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This keto carrot cake recipe is moist, fluffy, and made in just one bowl! Simple ingredients and easy to prepare, it is a low carb dessert that is sure to impress!
Cake is something that should be part of any diet out there.
As someone who follows a low carb diet, desserts are something I continue to enjoy on a regular basis. There is an unfair stigma that cake is a high carb dessert. When made with sugar and flour, that is the case. However, with a few simple swaps, you can replicate many popular cakes without all the carbs.
My favorites include a German chocolate cake, lemon cake, and a carrot cake.
Are carrots keto friendly?
Carrots are one of the higher carb vegetables. Per one cup serving, there are 9 grams of net carbs.
While eating carrots alone on a keto diet isn’t recommended, you can add into recipes without affecting the carb count too much. One delicious way to use it is in a carrot cake…low carb style!
Why you’ll love this keto carrot cake recipe–
- Just 3 grams net carbs. Each slice yields less than 3 grams of carbs, so no fears of kicking yourself out of ketosis.
- Made in one bowl. No multiple mixing bowls or kitchen mixers are required.
- No coconut flour. Unlike other low carb desserts, this cake doesn’t use any coconut flour. Instead, we use almond flour!
The texture of the cake is super moist and fluffy, with a tender crumb, and the frosting is creamy. The cake is sweet and with hints of spice, without being overpowering. This is the kind of cake that will have people sneaking a second slice, keto diet or not!
How do you make a low carb carrot cake?
The Ingredients
- Almond flour- It is best to use blanched almond flour, not almond meal. While the latter can be used, you’ll need to adjust the cooking time to avoid the cake sinking in the middle.
- Baking powder and baking soda- A combination of the baking powder and soda is used to give the cake some fluffiness and rise.
- Cinnamon and nutmeg- A mix of the two spices are necessary for any good carrot cake!
- Salt- Brings out the sweetness of all the other ingredients.
- Eggs- Room temperature eggs. If you’d like to make this eggless, try one of these substitutes.
- Granulated sweetener of choice- I used a brown sugar substitute, but allulose will also work.
- Vanilla extract- A must for any excellent cake!
- Oil- Any neutral flavored oil can be used. I used vegetable oil, but canola and avocado oil can also be used.
- Carrots- Finely shredded carrots.
- Shredded coconut- Unsweetened shredded coconut flakes or finely milled coconut flakes (desiccated/macaron style) can be used.
- Shredded Apple- While apples are not technically keto, a small amount is used to give extra moisture and sweetness to the cake. It’s a replacement for pineapple, which is extremely high in carbs. If you are worried about using apples, you can also use shredded zucchini.
- Walnuts- Optional, but gives some delicious crunch throughout.
- Cream cheese frosting- I used a simple keto frosting.
The Instructions
Prepare the cake batter: Start by mixing your dry ingredients in a mixing bowl. Add the wet ingredients and mix-ins and mix until a smooth batter remains.
Bake the cake: grease two 8-inch cake pans and lightly dust with extra almond flour. Evenly distribute the cake batter amongst the two pans and bake for 30-35 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean.
Cool the cake: Let the cakes cool completely.
Frost, layer, and decorate: layer the cake with the frosting and let sit for 30 minutes, before serving.
Tips for success
- For decorative purposes, I made this an 8-layer cake. None of the proportions change, each cake was just sliced into 4 thin pieces.
- Greasing and dusting the pan with flour prior to adding in the batter is important to ensure the cake can easily be removed.
- Avoid over-baking the cake, as it continues to cook as it is cooling down.
Storing and freezing instructions
- To store: The cake should be stored in the refrigerator, covered, to ensure it does not become soggy in the middle and dry around the sides. The cake will keep fresh for up to 1 week.
- To freeze: Place slices of the carrot cake in a sealable container and store in the freezer for up to 6 months.
More keto cake recipes to try
Frequently Asked Questions
Each slice of this almond flour carrot cake has just 3 grams of net carbs.
Contrary to popular belief, carrot cake is not healthier than a traditional cake. It can contain just as much fat (or carbs) as one another.
If you don’t want to use carrots, you can use shredded zucchini (with moisture squeezed out) and add carrot extract. The carrot extract has no carbs or sugar, but adds a delicious carrot flavor.
You can try an egg substitute or make a vegan carrot cake.
Keto Carrot Cake
Ingredients
- 3 cups almond flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 5 large eggs
- 1 1/2 cups granulated sweetener of choice I used keto brown sugar, but erythritol or monk fruit sweetener can be used
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup oil I used canola oil but any neutral flavored oil can be used.
- 2 cups carrots shredded, approximately 3 large ones
- 1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
- 1/2 cup apple shredded, approximately 1 large apple * See notes
- 1/2 cup walnuts chopped
- 1-2 cups cream cheese frosting
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180C/350F. Grease two 8-inch cake pans with cooking spray and lightly dust it with almond flour.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine your almond flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt, and mix well. In a separate bowl, using a stick mixer, beat together the eggs and sweetener until smooth and almost double in size. Add in the vanilla extract. In a third bowl, whisk together the rest of the ingredients, until combined.
- Fold through the dry ingredients into the egg/sweetener/vanilla mixture, until just combined. Add the remaining ingredients and mix until fully incorporated.
- Distribute the cake batter amongst the two cake pans and bake for 30-35 minutes, or until a skewer comes out mostly clean.
- Let the cakes cool for 10 minutes, before carefully turning them on to a wire rack to cool completely. Once cool, layer and frost, before letting it sit for 30 minutes, before serving.
