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When I posted a keto cream cheese frosting recipe, and mentioned that I had plans to use it more, I got so many recipe requests. Many of you asked for the exact one I was planning: Keto carrot cake! So here it is — my low carb, sugar free carrot cake — just in time for spring around the corner. This ultra moist, spiced cake is the perfect keto dessert after a main course like glazed keto ham, and it’s tasty enough to serve your whole family, even if they aren’t low carb. Make this keto carrot cake recipe with me in less than an hour!
Why You Need My Keto Carrot Cake Recipe
- Sweet and soft, with creamy, tangy frosting – This cake has super fluffy, moist layers packed with spiced flavor and grated carrots, all layered with smooth cream cheese frosting. Unlike many low carb versions, I even found a way to incorporate the pineapple and brown sugar flavors the classic version often has — without actually using either of those ingredients. 😉
- Keto friendly and gluten free – My keto carrot cake has just 5.5 grams of net carbs per slice! And you’d never know by how it tastes.
- Perfect for spring – Serve it for Easter, Passover, Mother’s Day, or any birthday celebration. Even my friends and family who aren’t keto rave about this cake!
Ingredients & Substitutions
Here I explain the best ingredients for my low carb carrot cake recipe, what each one does, and substitution options. For measurements, see the recipe card.
- Wholesome Yum Blanched Almond Flour – This is my MVP of keto baking. It’s superfine, so it tastes and acts closer to all-purpose flour than many brands that turn out too coarse. Coconut flour won’t work here, as the cake will get too dry, and almond meal will be grainy.
- Besti Monk Fruit Allulose Blend – I created this sweetener because I hated how most brands made my baked goods dry, plus they left an aftertaste, resisted dissolving, and would crystallize later. Besti is sweet like sugar without any of these issues (and zero net carbs), but what I love most about it here is that it makes this keto carrot cake so incredibly moist. Notes on alternatives:
- You can check my sweetener conversion chart if you want to use plain allulose, which will have the same effect.
- This recipe does somewhat work with other brands of monk fruit or stevia (use the same chart above to convert), but be aware that virtually all these other sugar substitutes are erythritol-based, so they’ll make your cake more dry.
- Shredded Carrots – Grate them fresh, because pre-shredded ones are too dry. Carrots are not keto friendly on their own, but are fine to use in recipes like this where the amount per serving is small.
- Butter – I love this brand. You can use coconut oil for a dairy-free option, but it’s not quite the same.
- Eggs – They hold the cake together. Flax eggs or another egg substitute for baking should work, but the cake will fall apart more easily.
- Basic Flavor Boosters – Vanilla extract and cinnamon for their flavor, and sea salt to balance the sweetness. Feel free to add other warm spices, like nutmeg or ground ginger, if you like.
- Optional Flavor Boosters – I add blackstrap molasses and this pineapple extract to replicate the flavor of brown sugar and pineapple commonly found in traditional carrot cake recipes, without any significant carb difference. (Yes, molasses is sugar, but the tiny amount here adds up to like a drop in each serving.) You can skip these add-ins, but they do improve the flavor. You can also replace 1/4 to 1/2 cup of Besti (above) with Besti Brown Sweetener to achieve that brown sugar flavor without molasses.
- Baking Powder – I like this non-GMO brand. Don’t use baking soda, which is not the same.
- Pecans – They go inside the keto carrot cake and also on top. I like these that come already chopped. Walnuts also work well.
- Frosting – Double up my sugar free cream cheese frosting recipe to layer and top your cake.
Free Printable: Low Carb & Keto Food List
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How To Make Keto Carrot Cake
I have step-by-step photos here to help you visualize the recipe. For full instructions with amounts and temperatures, see the recipe card.
- Cream the butter and Besti. Use a hand mixer to cream them together in a large bowl. I have this mixer and love the built-in storage, as well as the multiple speeds.
