Keto Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting Recipe

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My keto carrot cake is here to satisfy your sweet tooth without guilt! It’s bursting with flavor, especially when paired with its partner-in-crime, cream cheese frosting.

Jump to Recipe

Easy to make with just 20 minutes of prep time, using a handful of simple, everyday ingredients. It’s a healthy and indulgent treat indistinguishable from a classic carrot cake. The only bad news you’ll get from me is that it’s hard to eat just a single slice!

When I got good at baking, the first thing I did was to try my hand at making a healthy spin on traditional cakes. Spring couldn’t be a more perfect time to prepare a wonderful dessert that the whole family will enjoy, and this is easily one of my favorite keto holiday dessert recipes.

Try it anytime you’re craving a sweet, guilt-free treat to go with your adaptogenic coffee, or make it a special celebration cake for upcoming birthdays and anniversaries, potlucks and parties, Easter, Thanksgiving, Mother’s Day, or Christmas. It’s a guaranteed crowd-pleaser and will be gobbled up down to its last morsel!

I know you’re excited, so read on for the full recipe details. Don’t miss out on our collection of easy keto recipes for more culinary inspiration.

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

This keto carrot cake has a special place in our family recipe collection. I’ve tested this recipe many times…and then a few more times just to ensure it is still as good as the first 10 times.

Spoiler alert: It still is! Here’s why it deserves a spot in your culinary repertoire:

• Simple ingredients
• Budget-friendly
• Family-friendly and kid-approved
• Minimal cleanup
• Short prep and cooking time: Takes less than an hour to prep and bake.
• Amazing flavors: Sweet and moist like traditional carrot cake, with a blend of creaminess from the frosting, warmth from classic spices, and a nutty crunch from walnuts.
• Basic kitchen equipment: Requires mixing bowls, a food processor, a whisk, a baking dish, and an oven for baking.
• Easy-to-follow directions: Follow 6 simple steps, from mixing ingredients to baking the cake and adding frosting.

How to Make Keto Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

In just 45 minutes, you can enjoy a delicious keto carrot cake using coconut flour, natural sweetener, and other everyday ingredients you can grab from your fridge or pantry.

The recipe is a delightfully epic result of mixing dry and wet ingredients and popping it in the oven.

For the cream cheese frosting, you only need 5 simple ingredients to create a creamy texture that perfectly complements the moist, nutty cake. You can either frost the whole cake before slicing and serving or slice it into individual pieces before frosting. One way or another, you’ll end up with the ultimate sweet treat that’s hard to resist!

Scroll to the bottom of this post for a printable recipe card with a full list of ingredients, measurements, and step-by-step instructions to make this deliciously indulgent keto carrot cake.

Ingredients You Need

This keto carrot cake recipe is all about ease and simplicity, a testament to my love for hassle-free, from scratch cooking. You can make this cake without the fancy, hard-to-get ingredients or equipment and it’s ketogenic diet approved to boot! Below is an overview of what you’ll need:

For the cake:

• Ginger powder
• Ground cinnamon
• Walnuts: Chopped for a better crunch.
• Large eggs: Go for pastured, free-range, or raise your own.
• Butter: Use unsalted, grass-fed butter
• Carrots: freshly shredded to give the cake a moist, spongy texture that keeps it from drying out.
• Coconut flour: Keto-friendly wheat flour substitute that gives the carrot cake a thick yet fluffy structure.
• Brown sugar replacement: Use Lakanto’s Brown Monkfruit Sweetener to match the sweetness of regular brown sugar without the extra calories.
• Baking soda: Leavens the cake and creates a light, fluffy texture; must not be confused with baking powder.

For the keto cream cheese frosting:

• Melted butter
• Cream cheese: Use full-fat cream cheese that’s softened at room temperature for smooth and even spreading.
• Lemon juice and lemon zest: Add bright, citrusy flavors to the frosting.
• Natural sweetener: Choose Lakanto’s classic powdered monkfruit sweetener As it works better than granulated sweetener for the frosting.

