Best Low Carb Carrot Cake With Cream Cheese Frosting

The best low-carb carrot cake recipe with cream cheese frosting is great to have around and stored in the referigerator. I think it makes the perfect breakfast with a cup of coffee. Cake pans, in my opinion, are a personal choice and depend on how you’d like to serve the cake. I made this in a 9″ X 13″ pan but have also used a quarter sheet pan and cut it into squares that I can easily store in the refrigerator. The recipe uses almond flour instead of all-purpose flour and there’s half a cup of chopped nuts in this recipe too. So if you’re doing a low-carb or keto diet, this is a fun breakfast, snack, or dessert.

Chill this carrot cake and it’s like a bar

When chilled, it’s almost like a bar. It’s pretty dense but in a good way. This time, I saved a few of the chopped nuts and sprinkled them on top.

What makes this carrot cake low carb compared to regular carrot cake?

I’m by no means a nutritional information expert, however, I did learn that blanched almond flour has fewer carbohydrates than all purpose flour. For instance, 1/4 cup of blanched almond flour has 6 grams of carbs and 3 grams of fiber so it has 3 grams of net carbs. And 1/4 cup of all purpose flour has nearly 24 grams of carbs and less than 1 gram of fiber.

What’s the difference between almond flour and almond meal?

Both flour and meal are made from almonds. But almond meal is made from unpeeled almonds and almond flour is made from blanched almonds. And the grain size in almond meal is not as fine as almond flour. The color is different as well because the skin is left on in almond meal. I’ve used both in making this cake without a real noticeable difference.

How long will this carrot cake last?

Assuming you exercise some self control (although I can’t promise I will) and aren’t having a lot of people over, stored properly the carrot cake will keep up to a week. I put the extras in a single layer in an airtight container or wrap them in plastic wrap and store them in the refrigerator.

Do I need to peel the carrots before grating them?

I always peel the carrots. I do remember reading somewhere that leaving the peels on can make the carrots a bit firmer after baking in the cake. I prefer the carrots blending in with the batter. And it only takes a few extra minutes to peel them anyway. 

Nuts or no nuts?

I’ve made it both ways and it’s delicious with or without the nuts.

Shred the carrots with a food processor saves time

This time when I made this recipe, I shredded so many carrots that I have enough to make at least two more cakes. I wanted to “decorate” the cake, but all I could think of was piped orange frosting carrots like at Costco.

A few tips for this recipe

• For best results and to make it easier, shred the carrots with a food processor because it will save time. However, if you wanted to shred them by hand you could use a box grater. You will get finer small pieces of carrot but it does take time and effort.
• When making this recipe, my sister used a bag of pre-shredded carrots from Trader Joe’s and thought it made a delicious carrot cake.

The simple ingredients

Dry ingredients:

• Truvia Baking Blend, powdered sweetener, or your sweetener of choice
• Almond Flour
• Baking powder
• Ground cinnamon
• Allspice
• Nutmeg
• Ground cloves
• Ground ginger
• Finely Chopped walnuts
• Shredded coconut

Wet Ingredients:

• Eggs
• Unsalted butter
• Vanilla extract

Instructions

If you prefer the instructions and exact measurements for the ingredients together, just skip down to the recipe card.

For the cake:

1. Preheat oven temperature to 350º
2. In a small bowl, melt the butter and set aside.
3. In a large mixing bowl, beat eggs and melted butter, and then add Truvia Baking Blend and vanilla. 
4. Add grated carrot, coconut, chopped walnuts, and mix with a rubber spatula.  
5. Mix in the spices, almond flour, and baking powder and stir to combine.  
6. Line the baking sheet or pan with parchment paper (I used a 9″ X 13″ cake pan) Bake in a 350º pre-heated oven for about 45 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean. Set aside to cool.

For the cream cheese frosting:

1. Mix two 8-ounce packages of cream cheese with a few teaspoons of Truvia Baking Blend and whip using an electric mixer or a whisk. 
2. Spread on cake and sprinkle on a few reserved chopped walnuts. 
3. Refrigerate until the cake and frosting have set and then cut into squares.

Skip the cream cheese frosting for an even healthier version…still so good!

If you’re looking to be a bit helathier and less indugent you can skip the cream cheese frosting…it’s still so good! But not quite as good as with the cream cheese frosting.

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Recipe adapted from Ditch the Carbs and Julia McPhee.