- Beat in the other wet ingredients. Add the molasses, vanilla extract, pineapple extract, and eggs one at a time.
- Mix the dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, mix together the almond flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and sea salt. I like to use a whisk to break up any lumps.
- Stir the wet and dry ingredients together. The batter will be pretty thick — this is normal.
- Add grated carrots and chopped pecans. Just fold them in.
- Transfer the batter to two cake pans. Make sure to line the bottom with parchment paper first, then spoon the keto carrot cake batter into them and smooth the tops.
- Bake until golden. The cake is ready when the top springs back, and a toothpick comes out clean. I usually cool them in the pan for ten minutes, then a wire rack afterward.
- Make the frosting. While the cake layers bake, whip up my sugar free cream cheese frosting — make sure to double the recipe to have enough.
- Layer, layer, layer. Once the layers reach room temperature, frost the bottom layer, stack the other on top, and frost again. You can frost the sides if you have enough frosting. Sprinkle with more crunchy pecans to finish!
My Recipe Tips
- The wet ingredients may separate if they sit for some time while you mix the dry ingredients. If this happens, just beat the wet ingredients again briefly before combining the wet and dry. Alternatively, you can whisk together the dry ingredients first.
- To measure the flour, scoop into your measuring cup and level with a knife. Don’t pack it down, which will get you too much flour and a dry cake.
- Pineapple extracts can vary in intensity, and some brands bake away. I use and recommend this brand that works well in this keto carrot cake recipe.
- Scrape down the sides of the bowl as you go. You don’t want any chunks of butter or dry clumps in your cake.
- You can grate the carrots fine or coarse, depending on your texture preference. I usually go with coarse for a heartier feel, but if you want a sturdier sugar free carrot cake, finely grated works best. This box grater I have is super sturdy and works great for both, or sometimes I use my food processor with the grating attachment.
- Loosely pack the carrots when measuring. Don’t press them down, or you’ll have too much. Too much carrot can mess with the texture. You don’t usually need to drain them, but if they are very wet, I give them a squeeze before adding to the batter.
- Use springform pans for easy release. Any cake pans you’ve got will work, but springform is easier. If you’re using regular pans and the edges are stuck after baking, just run a knife along the edge to release them after 10 minutes.
- These precut parchment paper rounds are super convenient. I love them rounds because I don’t have to cut them and they lay flat.
- Make sure your frosting is at room temperature. I like to make it ahead and store it in the fridge, but always let it come to room temp before using. It’s very stiff out of the fridge and can tear the delicate keto carrot cake.
- Doubling my frosting makes enough for between the layers and the top. If you want to frost the sides, I recommend tripling my frosting recipe. (And if you end up with extra, it’s amazing on my keto chocolate mug cake!)
- Want keto carrot cake muffins? You can find that version in my Easy Keto Cookbook. Or turn them into cupcakes by adding the frosting.
More Low Carb Cake Recipes
If you like my keto carrot cake recipe, try some of my other low carb cakes this spring:
Keto Carrot Cake (Moist, Fluffy Recipe)
By
My best keto carrot cake recipe! This moist, fluffy cake with almond flour is low carb and sugar free, but tastes like the regular kind.
Instructions
[ See step photos See my tips ]Tap on the times in the instructions to start a kitchen timer.
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Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (177 degrees C). Line two 9 in (23 cm) round cake pans with parchment paper. (Use springform pans if you have them.) Grease the bottom and sides.
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In a large bowl, use a hand mixer to cream together the butter and Besti, until fluffy. Beat in the molasses (if using), vanilla extract, and pineapple extract (if using). Beat in the eggs, one at a time. Set aside.
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In another bowl, mix together the almond flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and sea salt. Stir the dry ingredients into the bowl with the wet ingredients.
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Fold in the grated carrots, then 1 cup (99 g) of the chopped pecans. Reserve the remaining 1/2 cup (48.5 g) of pecans for later.