Step-By-Step Instructions

Making a keto carrot cake isn’t so different from the traditional version. From start to finish, the cake takes less than an hour using a handful of simple ingredients.

Make the cake over the weekend when you have more downtime to enjoy the baking process. By preparing ahead of time, you can savor the cake throughout the week as a delightful treat for any occasion or a satisfying after-meal dessert. Below are the steps for getting it right:

1. Mix the wet ingredients. While preheating the oven, combine eggs, shredded carrots, and coconut oil in a large bowl of a food processor. Set aside.
2. Mix the dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, mix powders and natural sweetener in the food processor. Once thoroughly combined, blend with wet ingredients and add in folded or pulsed walnuts until evenly mixed.
3. Bake the cake. Pour the carrot cake batter into a greased baking dish and bake until the edges are golden brown and the center is set.
4. Add sugar-free cream cheese frosting. In a medium-sized bowl, mix cream cheese, butter, lemon juice and zest, and natural sweetener until well combined. Let cool completely before spreading the cream cheese frosting so it doesn’t melt and run down on the sides. Serve and enjoy!

If you have leftover cream cheese, why not whip up a delicious no-bake cheesecake with it? It’s the perfect way to make the most out of your ingredients and enjoy another delightful low-carb dessert.

Variations

I like the challenge of keeping recipes basic but interesting by making up new flavor combinations and suggesting ways to make variations on the original recipe.

A personal goal of mine is to always be working to demonstrate the variability and versatility of low-carb and ketogenic cooking or in this case, baking. Feel free to try out any of the following variations and alternatives:

• If you can’t access coconut flour, use almond flour instead.
• Add a splash of Lakanto’s Sugar-Free Maple Syrup to the frosting and mix it up well to make a creamy maple frosting.
• If Lakanto’s sweeteners aren’t your thing, use other sugar substitutes like stevia extract or erythritol.
• If you don’t like cream cheese frosting, replace it with creamy peanut butter frosting or whipped ricotta frosting.
• Skip the cream cheese frosting altogether to save on calories (this cake is delicious enough to eat even without it, as you can see in our recipe video).
• Substitute walnuts with chopped pecans, almonds, or hazelnuts.
• Keep the cake nut-free by omitting the walnuts.
• Keep it dairy-free by replacing butter with coconut oil in the cake, and unsweetened whipped coconut cream instead of cream cheese frosting.
• Bring more spice by adding ground nutmeg, ginger, or allspice to the cake mixture.

Take a look at our list of essential keto baking ingredients if you want to know more about what to store in your pantry.

How to Store This Recipe

Keto carrot cake can be served warm, chilled, or at room temperature. You really can’t go wrong with this one!

If you have leftovers, store them in an airtight container lined with parchment paper on the counter for 3 to 4 days or in the fridge for up to a week. The cake also freezes well, provided it’s not frosted.

If you’re planning to keep it for much longer, remove or omit the frosting, cover the cut edges tightly with plastic wrap, and store it in a freezer-safe bag or container in the freezer. It should last for 2 to 3 months. Once ready to enjoy, simply defrost on the counter at room temperature for 30 minutes to an hour.

What to Serve with Low-Carb Carrot Cake

Keto carrot cake is a delightfully versatile treat that makes an amazing dessert for just about any meal I can think of. Below are some of my favorites you can serve before bringing out the cake:

• For brunch, serve unfrosted alongside a keto frittata or Greek yogurt with nuts and berries.
• For lunch, enjoy with a bowl of grilled chicken salad topped with sliced avocado and balsamic vinaigrette, or stir-fried cauliflower rice with shrimp.
• Make it an after-dinner indulgence for your baked salmon with roasted veggies or marinara zucchini noodles with mozzarella-stuffed meatballs.

More Keto Cake Recipes to Try

• Carnivore Cake
• Coffee Cake with Cinnamon
• Coconut Flour Chocolate Cake
• Gluten-Free Gooey Butter Cake
• Keto Cupcake with Vanilla Buttercream Frosting

If you make this keto carrot cake recipe, please leave a review. I really appreciate each and every 5-star rating and comment!