This egg free Carrot Cake is light, fluffy, and perfectly spiced. It’s very easy to make, and is great topped with homemade cream cheese frosting! Grab a few fresh carrots and some basic pantry staples, and you’ll be enjoying this beautifully simple dessert in no time. This recipe makes one small, two-layer 8″ or 9″ round cake.
My simple eggless carrot cake makes a great Easter dessert or a sweet treat to enjoy after brunch. My recipe is nut free, and leaves out the raisins (although you could certainly add some). I frosted mine with a rich homemade cream cheese frosting, but you could also use a simple vanilla frosting.
Try some of my other allergy friendly, egg free desserts:
- Egg Free Cheesecake, Three Ways! Classic, Lemon, OR Pumpkin
- Sweet & Tart Egg Free Lemon Bars
- Baked Vanilla Donuts (Egg & Nut Free)
- Cinnamon Apple Cake (Egg Free)
- Soft Toffee Cookie Bars (Egg Free, Nut Free, with Vegan option)
My 5 year old absolutely loves fresh carrots, and his favorite cake is spice cake. I’m not sure why I never thought to make him a carrot cake! Our whole family loved it, and it’s his new favorite dessert. My son has allergies to eggs and nuts (and is the driving force behind Safely Delish!) so naturally, my recipe is also egg free and nut free.
Easily make this recipe into a dairy free and vegan carrot cake by substituting your favorite dairy free milk. You’ll also want to use or make a vegan and dairy free vanilla frosting.
What You’ll Need:
For this eggless carrot cake, you’ll need a short list of simple ingredients:
- Carrots, of course!
- Applesauce – Unsweetened applesauce is best for this recipe. Although, since this recipe is lighter on the sugar than many cakes, you could probably get by using sweetened applesauce.
- Sugar – this recipe calls for both brown sugar and granulated sugar. This amount is less than many cake recipes, and may be altered to your liking – use a little more or less, depending on your sweetness preference.
- Oil – The fat in the recipe comes from vegetable or canola oil. You may also substitute melted butter for richer flavor.
- Vanilla Extract
- Milk – this will keep your batter light and fluffy. Feel free to substitute your favorite DF milk for a dairy free/vegan carrot cake.
- All Purpose Flour
- Baking Soda and Baking Powder
- Spices – for this eggless carrot cake, you’ll be spicing with cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and salt.
How to make egg free (& nut free!) carrot cake
For full recipe, jump to recipe below:
- Preheat your oven to 350F. Line two 8 or 9-inch cake pans with parchment paper (I love my precut sheets from Kana), and spray pans with cooking spray.
- Peel and finely grate carrots and set aside. You’ll want 1 1/2 cups of loose grated carrots (don’t pack them down, or you’ll end up with too many carrots)
- In a large bowl, stir together all wet ingredients (including white and brown sugars) until combined. In a smaller bowl, stir together all dry ingredients except carrots, until all are incorporated together. You’ll add the carrots later.
- Add dry ingredients (except carrots) to wet ingredients, and stir just until combined. Be sure not to overmix, or your cake may lose its light texture. Gently fold grated carrots into the batter.
- Pour batter into cake pans, distributing evenly between the two.
- Bake cakes in preheated oven for 25 minutes. After removing from the oven, allow cakes to cool for at least 5 minutes before inverting onto a wire cooling rack. Cool completely before frosting.
How to store eggless carrot cake
If using cream cheese frosting or buttercream, I recommend storing your cake an air tight container in the refrigerator. This will help the frosting stay fresh and keep its shape. It should keep for at least 3 days (but probably longer!). If using regular frosting, you should be able to store it on the counter in an airtight container.
Egg Free Carrot Cake (Nut Free)
Ingredients
Wet Ingredients
- 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
- 1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar
- 1/3 cup vegetable oil OR melted butter
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup milk
Dry Ingredients
- 1 3/4 cups all purpose flour, lightly spooned into measuring cup and leveled off at the top
- 1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1/4 tsp ground ginger
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 1/2 cups peeled and finely grated carrots, loosely spooned into measuring cups (about 2-3 medium, whole carrots – do not used pre-shredded)
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350F. Line two 8 or 9-inch cake pans with parchment paper and/or spray with cooking spray.
- Peel and finely grate carrots. Measure carrots loosely (not packed) into 1 1/2 cups and set aside.
- In a large bowl, stir together all wet ingredients (including white and brown sugars) until combined.
- In a smaller bowl, stir together all dry ingredients except carrots, until all are incorporated together. We’ll add the carrots later.
- Add dry ingredients (except carrots) to wet ingredients, and stir just until combined. Be sure not to over-mix, or your cake may lose its light fluffy texture. Gently fold grated carrots into the batter.
- Pour batter into prepared cake pans, distributing evenly between the two pans.
- Bake in preheated oven for 25 minutes. (Note: bake time is the same for 8" or 9" pans). Allow cakes to cool for at least 5 minutes before inverting onto a wire cooling rack. Cool completely before frosting. (See Notes below for my Cream Cheese Frosting).
Notes
- 8 oz cream cheese, room temperature
- 1/2 cup butter, room temperature
- 1/2 tsp vanilla
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 3 1/2 – 4 cups confectioners sugar (to taste)