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Transfer the batter evenly among the two prepared baking pans. Bake for 25-30 minutes, swapping the positions of the pans halfway through, until the cakes are golden brown and an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
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Let the cakes cool in the pans for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
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Meanwhile, make the keto cream cheese frosting here. (Double the recipe by entering "12" into the box for # of servings on that page.)
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When the cake has cooled to room temperature, place the bottom layer on a plate or cake stand. Frost, then add the top layer and frost again. Top with the remaining chopped pecans.
Did you make it? Leave a review or tag me @wholesomeyum on Instagram!
Maya’s Recipe Notes
Serving size: 1 slice, or 1/16 of the entire recipe
- Tips: Check out my recipe tips above to help you avoid common pitfalls, like dry cake, soggy carrots, or stiff frosting. I also have notes that make this recipe easier, and a variation to make muffins.
- Store or make ahead: I almost always make this keto carrot cake the day before! Just cover it gently and keep in the fridge. It’s best within a couple days to serve for an occasion, but leftovers may last up to a week.
- Freeze: Freeze the cake uncovered first, until the frosting is solid. Then, wrap tightly in plastic wrap and keep in the freezer for up to 3 months. Thaw in the fridge overnight.
- Note on nutrition info: This cake is very rich, so I made the serving size pretty small. The nutrition facts here do include the frosting, based on a doubled amount of my sugar-free cream cheese frosting recipe. You can enjoy a larger serving if it fits your macros (and I did slice it a bit larger for my photos), but I find just a thin slice very filling and satisfying!
📖 Want more recipes like this? Find this one and many more in my Spring Ebook Bundle!
I provide nutrition facts as a courtesy. Have questions about calculations or why you got a different result? Please see my nutrition policy.
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Keto Carrot Cake
517 Comments
Luther McNabb
0Can you freeze this cake? There are only 2 of us. Thanks. My husband loved his birthday cake!!!!!!
Denise
0How big are they and do they rise or are they kinda flat? I’m going to try and make cupcakes for a birthday with this.
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Hi Luther, Yes, you can freeze it. So nice of you to make this homemade birthday cake for him!
Matt
0Hi! The recipe looked great and the cake tasted great, too. However, one of my pans crumbled when I tried to invert after cooling. Would you know why? Also I had to spoon the batter into the pan, wasn’t that liquidy to pour itself on to the pan. Pretty sure I followed the recipe to a t. Any insight would be helpful! Thanks!
Conni Taz
0This was absolutely delicious. Best keto dessert I’ve had. I was wondering if you ever substituted the carrots for zucchini to lower the net carbs? Thanks so much for posting this recipe it is incredible
Heather
0Aahhh! I was wondering the same thing! I actually froze some from the summer, salted and drained already. I’m going to thaw and drain them and try it….stay tuned
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Thank you, Conni! I haven’t tried it with zucchini. It might work, but you’d have to sprinkle it with salt, let it drain over the sink, and then squeeze out the extra moisture before using it in the cake. Zucchini has higher water content than carrots.
Michelle
0Hi Maya, I love your recipe! I made these into cupcakes and they were sooooooooooooo delicious and well received by everyone who tried them!
Angela Madden
0So darn good! I LOVE this recipe!! Really craving carrot cake and made this recipe with ingredients as is, except I made a 9×13 pan size. Thank you so very much it’s DELICIOUS
Jeanna
0How long did you bake it in the 13 x 9 pan; and did you need to double the frosting (as called for in the 2-layer version)?
Thank you!
Celeste Glass
0Hi there, looks like the best recipe I’ve seen so far. One question, can I replace the erythritol with xylitol? I just can’t handle the taste of erythritol.
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Hi Celeste, Yes, you can do that! You’d need a little less – check the low carb sweetener conversion calculator here.
