Gluten Free Carrot Cake for the holidays- Yum!

Awhile ago, Abisaac made a comment about how we needed to find a use for the very very large bag of carrots that we had in our fridge. Well, you know me....I opted for a tasty dessert to use some of the carrots we had before they turned soft and bendy. I hate when that happens, ick. Plus, c'mon everyone knows that if you eat a tasty dessert that is loaded with vegetables then it means it is "healthy", right? Everyone I know is always looking for a vegetable filled fabulous desserts to accompany their heavy holiday meals so why not try this one?

I searched online to find gluten free carrot cake options that others had already mastered and came across this one that seemed easy enough for me. I admit I had never seen this website before and I will be sure to go back and read the archives to find more super fantastic recipes to try.

Gluten Free Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

Adapted from http://www.livelaugheat.com

Ingredients

Cake:

§  1 1/2 cups sugar

§  4 eggs

§  1 cup unsweetened applesauce

§  1/2 cup olive oil

§  2 tsp vanilla extract

§  2 cups all-purpose gluten free flour mix 

§  2 tsp baking soda

§  2 tsp baking powder

§  2 tsp cinnamon

§  1 tsp salt

§  1/2 cup chopped pecans (I used 1 cup)

§  1/2 cup chopped walnuts (I did not use these because of a family allergy)

§  3 cups grated carrots

Frosting:

§  4 TBSP unsalted butter

§  6 ounces cream cheese

§  1 tsp vanilla extract

§  2 1/2 cups powdered sugar (I used 2 cups)

Directions

For the cake:

Preheat oven to 350*F. Grease two cake pans or a 9″ x 13″ pan and set aside (or line 36 muffin cups). In a large mixing bowl, cream sugar and eggs with a mixer. Beat in remaining wet ingredients (oil, applesauce and vanilla) until smooth. In another large bowl, mix together dry ingredients excluding nuts and carrots (gluten-free flour mix, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon and salt). Combine wet and dry ingredients and beat until fully combined. Fold in grated carrots and nuts. Pour cake batter into greased pan(s)/muffin cups. Bake at 350*F for 40-50 minutes (less time for muffins) or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.

For the frosting:

In a large mixing bowl, beat butter, cream cheese and vanilla until smooth. Add powdered sugar and beat until smooth. Frost cake after it has cooled.

Notes from www.livelaugheat.com

1. The original recipe called for 2 cups sugar but we used less and it was still sweet. It also called for 1 1/2 cups of oil, but we subbed 1 cup applesauce and it was still delicious.

My notes:

1) I only used pecans (family allergy to walnuts) and I also only used 1 cup of icing sugar in my cream cheese frosting because it seemed good with just that much.

Gluten Free Edmonton - A Celiac guide and resource for gluten free information in Edmonton, Alberta