Looking for a fabulous springtime recipe? These grain-free and refined sugar-free carrot cupcakes are perfect! Thanks to Bob’s Red Mill for underwriting this recipe and providing their Paleo Baking Flour.
As a mom, being on a journey toward healthier eating can be hard. After all, it’s not just you, it’s your kids too. We love our kids, and we want to make sure they’re eating just as healthily as we are.
But it’s hard too. Because let’s face it; your kids are never going to see broccoli as an indulgent treat, no matter how much they may like it, or however many Whole30s you put them on.
And all those beautiful pictures of healthy dishes we see on social media? One look at the ingredients, and you know they didn’t have kids in mind when they made that!
In fact, it can seem like all the healthy meals, healthy food prep, and healthy lifestyle advice is geared toward single folks. So where does that leave us?
Let me tell ya moms, there may be a vast quantity of single-geared health and fitness material out there, but there’s room for us moms too!
Yes, some of it involves compromise – A stop at the Froyo joint for a special birthday, the occasional goldfish cracker – but the bigger, better majority of eating healthy as a family is hunting down those healthy recipes that actually satisfy your kids’ need for treats.
This switch to healthy baking is something we’ve been working on for, well, what seems like forever, and we don’t always do it perfectly, but I’m happy to say that we’re definitely making progress.
Making treats with flours, sweeteners, and fats that we consider healthy is becoming closer to second nature all the time, and I couldn’t be happier about it.
One of my favorite ways to make healthy baked goods extra yummy is by adding some grated or mashed fruits or vegetables. And yep, grated carrots are one of those vegetables!
The thing is, sugar acts as a liquid in baking, making the finished product nice and moist, which is something that’s often lacking in baked goods with healthier sweeteners, but adding moisture-rich fruit and vegetables – apple sauce, mashed banana, beets, and zucchini among others – adds some of that moisture back in.
Every time spring rolls around, I start jonesing for carrot cake, but for some reason, I rarely get around to making it. But this spring, thanks largely to Bob’s Red Mill for sending us some of their Paleo Baking Flour Mix, we did it.
The kids were ridiculously excited about these cupcakes – so little and cute, and looking like real treats, and they smelled heavenly in the oven, but it was after they were done, cooled off, and iced that I really got excited.
It tasted like spring. Or maybe Easter (why do we eat carrot cake on Easter? It’s a mystery to me!).
And that flour mix acted perfectly. It’s a blend of paleo-friendly ingredients that take all the guess work out of paleo baking!
Grain-Free, Sugar-Free carrot cupcakes? Don’t tell, and they’ll never know that this recipe is one of those healthy recipes that were meant for moms and their kids.
Try the recipe here:
PrintGluten-Free Carrot Cupcakes
If you like carrot cake, you’ll have to try these gluten-free carrot cupcakes for your next gathering. So delicious and easy to make!
Ingredients
- 1 cup Bob’s Red Mill Paleo Baking Flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- Pinch of salt
- 1 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ginger
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
- 2 large eggs
- 1/3 cup light tasting olive oil or refined coconut oil
- 1/4 cup agave nectar (honey or maple syrup also work)
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 3/4 cup carrots
Icing:
- 4 oz cream cheese
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 Tablespoons maple syrup or 1/4 cup powdered sucanat
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350º
- Mix dry ingredients together in a small bowl
- In a larger bowl, beat eggs
- Add agave, and vanilla
- Stir in dry ingredients until moistened
- Fold in shredded carrots
- Divide among 6-8 greased, or paper-lined cupcake tins
- Bake 20-22 minutes
- Remove from oven and let cool before icing
To make icing:
- Bring cream cheese to room temperature
- Beat in vanilla and sugar or maple syrup with rotating beaters or balloon whisk attachment on stand mixer (you want to get it as fluffy as you can!)
- Pipe onto cupcakes
- Enjoy!
This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Bob’s Red Mill.
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Driving Directions says
Wow, the cupcake looks awesome, thanks for sharing the recipe!
Happy Room says
Simple and tasty, what else I could want?
★★★★
Amy says
These look amazing. While I don’t typically choose gluten-free, I adore that there is no refined sugar in these. I’d much rather bake with honey. Thanks so much for sharing.
★★★★★