These little delights were my first sugar and gluten free success. I’d tried a baking a few things before and they came out as heavy as lead, really dry, or looked awful. I was so happy when these cupcakes came out moist, light, and yummy. I’ve served them at parties and work luncheons – no one could tell that they are gluten and sugar free. The carrot cupcake success gave me hope that I could actually find a way to cook Simply Sugar and Gluten Free. I guess you could say that this success was my first real impetus to keep trying to share my dream. I learned later that gluten free baking lends itself to anything with veggies, fruits, sour cream, or yogurt. Serendipitous, huh?
Make sure that you take your cupcakes out of the tin as soon as they come out of the oven so the bottom doesn’t get soggy. Use my sugar-free cream cheese frosting or eat them plain for breakfast.
Looking for more great cupcakes? Check out Cupcake Tuesday at Hoosier Homemade!
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup light agave nectar
- 1/3 cup oil
- 2 tablespoons fresh squeezed orange juice
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup all purpose gluten-free flour blend mix*
- 1 ½ cup grated carrots
- 1/2 cup roughly toasted chopped pecans
- 12 roasted pecan halves for garnish (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Oil or line a standard muffin with cupcake papers.
- Grate carrots on the large holes on a box grater or food processor. Set aside.
- Whisk agave, vegetable oil, orange juice, vanilla and eggs together in a large bowl until mixed well. In a separate bowl, mix baking soda, baking powder, allspice, salt, and gluten-free baking mix.
- Dump entire contents of dry ingredients into wet ingredients. Mix until just combined. Do not over mix. Fold in carrots and pecans.
- Spoon even amounts into cupcake tins. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Remove cupcakes from baking tins immediately or the bottoms will become soggy. Let them cool completely before icing.
Enjoy!
Liz@HoosierHomemade
posted on September 14, 2009 at 9:50 pm
Thanks for linking up to Cupcake Tuesday! Those look amazing!
~Liz
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Michelle
posted on September 15, 2009 at 9:02 am
Love Carrot Cupcakes especially during the fall and I add a bit of apple too.
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Tara
posted on November 8, 2009 at 12:32 pm
Hi Amy. I made your cupcakes last night, and they were yummy! I only have one concern – the Agave you use. I had some in my cupboard, and used it for this exact recipe, but after doing some research last night and this morning I’m starting to believe that Agave is actually extremely dangerous for your health. Due to the refining process Agave turns into a substance similar to high fructose corn syrup. Many professionals warn against using Agave. Just FYI if you didn’t already know. There’s lots of information about Agave on the net. xx
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Baking 'n' Books Reply:
January 4th, 2011 at 1:15 pm
@Tara, Yeah, I feel the same way about Agave. It’s still sugar despite the claims that it doesn’t effect blood glucose levels as much. Sugar is sugar. HFCS is also really just sugar, it’s better just to keep added sugars lower altogether. Or a little honey or maple syrup. Applesauce, bananas, raisins…
With that said – I still do bake with some suga’
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amanda camp
posted on August 19, 2010 at 4:15 pm
please write a cookbook!! fab recipes!!!
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Chelsey @ Chew With Your Mouth Open
posted on September 25, 2011 at 3:43 pm
Going to bake these right now! YUM!
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Grace K
posted on June 29, 2012 at 7:43 pm
thank you thank you thank you!!!! I just made these tonight and they are amazing! i am new to gluten free and love baking so I am SO glad I found your blog
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Claire
posted on October 22, 2012 at 12:31 am
Hi Amy – Thanks for sharing your recipe. I made these carrot cupcakes this week and they turned out very good! They were moist and tender. I did sub coconut nectar for the agave nectar and pineapple juice for the orange juice as I don’t have those two ingredients. The coconut nectar was healthier but the favor was a little overpowering so did not taste like regular carrot cake. They were good healthier carrot cake none the less thanks to your recipe! Oh and I used your basic flour blends with garbanzo flour and sorghum flour in it. The cakes did smell and taste bean-y when I first baked them. But after leaving them in the fridge for a couple days the bean-y flavor did disappear and people could not tell at all and they stayed very moist! Thanks for sharing the recipe and keep up the good work!
[Reply]
Claire Reply:
October 22nd, 2012 at 11:55 am
@Claire,
Oh and I was going to post my photo of these cupcakes to your FB wall but it appears that it’s now allowed. I’d love to share my photo if I can. Thanks
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Amy Reply:
November 7th, 2012 at 11:50 pm
@Claire, I don’t know why…let me check that out.
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Amy Reply:
November 7th, 2012 at 11:52 pm
@Claire, Did you leave out any spices? I have never had anyone say that they taste beany at all – I used the All Purpose blend in this recipe; not the Basic. Confusing I guess…
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Claire Reply:
November 8th, 2012 at 11:21 am
@Amy, Hi Amy – Thanks for your response. I checked my notes and I did use just garbanzo bean flour, instead of garbanzo fava bean flour in one of the 4 ingredients in your basic flour blend. That’s probably why it tasted so bean-y. But like I said after a couple days they did not taste beany any more. As to spices, no I did follow everything in your recipe; I even added a little ground cinnamon in addition to the 1/2 tspn of ground allspice. I think this is a good recipe and if I had followed everything exactly the cupcakes will probably taste wonderful. They were good as it is too. Thanks again!
[Reply]
Victoria
posted on December 21, 2012 at 9:36 am
Hi Amy!
First of all I wish to thank you for sharing the recipe. My mother has been diagnosed Coeliac recently and we’re still getting used to the new ingredients. I used buckwheat flour and honey instead of agave and added some cinnamon. The cup cakes are still in the oven but are smelling wonderful and came really nice … Can’t wait to try them! Thanks Regards from Malta x
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Amy Reply:
January 5th, 2013 at 4:21 pm
@Victoria, I am sure buckwheat was divine with the carrots and spices. I would use honey now too…I don’t use much agave anymore.
Hugs,
Amy
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Linsi Nicole
posted on February 24, 2013 at 1:54 am
Well, I have officially jumped back on the SF/GF bandwagon. I have been merrily going along substituting my recipes with GF flour, but this is hands down the best SF/GF recipe I’ve tried to date.
I’ve tweaked a little; adding 1/2 cup golden raisins, and substituting the 1/2 tsp allspice for 1/4 tsp each of ground cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg (because I crave my pumpkin spices all year).
Now, I’m off to go buy your SS&GF cookbook to further impress my friends (and indulge my taste buds).
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