My youngest wanted to help me make carrot cake, so we decided to change it up a bit and make little individual carrot cakes.  This was so fun to do, in addition to helping our cake last a bit longer since serving sizes were smaller than slicing the regular carrot cake.  They were so moist and delicious!  A new favorite way to make and serve carrot cake.  Enjoy!  

Cooled and frosted mini carrot cakes - ready to eat! 

Individual-sized Carrot Cakes!

Makes 24 mini carrot cakes

Carrot Cake Batter:

Preheat oven to 350 F.  Butter and flour (use GF flour mix OR brown or white rice flour) 24 muffin-sized square tins.  I have some square pans I found years ago that work perfectly for this recipe.  You can also make these in buttered and floured muffin tins for individual muffin-shaped cakes. 

The square tins we buttered and floured - you can easily make these in muffin tins.

In a food processor with a grater attachment, or with a grater, grate 4-5 washed, trimmed (and peeled, if desired) carrots so you have 3 cups grated carrot.  I like to pack down the cups of grated carrot to pack in a lot of carrot.

In a large bowl, mix together:

2 cups Kristin's Gluten-free Flour Mix

1/2 tsp xanthan gum

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

2 tsp ground cinnamon

Add and mix in until thoroughly combined: 

3 cups grated carrot

1 1/2 cups sugar

4 eggs

1 cup oil 

2 tsp vanilla extract

Divide batter into prepared pans.  They should fill each tin about halfway.   Bake at 350 F for about 15-18 minutes, until baked through, but not dried out.  These are a nice, moist cake but shouldn't be wet in the middle.  

Let rest 5 minutes in the pans, then remove to a cooling rack to fully cool. 

After resting and then removing onto cooling racks.  The buttering and GF flouring helped them pop right out of the pans.

Cream Cheese Frosting:

In a large bowl or measuring cup, mix together the following until nice and smooth: 

2-3 Tbsp butter, melted

4 oz cream cheese, softened

1 tsp vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract

3 cups powdered sugar

Once the frosting is nice and smooth, transfer into a medium-sized freezer ziploc.  Snip the corner and use to pipe zig-zags of frosting on top of your cooled carrot cakes.  *Note: If you want fluffier frosting, don't melt the butter, just soften.  Beat all ingredients in a mixer until light and fluffy.  Spread on or pipe on cooled cakes, as desired.

Easy Glaze:

Need something dairy-free?  Just mix together a bit of powdered sugar and water to desired consistency (aim for a thin, running glaze).  Spread over top the cooled carrot cakes.  Voila! An easy dairy-free option! 

These store wonderfully in the refrigerator for a few days.  They've never lasted longer than that around here.  Enjoy! 

Ready to eat!  We had lots of grated carrot, so we made a batch of a more healthy carrot muffins, too. 

Mini Carrot Cakes Recipe by Successfully Gluten Free!

I love muffins that aren't too sweet and pack in a variety of good things.  These have become a favorite around here.  You have the carrot, oats, applesauce, and dried fruit to create a delicious, moist carrot muffin.  Update: Add a bit of sweetened coconut for an alternate twist (option below). We've loved it! Enjoy!

Carrot muffins fresh out of the oven.  They are golden browned, although the lighting is hard to see with the orange batter. :) 

Kristin's Gluten Free Carrot Muffins

Makes 12 muffins

Preheat oven to 350 F.  Line 12 muffin tins with paper liners.

Mix together dry ingredients in a separate bowl.  It's important to mix dry ingredients separately in gluten-free baking.
3/4 cup Kristin's Gluten-Free Flour Mix
1/2 cup whole rolled oats (Make sure they're gluten-free if Celiac or sensitive)
1 tsp cinnamon
3/4 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt

Stir together in a large bowl:
1 1/2 - 2 cups grated carrot (2-3 carrots) 
1/2 cup brown sugar (OR 1/4 cup brown sugar and 1/4 cup coconut sugar OR 1/4 cup brown sugar and 1/4 cup maple sugar flakes)
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/4 cup oil
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 - 1/3 cup raisins OR dried cranberries OR dried currants (my favorite) (Optional, but recommended)

1/4 cup sweetened shredded coconut (Optional, but is a nice twist)

Add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients.  Stir until well combined.

