Keto Carrot Cake Cupcakes
These Keto Carrot Cake Cupcakes are a moist, delicious, keto dessert packed with carrots and pecans, and topped with keto cream cheese frosting!
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Carrot cake is one of my favorite cakes and these low carb Carrot Cake Cupcakes are a sugar-free, low carb, version of carrot cake that tastes just like the real thing!
Keto Carrot Cake Cupcakes aren’t just for Easter, though they would be a pretty awesome Easter dessert for your low carb Easter dinner. The moist, delicious, spiced cake is chocked full of carrots and pecans and topped with my Keto Cream Cheese Frosting.
It’s a delicious keto cupcake you don’t have to feel guilty about eating!
Table of contents
What Makes a Cupcake Keto-Friendly?
Keto-friendly cupcakes swap traditional high-carb ingredients for low-carb alternatives, ensuring each bite is as beneficial to your health as it is pleasing to your palate. Key swaps include almond or coconut flour instead of wheat flour and natural sweeteners like erythritol or stevia instead of sugar. These choices help keep the cupcakes low in carbohydrates and sugar, aligning them with ketogenic dietary guidelines.
What is in Keto Carrot Cake Cupcakes?
- Sweeteners – To get that carrot cake flavor we used a combination of Graulated Splenda sweetener and Swerve Brown sweetener. You’re welcome to use any keto-friendly sweetener that suits your taste. Monk fruit sweetener is another great option, offering a natural sweetness without the aftertaste some people notice with stevia. Just keep an eye on conversion rates since the sweetness level can vary between sweeteners.
- Butter – We used salted butter for this recipe.
- Flavoring – Vanilla extract and ground cinnamon give it that signature carrot cake flavor.
- Eggs
- Finely ground almond flour – Almond flour is the only flour alternative we have tried with this recipe. Other keto-friendly flours such as coconut flour will need to be tested as they may require slightly different ratios of eggs and baking powder.
- Baking powder – This helps the cupcakes puff up a bit as they bake.
- Carrot – Fresh carrots are grated and added to the batter for moisture and flavor.
- Pecans – Chopped pecans give the cupcakes a nice crunch.
- Keto Cream Cheese Frosting—We have a recipe for homemade keto cream cheese frosting, which we have linked to here, but you can use any keto-friendly frosting you would like. You can also skip the frosting altogether and enjoy these as they are!
How to Make Keto Carrot Cake
Step 1 Prepare oven. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Step 2 – Cream butter. In the bowl of your mixer combine Splenda sweetener, Swerve Brown sweetener, and butter creaming them together until fully combined.
Step 3 – Flavor. Add vanilla extract and continue mixing.
Step 4 – Eggs. Add eggs 1 at a time until they are fully combined with the butter mixture.
Step 5 – Dry Ingredients. In a separate bowl combine almond flour, baking powder, and cinnamon, mixing together.
Step 6 – Almond Flour. Slowly add the almond flour mixture to the butter, mixing together until combined.
Step 7 – Fold it in. Fold the carrots and pecans into the cupcake batter using a spatula.
Step 8 – Fill cupcakes tin. Fill each lined cupcake tin until it reaches just below the top of the cupcake liner.
Step 9 – Bake. Place in oven and bake for 20-25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Step 10 – Cool and frost. Let cool completely and top with 1 tablespoon of Keto Cream Cheese Frosting.
How to Store Them
Leftover keto carrot cake cupcakes can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week. For longer storage, you can freeze them. If you decide to freeze your cupcakes, it’s a good idea to skip the frosting or add it fresh when you’re ready to enjoy them. Thaw them overnight in the refrigerator or for a few hours on the counter before serving.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are Carrots Low Carb?
All things in moderation. While carrots do have a higher carb count than many other vegetables they are a pretty important part of carrot cake cupcakes!
In this recipe you use 6 ounces of carrot (that you will shred into thin pieces) which is approximately 11.4 NET carbs divided between 18 cupcakes. That’s less than 1 carb per cupcake you’ll receive from carrots. Enjoy!
What’s the Best Frosting for Low Carb Carrot Cake Cupcakes?
Cream cheese frosting is the BEST frosting for carrot cake and we’ve got an awesome recipe for Keto Cream Cheese Frosting that is less than 1 NET carb per serving. Add a little to the top of your Low Carb Carrot Cake Cupcakes and enjoy a guilt-free dessert!
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Keto Carrot Cake Cupcakes
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup Splenda sweetener, granulated
- ½ cup Swerve Brown sweetener
- 3/4 cup Butter, softened
- 1 tsp Vanilla extract
- 4 large Egg
- 2 1/2 cup Finely ground almond flour
- 2 teaspoons Baking powder
- 2 teaspoons Ground cinnamon
- 6 ounces Carrot, shredded
- 1.5 cups Pecans, chopped
- 18 tablespoons Keto Cream Cheese Frosting
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- In the bowl of your mixer combine Splenda sweetener, Swerve Brown sweetener, and butter creaming them together until fully combined.
- Add vanilla extract and continue mixing.
- Add eggs 1 at a time until they are fully combined with the butter mixture.
- In a separate bowl combine almond flour, baking powder, and cinnamon, mixing together.
- Slowly add the almond flour mixture to the butter, mixing together until combined.
- Fold the carrots and pecans into the cupcake batter using a spatula.
- Fill each lined cupcake tin until it reaches just below the top of the cupcake liner.
- Place in oven and bake for 20-25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Let cool completely and top with 1 tablespoon of Keto Cream Cheese Frosting.
- Enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
They are Delicious!!! My family loves them. They were so easy to make.
I do have a question though….. How do you store the ones that are not eaten? How long do they last?
You can store them in an airtight container. They are very moist so they should keep for 3 days or so. I haven’t had any leftovers last longer than that lol
I came upon this recipe because it uses almond flour, I’m gluten free. I know it defeats the purpose of it being keto, but I can have sugar. If I sub reg sugar for the other, is it a 1 to 1 ratio? These look so good and I am really missing a good carrot cake substitute. TYIA.
These taste not Keto at all! Actually better then any normal ones I’ve made! Delicious!
Without using a scale for the 6 oz about how much of a cup is that?
WOW! These are delicious. Full disclosure…I’m not Keto, but I am gluten free which is what drew me to this recipe. So I used regular sugars. I also made them as mini muffins (48 minis in this batch). Plus a little left over, so I tried the leftover batter as cookies; and just as good!!! Thank you. I have missed carrot cake-type food for oh too many years. This is definitely a keeper. Even my non GF Mom and DH devoured them. Thank you.
That’s great Heather, thanks for sharing.