your icing)
- 1/2-1 tsp Lemon juice
For the topping
- 8 Walnuts (optional) chopped
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 175 degrees Celsius.
- Prepare 8 muffin tins.
- Combine milk and apple cider vinegar
- Add apple sauce, coconut/olive oil, brown sugar, granulated sugar to a bowl and whisk until incorporated and smooth.
- Combine oat flour, rice flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon in a bowl.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet and whisk just until combined.
- Grate the carrots and squeeze out excess water.
- Fold into the batter using a spitula.
- Divide the batter between muffin cups. Place in the middle of the oven and bake for 18-21 minutes, until a inserted toothpick comes out clean.
- Remove from oven and let them cool completely.
- Make the frosting by adding all ingredients in a bowl and whisk until light and fluffy. Place in the fridge for 20 minutes, or until ready to server.
- Pip the frosting on top of each cupcake using a piping bag or just using a spoon.
- Top with chopped walnuts (if using).