Divide between 12 lined muffin tins.

Carrot Muffins, ready to bake.

Bake at 350 F for 20 minutes.

Remove from tin to cooling rack to cool.  Once fully cooled, store in a Tupperware at RT for up to a couple days or freeze to have ready for lunches or snacks!  Enjoy! 

Kristin's Gluten Free Carrot Muffins Recipe by Successfully Gluten Free!

Gluten Free Light & Fluffy Carrot Cake Pancakes

After a lunch out at a restaurant for my dad's birthday, we wanted something lighter, but still tasty and fun for a birthday dinner.   These were a massive success!  They were fluffy, light, not too sweet, and delicious plain or with a drizzle of a cream cheese-maple syrup mixture.   There was more than one person exclaiming how these were the best pancakes they'd ever eaten. They'd be a perfect breakfast for Easter, being filled with carrots.  Enjoy!

A full plate of carrot cake pancakes!

Gluten Free Light & Fluffy Carrot Cake Pancakes
Based on a recipe by Bobby Flay
This makes a generous amount of pancakes (basically two platefuls like the picture above). You can halve the recipe, if desired, but they are great reheated, too!

Grate and then use paper towels to pat dry:
2 large carrots (making ~2 cups grated carrot, patted dry)

In a large measuring cup, combine and set aside (this is essentially making buttermilk):
1/4 cup white vinegar
2 3/4 cup milk (I like to use half coconut milk and half lactose-free milk, just for a little less dairy)

Mix dry ingredients together with a whisk:
3 cups Kristin's Gluten-Free Flour Mix (*see below for amounts for just this recipe)
1/2 cup white sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp allspice
1/8 tsp cloves
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt

Add and stir in with a spatula until thoroughly combined:
milk/vinegar mixture, from above
patted dried carrots, from above
4 eggs
6 Tbsp butter, melted
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tsp grated orange zest

Cover and refrigerator batter at least 30 minutes.

Cook the pancakes over medium heat on a well-buttered griddle.  Once there are bubbles throughout the surface of the pancake, flip and cook the other side.  Serve hot with cream cheese-maple syrup, below.  They'll also taste great with plain maple syrup and whipped cream.

Cream Cheese Maple Syrup

Mix together equal parts maple syrup and cream cheese, something like this:
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup cream cheese

Bring to a boil either on the stove-top or in the microwave.   Whisk together, blending if you really want to get all the lumps out.  This is a simple way to make a maple cream cheese syrup.  It tastes amazing on top of the carrot cake pancakes!  Leftovers store great in the fridge or freezer and reheat wonderfully, too! Enjoy!

You can make the carrot cake pancakes large or small, depending on preference. 

* To make Kristin's Gluten-Free flour mix just for this recipe, whisk together:
1 1/2 cup brown rice flour
3/4 cup sorghum flour
1/2 cup arrowroot flour or 2/3 cup cornstarch
1/4 cup potato starch
1/4 cup tapioca starch
1 tsp xanthan gum

Honey Garlic Chicken Wings with Oven-Roasted Carrot & Potato Fries

This is a great and tasty meal.  You can easily spice it up more, if you like by adding additional cayenne pepper, or a dash of tabasco.  This is a nice mild version the whole family can enjoy.   Give yourself time for the wings to marinate at least an hour.  Other than that, the great thing is that you can cook your carrot & potato fries and wings all at the same time!  I love when meals easily come together so everything ready at the same time.  Enjoy!

Gluten-Free Honey Garlic Chicken Wings - great served with oven-roasted carrot & potato fries, recipe below

Honey Garlic Chicken Wings & Baked Carrot & Potato Fries
based on a recipe from Barnyard Organics - our local PEI chicken growers. Thanks! 

Mix together the following sauce to marinate chicken:
1/3 cup honey
1/4 cup Bragg's Soy Seasoning (GF soy sauce)
6 cloves garlic, minced
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper

Marinate in sauce for at least 1 hour:
2-3 lbs. organic chicken wings

Preheat oven to 400 F.
While oven is heating, prepare the Carrot & Potato Fries below. 