Simone Hrycenko
0Outstanding carrot cake – as good as any I have had. Thank-you for taking the time to craft and share this recipe. Mine turned out moist, not crumbly. Almost seemed better the second day after it had time to rest and meld. I added some orange zest (1tsp) to the icing and it went over well. I used the “Golden” monkfruit sweetner by Lakanto in the cake, and their powdered monkfruit sweetner in the icing. Flour was the extra fine almond flour offered at Costco. We have been eating keto for nearly two years; this recipe definitely elevated my dessert game.
Tara
0Hi Maya, I’m about to bake this recipe and was wondering if you have tried a version replacing eggs. I know of “flaxseed eggs”, but have recently used this version and the cake was a disaster (not your recipe). Thank you
Tara
0Thanks so much for responding, I’ll give it a go and see how it turns out in the next few days.
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Hi Tara, Sorry, I haven’t tried it without eggs. The substitutes I’ve seen people use are flax eggs or chia eggs, but can’t say how it would turn out for this recipe.
Jodie Palasantza
0I only have one cake tin. Would this recipe work as one big cake rather than two layers if I increase the cooking time?
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Hi Jodie, You could do that, but you may need to cover the top part-way through to avoid burning the top before the center is done baking. You could also try making it in a 9×13 pan, cut that in half, and then stack the two halves to make a square cake. Of course baking time would still need adjustment with any pan different from the size the recipe is written for.
Mj Rad
0This recipe is divine. I made this for my husband’s birthday and it tasted like a normal carrot cake. Everyone was happy and cannot believe it was a keto cake. No modification with the recipe but I may try to put xantham gum for the cake not to be crumbly. Again, thanks for the recipe.
Magda
0I made this carrot cake for Christmas. It is awesome. I doubled the recipe to make one big cake, substituted pecans with chopped walnuts, used ground almonds and omitted molases and pineapple exctract but added instead gingerbread spices. Purely because I used what I already had in my pantry. Usually, the pictures in recipes are far better then the final product when you do it at home. Not this time! I think mine was even more impressive! Keto or no keto this carrot cake it’s just perfect. Dense, moist, sweet, full of flavour. Thank you so much for sharing this recipe.
Karen
0I have looked at the “sugar” replacement charts. They don’t help me. I cannot buy erythritol where I am but stevia is everywhere and I don’t like the aftertaste. I need a sweetener that doesn’t spike insulin – so no coconut sugar. Today I found monk fruit powder. How do I replace the erythritol in your recipe with monk fruit? Thank you for this site.
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Hi Karen, The amount of monk fruit depends on the brand; some are pure whereas others contain other ingredients. You don’t need to use the chart, just use the conversion calculator here.
Karen
0Thank you. As noted in the email reply, the conversion chart does not list powdered stevia. It works better if the TYPE of sweetener was listed, alphabetically, then by product. Thus: erythritol – , Monk fruit – Lakanto, Stevia -liquid stevia – dry, Xylitol – etc.
Jared
0Awesome recipe, thanks for sharing. My girlfriend is okay with a little crushed pineapple, so how much pineapple should we add in place of subtracting some erythritol??
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Hi Jared, I haven’t tried it so can’t say for sure. Most likely you’d need to make multiple adjustments to the recipe, because replacing some erythritol with pineapple would make the batter more runny, and the cake might not set.
April Abbott
0I am very impressed. Husband is keto and carrot cake is his favorite dessert. I’m sugar-free and low carb also so this recipe pleased us both. I omitted the molasses. Added a tsp of xantham gum. Also, I added a 1/4 cup of no sugar added applesauce for sweetness and moisture and 1/4 tsp of nutmeg. (something I always did to my regular carrot cake in the past). Interestingly, initially, I was not impressed. It didn’t quite taste sweet enough and was kind of so-so when we tried to dig in the first night. Husband loved it immediately though. But today, after letting it sit overnight, the flavor really comes through and it is very moist and flavorful. So sitting for a while really helped. I do like my carrot cake a little on the spicy side, so next time I will probably add a little more cinnamon. Overall a great recipe that I will share with my keto and paleo friends. Thanks so much!
