These sugar free carrot cake muffins are sweetened with dried fruit and banana. Because they are made with gluten free flour and ground almonds they are suitable for anyone with coeliac disease or people following a gluten free diet.
I’ve shared an optional cream cheese frosting. This is sweetened with honey or maple syrup.
Please note that I have called these sugar free but technically they contain sugar from fruit. A true sugar free cake is impossible!
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This gluten free, dairy free and sugar free carrot cake is wonderfully moist whilst being relatively healthy. I hope you enjoy it as much as we do!
How is a carrot cake sugar free?
Well OK, I have to confess. A sugar free cake is impossible as I outlined above. But this is as close as you can get.
Rather than sweeten the carrot cake muffins with sugar I opted to use banana and dried fruits. This provides the sweetness along with a good dose of fibre. Eating fibre and sugar together (such as whole fruits) slows the digestion of carbohydrates and sugar absorption leading to more steady blood sugar levels.
It’s also why I created my wholegrain gluten free flour blend which is used in this recipe.
If you choose to make the frosting be aware that it is sweetened with a liquid sweetener like honey or maple syrup. This will increase the sugar in the recipe but can, if desired, be made just with the orange zest.
What flour do you use to make gluten free cake?
If you aren’t gluten free you can make this cake with standard wheat flour. I suggest using spelt or other equally nutritious flour.
However, for our purposes I made this cake with my wholegrain gluten free flour blend. It’s a blend of naturally gluten free wholegrain flours: teff, sorghum and buckwheat. To ensure the blend works in all baking (from bread to pastry, cakes and pasta) I also include a little naturally gluten free starch in the form of potato and tapioca.
If you’re outside the UK and can’t buy the blend then check out my online gluten free cookery courses where I show how to make it.
In addition to my flour blend I use ground almonds in this recipe for added protein and fibre, and less carbohydrate.
Why do you include flax seeds?
I’ve tried to make a really healthy carrot cake recipe that is perfect for adults, children and babies. I’ve included flax seeds because they too are a great source of dietary fibre, not to mention other health benefits.
How do you make sugar free carrot cake?
It’s a really easy recipe to make but there is one piece of equipment you are going to need; a food processor.
This chops the carrot, dried fruit and banana to make a relatively smooth cake batter. Without a food processor your cake would have whole fruit in it which may not be a problem but I haven’t tried it that way.
Frequently asked questions
Yes. You can substitute the ground almonds in the recipe for more flour
Simply substitute the flour with more ground almonds. Depending on your specific diet you may also need to remove the raising agents (bicarbonate or soda and baking powder).
I have never tried to make this recipe without eggs but it should be possible. You will need to replace the eggs with 2 additional teaspoons of ground flax seeds mixed with 6 tablespoons of water. I also suggest increasing the amount of baking powder by 1 teaspoon.
Yes, if you don’t have coconut oil or don’t want to use it feel free to swap it for butter.
I have never baked this recipe as one cake or as a carrot cake loaf or tray bake but I’m certain it’s possible. The baking time will need to increase significantly and will depend on the size and shape tin you use. If you’re making it into a tray bake it will need less cooking time than a small round cake.
Yes, if you can’t eat bananas, don’t like the flavour or simply don’t have any then replace them with 50g honey or maple syrup.
The cakes without the frosting can be stored in an airtight container for up to 4 days at room temperature.
If you are using the frosting I recommend adding it before eating the cakes because it can go a little brown over time.
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Sugar Free Carrot Cake Muffins (Gluten Free)
Ingredients
- 2 ripe bananas
- 60 g dates - pitted
- 30 g dried apricots - preferably the brown ones without sulphites
- 30 g dried mixed fruit
- 2 medium carrots
- 60 g coconut oil - I used Biona mild that doesn’t have any taste
- 2 medium eggs - ideally organic
- 1 tsp ground flax seeds
- 75 g Free From Fairy plain gluten free flour
- 75 g ground almonds
- 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp mixed spice
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
For the optional frosting
- 250 g cream cheese - make sure you use full fat
- 1 orange - zest only
- 4 tsp honey - or maple syrup
Instructions
- Grate the carrots.
- Place all the fruit and the grated carrots along with the oil and eggs into a food processor or mini chopper and leave to mix on high for a couple of minutes.
- Add all the remaining ingredients and mix for a further minute or so. By this time the carrot will be nicely chopped up and won’t be noticed!
- Spoon the mixture into cupcake cases in a muffin tray.
- Bake in a pre-heated oven at 180 degrees (160 degree fan oven), gas mark 4 for 17 – 20 minutes until springy to the touch.