Spread marinated wings on a cookie sheet.  Cook 35-40 minutes, basting 2 times after 10 and then 20 minutes with extra marinade sauce.

Roasted carrot and potato fries: 
Toss together:
6 small potatoes, wedged
3 carrots, sliced into long slices
2-3 Tbsp olive oil infused with chipotle (or add pinch of chili powder)
salt & pepper

Spread on a cookie sheet and bake at 400 F ~40 minutes.   I put the fries and chicken into the oven at the same time.  The chicken gets removed twice for basting, so the total cooking times seem to work out appropriately with both chicken wings and fries being done at the same time! 

Enjoy!

Delicious Gluten-Free Carrot Cake (nut-free!)

One of my favorite types of cake is a nice carrot cake with cream cheese frosting.  I've made all sorts of renditions of this cake over the years, some with parsnips, some with nuts, some with pineapple and coconut.  However, I wanted to come up with a proper gluten-free carrot cake that is just that - a carrot cake, without any of those other ingredients.  My brother inspired me to get the ball rolling on this recipe since he had a friend in the hospital (with many allergies, one of which is an allergy to gluten) whose one food request was a gluten-free carrot cake.   I am so proud of him for taking the initiative and making this cake, and I hope it was enjoyed as much by his friend as much as it was in my own house.  Enjoy!

If you're patient (which I clearly wasn't), and let your cake chill for 1-2 hours in the refrigerator, the cake will slice very cleanly if you use a serrated knife.  Yes, I should've taken another picture, but we preferred just to eat the cake rather than take pictures of it. Enjoy!

Delicious Gluten-Free Carrot Cake
Makes 9x13 cake OR two 9" rounds to be stacked

Preheat oven to 350F.
Grease/butter & flour (using GF flour mix) either 9x13 pan OR two 9" round pans.

Mix in one bowl:
3 cups grated carrots (4-5 carrots)
1 1/2 cups sugar
4 eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
2 tsp vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste

In a separate bowl, mix the following:
2 cups Kristin's Gluten-Free Flour Mix
1/2 tsp xanthan gum
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp ground cinnamon

Combine dry ingredients with wet and mix with a spoon until well combined.  Pour into 9x13 OR two 9" round pans. 

Bake round pans 30 minutes or rectangle for 40 minutes.  If you use a toothpick to check, it should come out clean when inserted into the center of the cakes.

Cool round pans on wire rack 10 minutes.  Then, carefully remove from pan and let fully cool on the cooling rack.  If you make the 9x13 cake, place the pan on a wire rack and leave the cake in the pan to fully cool. 

Once cake(s) are fully cool (1-2 hours), frosting with cream cheese frosting, below.

Cream Cheese Frosting:
For a lighter frosting, use this amount.*  If you like a generous frosting, double this recipe. 
*Note: It's tricky to frost a layered cake with a lighter amount of frosting.  If you're not feeling confident in your cake-frosting skills, double the batch and you won't have anything to worry about. 

Beat in a mixer:
4 oz cream cheese, softened
3 Tbsp butter, softened
1 tsp vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste

Add and mix in, 1/2 cup at a time:
3 cups powdered sugar

Frost top-only of the 9x13 cake.

To frost the two rounds and make a layered cake, put 1/3 of the frosting on top of one layer. 

Carefully place the other layer on top.  Put a very thin layer of frosting over the top and sides of both cakes.  Let this sit in the refrigerator 15 minutes, just to set the frosting. (This is a great technique you can use with any cake.  It traps any small crumbs of cake into a very thin layer of frosting, so when you put on the remainder of the frosting you won't end up with any cake-crumbs in your frosting! Yay!) 

Lightly frosted cake, chilled in the refrigerator, making the remaining frosting job much easier.

Using the remaining frosting, frost first the top and then sides of your cake.  You can use swirling motions to create a bit of a decorative pattern in your completed cake. 

My double-layer cake with lighter frosting, and some swirls added around the top.

Lacking patience to wait for the cake to chill, which make the slices much cleaner.

One of my brother's cakes.  He made 2 round cakes, but didn't stack them.  Great job, Mike!

Enjoy!