Flourless? First ingredient, oat flour 🙁
Hi! It definitely is flourless- They are rolled oats ground to a ‘flour’ so still flourless 🙂
This looks great – I’m waiting for the flourless version, have you posted it yet? Thanks!!
Hi Margaret- This is flourless 🙂 The ‘oat flour’ is rolled oats ground to a flour! Enjoy!
Approx how many servings does this make? And/or what size pan did you use? Would love to make these soon but I want to know how much to expect. Thank you!!
Hi there! I’m so sorry for not including it- I made around 9-10 solid slices- It really depends on how much you’d like to eat! As for pan size- I used an 8 x 8 for thick, hearty pieces 🙂
I haven’t found a protein powder with a flavor that I love. Most I just barely tolerate. So I get hesitant on recipes that use a lot of protein powder for the main flavor. Can you vouch for the ones you linked to? Are they yummy?
Hi Joanie! For sure- I LOVE casein protein powder because they don’t taste like grass- Have you tried Quest protein powders? They have single serve sachets so you can try it out! The vanilla one is SO good as a frosting 🙂
This looks fantastic. I’m ALWAYS up for cake.
Could I use a liquid sweetener (ie maple syrup and/or honey) in place of the granulated sweetener? If so, would I need to adjust the amounts/ratios of the dry ingredients?
Hi Kristyn! I’ve not tried it that way, but I don’t see it not working- You’ll need to play around with the flours a little bit- I’d add more oat flour 🙂
Can I substitute the oat flour for a paleo flour?
Hi Leela! I’ve never tried that before- I’m sorry! Let me know how it works! 🙂
I’m going to try a blend of almond and oat flours, with some tapioca starch mixed in for texture. It may work for people that are sensitive to a lot of oats. A bowl of oatmeal for breakfast ruins my entire day, but a little in granola bars is ok. The recipe sounds amazing, I wonder if you could also do zucchini instead of carrots? I’ll post the results as soon as I can in case anyone else is curious. Thanks!
Hi Danielle! That would be amazing if you can let me know- I’m currently working on a paleo/grain free option for this!
This would totally work with zucchini 🙂
My thoughts exactly when I make a bowl of oatmeal. Annnd I’m hungry again.
I have about 70 baby carrots from a recent Costco run…I wonder how many of these that could contribute to?
OMG. I once finished a whole bag of those.
Woah CAKE for breakfast? Diet has really become a matter of balance for me too. I can’t really do ‘high protein’ or high fat or high carb, because it throws off the whole system. I had Amanda’s mug cake for lunch the other day. Now, I know what’s next for breakfast, hopefully, soon. You literally have such a gift for making familiar baked goods, allergen friendly, and making them look EXACTLY like the original. This is incredible. 🙂
Please do- I think you’d really enjoy this, Emily!
I absolutely agree that you need a balance. I find that I work best with moderate amounts of everything–maybe I eat high everything because I eat so much sweet potatoes, dark chocolate, peanut butter, and Greek yogurt lol! Anyways, this carrot cake is DA BOMB BABY. I mean, carrot cake for breakfast??? Could you really top that?
YES. Just wait until next week. I have a freezer full for you 😀
Is this real life? Can I really have cake for breakfast and NOT go into a sugar coma at 8AM? And will it also keep me fuller for longer than the 30 minutes it takes me to get dressed for the day? Because that would be awesome.
Sign me up for this stuff! Though I may need to double the frosting…you know, for experimental purposes [or to spoon straight into my mouth].
YES! You’ll love this, it’s so good!
How is this even possible!!! Followed the recipe exactly and not only did the cake not turn out at allllll the icing just got thicker when I added milk to “thin out”. Actually so mad with wasting all my expensive healthy ingredients on this!!!!
Hi Mack- I’m sorry to hear it didn’t work out- I’m really not sure how this would have failed if you followed it exactly, it’s been made by many people since posting and even shared on social media- In fact, it’s gotten rave reviews so could you be more specific and I can try to troubleshoot? Or feel free to send an email!
It’s so fluffy I am gonna die!
I am uninspired with my breakfasts lately. Sometimes I even skip them and make a smoothie in the office. I need to find something that works better than this though. Just like you the most satisfying for me is a good mixture of fats, carbs and protein and when I neglect one of the three I usually tend to catch up on this on with what I crave later the day. And this can be ugly ;-P
I am with you on the coffee – but you know that already!
SO FLUFFY. But you shall never try it because you need to be my guinea pig and no more carrot for some time.
I love carrot cake, so I will be trying this soon! Instead of frosting, I will make a glaze with Swerve confectioner style sweetener.
Ohh such a good idea, Joanne! 🙂
Mmm YES PLEASE. I friggin love carrot cake – that’s what I usually get my mom to make for my birthday cake. Although cheesecake is always a contender too.
I tend to have oatmeal made with milk, egg whites, chia seeds, and cinnamon topped with banana and almond butter for breakfast. It has just the right mix of carbs, fat, and protein to keep me going!
Ohhhh what a pimped up bowl of oats. Why not the whole egg Chelsea? HUH? What did the yolk ever do to you. Mean mango.
^^^What she said. Think I can sneak carrots out of the d-hall for this?
Also, the more I learn about nutrition, the more I realize how complicated we make eating macros. BALANCE is something so hard to grasp for whatever reason. Sure, you might have more of one macro than others, but you really do need enough of all of them.
Love, I think you were smoking something naughty today.
Holy shitballs, Arman. I want this in my face IMMEDIATELY. I can’t believe it’s healthy!
Wash your mouth out with a lemon.
Just kidding, keep it coming! haha!