Jeannie
0My husband is diabetic and I am always on the hunt for desserts for family gatherings. This one was Awesome! I often stay away from almond flour (he doesn’t like almonds) but thought the carrots might counter balance it. I did make a few modifications because of that too. I substituted a cup of almond flour for 1/4 c. Coconut flour, 2 additional eggs, 1/4 c. Butter, and 1/4 c. sweetner. (They are such different flours). …the modification was successful and helped lighten the almond taste I try to avoid.
He often cringed when I try a new recipe because we have had some bad ones, but he loves this one. Moist, good flavor. Nice to provide a dessert that everyone can enjoy that he doesn’t feel left out.
LeeAnn Anderson
0Looks amazing. If making as cupcakes, would you modify anything other than maybe the cooking time?
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Thank you, LeeAnn! You should be able to keep everything the same if making cupcakes, just reduce the baking time. I suppose the amount of frosting needed might be different, too.
Beth
0oooh nice one. I’m not a very good baker so it always feels miraculous when something turns out nicely- especially something I can actually eat on my weird diet! It was gorgeously moist and dense. The cakes were pretty thin by the time i split the batter (though that was fine for what I needed). Next time I might experiment with tin sizes.
I layered it with very thin slices of orange and coconut yogurt <3 this cake LOVED the orange!
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0I am so happy you liked the cake, Beth! Thanks for stopping by!
Joanie McCann
0I followed the recipe but didn’t have almond flour. I used coconut flour. It came out like cookie dough instead of batter! How could I thin it out?
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Hi Joanie, Sorry, coconut flour doesn’t work well in this recipe at all. As you found, it’s very drying and requires a totally different recipe, but even then you get a more dense result. You could try adding a bunch of eggs and milk, but that would throw off the sweetener balance. You really need a coconut flour recipe if you’d like to use that. Hope you’ll try this again with almond flour.
Carole
0Maya, I love this carrot cake recipe. The first time I made it, I cut the recipe in half because it is just me and I don’t need a big cake. I made the cream cheese frosting and it was delicious. Since then, I discovered I need to stay away from dairy. I decided to make this cake again only this time I invented a glaze to put on it. I use both the molasses and pineapple extract (which I could find anywhere and I ordered it online). For the glaze for half the cake: 1/4C coconut oil, 1/4C coconut butter, 1T powdered erythritol and 1/8 tsp pineapple extract. Melt the coconut oil and butter in a pan, add erythritol, take off heat, add pineapple extract and pour onto cake and spread around. Top with unsweetened shredded coconut. SO DELICIOUS!
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0I am happy you liked the cake, Carole! Thanks for stopping by!
Mike
0Hello, My wife is on this keto kick and usually, I would make the southern fatty carrot cake but not this year. 🙂 I did omit the 1 tbsp blackstrap molasses and pineapple extract. The molasses creates a flavor I don’t care for in carrot cake and I used 1/4 a real pineapple that was cut into 1/4 inch sheets and slightly dehydrated in a convection oven @ 400 for 10 minutes. I let them cool and cubed to 1/4 inch, roughly 1 cup. I also cut the cinnamon down to 1 tsp, cut the carrots down to 2 cups and used multi-colored heirloom ones. The interior pecans were cut down to 1/2 cup to make room for the pineapple and 1 cup coconut rough fresh flakes.
The cakes took me 38 minutes to pull a toothpick clean but never got a springy top like you would on bread… I would think if you cooked to get that result it would be well overcooked. Oh yes, I also replaced the vanilla extract with vanilla paste in the cake and frosting. In the frosting, I did not add any cream as the texture felt right for a cream cheese butter frosting but I did add 1 additional cup of the powdered erythritol as the sweet taste was not there for me. I let you know how this goes over in a few…
Thanks for the inspiration.
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Thank you for sharing, Mike! I can’t say how it would turn out with all those modifications, but please let us know how it went.