- Leave to cool and add frosting if you want it. To make the frosting combine all the ingredients together in a bowl and divide between the cakes.
Sonia says
These look lovely! I am going to make these next week for the kids lunches! I’m having to stop using milk for my daughter so am finding your blog very helpful right now x
The Free From Fairy says
Great! Not that your daughter has to give up milk…that is not great at all! But I am glad that you are enjoying my recipes. Let me know how your muffins turn out and when the kids liked them. I am about to make another batch…the perfect ‘healthy’ treat for lunchboxes or hungry kids at hometime!
Michelle Twin Mum says
Ohh yum and the honey cream cheese frosting sounds divine too. Mich x
The Free From Fairy says
Mmm, next batch is going to have the frosting too…just for a bit of naughtyness…although to be honest they don’t need it!
Mel says
These muffins look delicious, Vicki! Next time I see you, can you bring some along please? x
The Free From Fairy says
Give them a go! They seriously take about 5 mins to prep and you won’t regret it!
The Free From Fairy says
Ah, thanks! We are crumble addicts at the moment!! Had it again last night with lovely blackberries from the park!
Dave says
Hey Vicki I am still new to this whole thing of baking for yourself, can you tell me where I’d normally be able to get ground flax seeds and coconut oil? I’d love to make a carrot cake proper, my additional difficulty is I have to avoid cows milk, but can get by with goats. IN cakes this can make them taste as good as the ‘normal’ version. Do you have a way to make this into a normal tin carrot cake. When I make stuff my family loves it, even though I’m the only Coeliac, a tinned Carrot cake would probably last a bit longer than individual cakes ;-).
Thanks again
The Free From Fairy says
Hi Dave, so glad you are starting to experiment with baking for yourself…you will get some great tasting cakes compared with what you can buy! If you have any questions then just ask. And don’t expect everything to go well the first time!! We all have bad days (am having one today for some reason!). I buy linseeds from Tesco (in wholefood section) and grind them into a powder with my coffee grinder, then keep in the freezer to retain the nutrients. You can buy milled linseeds or flaxseeds (same thing but called different things sometimes!) from supermarkets too. I buy my coconut oil from Amazon. I get the Biona brand and if you don’t like the taste of coconut you can use their ‘cuisine’ one which has no flavour! With this recipe you could just sub this for sunflower oil…the reason I use coconut (only virgin) is because it has many health benefits. This recipe has no dairy in it, apart from the icing so I would go with this recipe but put the mixture in a round or square tin and bake for about 40 mins (you will need to check on it – it may need more – you will know it is done when a skewer comes out clean. You could ice it with a mixture of icing sugar and lemon or orange juice – make it quite thick so it stays on the top. I think that would be lovely…or just have it without icing (which is what we have and it is delicious!). Let me know how you get on!
Dave says
Wow thanks for the comprehensive response, and the tips. Great help thanks for the inspiration and encouragement 😉
D.
The Free From Fairy says
You are welcome!
Michelle Murray says
Wow these look delicious. I do have a weak spot for a piece of cake cake!
The Free From Fairy says
…and this is healthy carrot cake…really!! They are so moist you would never know they didn’t have sugar in. Let me know if you make them!
Honest Mum says
Will be trying these without the nuts, utterly scrumptious! Thanks for linking up to #tastytuesdays
The Free From Fairy says
Oh yes, they would work fine without the nuts…just use flour instead…oat flour would be good. I only put nuts in to add protein 😉
The Free From Fairy says
Oh yes! If I can make cake and make it even a little bit healthy then I do!! 😉
Helen at Casa Costello says
Brilliant recipe – I love the fact that these will taste delicious but be healthy too. Thanks so much for joining in with #Bakeoftheweek – great to have you part of the team x
The Free From Fairy says
Ah thanks Helen. I will to remember to drop by again soon!
Xeni says
Made these this afternoon with the honey cream cheese icing. Very possibly the best cakes I’ve ever made, thank you! I don’t bother looking elsewhere now for cake recipes – free from fairy ones are always brilliant and always turn out really well.
Vicki Montague says
Ah thank you!! I honestly didn’t pay her to say that although she is a friend of mine ;)! Thanks for your very sweet message – it has perked my day up!
Lou, Eat Your Veg says
How lovely to see cakes totally sweetened naturally with dried fruits and zero added sugar! That’s one impressive recipe and very fitting for January’s ‘Family Foodies’ ‘Healthy Kids’ event.
Vicki Montague says
Thanks Lou! They are super scrummy too!