Trick or treat, and don't cheat! This Halloween, it’s important to stay on track and not overindulge in carbs and calories. Don’t let the scary décor in the picture get to you – a slice of this delicious keto carrot cake will fill you up like no Halloween candy ever could!
Why give this keto carrot cake recipe a try?
Decadent and moist, this Halloween keto carrot cake will put you in a celebratory mood from the first bite until the very last one. Packed with feel-good nutrients and frosted with super smooth cream cheese, this dessert will be hard to resist.
If you love carrots, this recipe is an absolute winner. Why? Because most non-keto carrot cakes are actually not as healthy as you think – they’re often loaded with carbs and calories.
Now, carrots aren’t exactly low carb veggies – 100g of these beta carotene-loaded orange sticks contain 7g of carbs. But don’t worry - we took this fact into consideration and made sure that this recipe will fit right into your daily macros.
Each slice of this low carb carrot cake contains only 280 calories, 22.7g of fat, 5.3g of net carbs, and 8.1g of protein. It also won’t take the entire day to bake, the combined preparation and cooking time only adds up to 65 minutes!
Preheat the oven to 180°C (356°F) and line a round cake pan with parchment paper. Whisk together the almond flour, powdered erythritol, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt in a bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk the milk, melted ghee, eggs, and vanilla extract.
Combine the wet and dry ingredients carefully. Then keep whisking until you get a smooth batter.
Add shredded carrots and walnuts, whisking to combine evenly. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 45-50 minutes.
How to check if the cake is ready?
Insert a toothpick in the middle. If it comes out clean, it’s ready for the next step! Otherwise, give it a few more minutes in the oven, depending on how close it is to being cooked. It’s important not to overcook the carrot cake as it will become hard and dry.
While the cake is baking in the oven, make the frosting:
Use a stand or hand mixer to combine the cream cheese and whipping cream. Then slowly add the erythritol and keep mixing until smooth and fluffy.
Wait for the cake to cool down. Then slice it horizontally to form two layers. Take down the top half and add a generous amount of frosting in between. Stack the two halves again.
Using a spatula, frost the outside of the cake using the remaining frosting. Then garnish with walnuts. If inviting friends over, feel free to decorate with some clean, scary-looking toys to add some fun and mystery to your Halloween keto carrot cake!
Nutrition Facts
|
Halloween Keto Carrot Cake |
Calories |
Fats (g) |
Carbs (g) |
Fiber (g) |
Net Carbs (g) |
Protein (g) |
|
½ cups almond flour (300g) |
336 |
26.6 |
12 |
6 |
6 |
12 |
|
1 ¼ cups powdered Erythritol (162g) |
162 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
2 tsp gluten-free baking powder |
10 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
|
2 tsp cinnamon (16g) |
11 |
0.1 |
3.7 |
2.4 |
1.3 |
0.2 |
|
½ tsp sea salt (8.5g) |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
4 eggs |
252 |
17.5 |
1.4 |
0 |
1.4 |
22.1 |
|
½ cup ghee (120ml) |
898 |
102 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0.3 |
|
1/2 cup almond milk |
276 |
28.6 |
6.7 |
2.6 |
4.1 |
2.8 |
|
2 ½ cups carrot |
113 |
0 |
27.1 |
6.8 |
20.3 |
2.3 |
|
2 tsp sugar-free vanilla extract |
24 |
0 |
1.1 |
0 |
1.1 |
0 |
|
½ cup walnuts pieces |
360 |
34 |
6 |
4 |
2 |
7 |
|
1 cup full-fat cream cheese |
223 |
3.2 |
13.5 |
0 |
13.5 |
33.4 |
|
1/3 cup heavy whipping cream |
138 |
14.8 |
1.1 |
0 |
1.1 |
0.8 |
|
Total |
2,803 |
226.8 |
74.6 |
21.8 |
52.8 |
80.9 |
|
Per serving (<10) |
280 |
22.7 |
7.5 |
2.1 |
5.3 |
8.1 |
Can I use coconut flour instead of almond flour?
Yes, you can. Just keep in mind that coconut flour absorbs more liquid than almond flour. You will need a significantly lesser amount of coconut flour for this recipe. The rule of thumb for the conversion is that for every cup of almond flour, you will only need ¼ cup of coconut flour.
This means that instead of ½ cup of almond flour, you will only need to use about 1/8 cup of coconut flour. You may also want to add 1 more egg, bringing the total to 5 eggs. That being said, add the coconut flour one teaspoon at a time to make sure you get the right consistency for the batter.
Love coconut? Consider these ingredients instead…
To complement the coconut flour, you may also want to use coconut oil instead of ghee and coconut milk instead of almond milk. For the frosting, you may also opt to replace both the cream cheese and heavy whipping cream with coconut cream (use roughly the same amount).
For some added zest in your frosting, add a tablespoon of lemon juice to the coconut cream. Doing so will transform your cake into a coconut carrot cake, which is great if you love both carrots and coconuts! Talk about hitting two flavors with one cake!
What other ingredients can I use to garnish my cake with?
Instead of walnuts, you can also garnish your cake with some crushed almonds, pecans, pistachios, or whatever your favorite nut is. Here’s a tip: toast the nuts before using them to add even more flavor to your cake.
You can also scatter a few tablespoons of shredded carrots all over the frosting for some nice, orange ‘confetti’.
How long to store this in the fridge?
This cake will keep in the fridge for about 5-7 days if you store it in an airtight container. If you want to freeze, transfer the whole cake (or leftover slices) to the freezer first. This allows the frosting to remain intact. Once the whole cake is frozen, wrap in parchment paper and plastic wrap. Freezing will extend the cake’s life up to 3 months.
Frosting alternatives
We’ve already covered coconut cream earlier. But if you’re not a fan, then you can try this combo: cream cheese, butter, your favorite keto sweetener (not liquid stevia as it may lend a bitter taste to the frosting), and some lemon extract. You can also use vanilla instead of lemon.
Can I add more veggies in carrot cake?
Absolutely! Keto carrot cake is delicious and healthy, but if you want even more nutrients in every bite, then try adding zucchini and/or pumpkin to your cake. Feel free to play around with the quantities and veggie ratio.
For instance, this recipe calls for 2 ½ cups of carrots. You can maybe do a half-and-half if you’re doing a carrot zucchini or a carrot pumpkin cake. Alternatively, if you want all 3 veggies, you can split it into 3 ways – maybe a cup of carrot and ¾ cup each of zucchini and pumpkin!
What goes well with this cake?
Since this is for dessert, you can check out any of these mouthwatering keto recipes for your main course.
Keto Chicken Curry
If you’re craving for some curry, then this low carb chicken curry is your best bet. It’s packed with all the essential spices, including the main curry ingredient, turmeric. At 2 drumsticks per serving, you may need to take a break before continuing on to your dessert. Each serving contains 381 calories, 26.6g fat, 7.2g net carbs, and 27.4g protein.
Did you know bell peppers are one of the healthiest veggies on the planet? This recipe will not only give you the daily recommended intake for vitamin C, but it will also give you vitamin A, fiber, folate, potassium, iron, and more. Each serving contains 332.5 calories, 24.2g fat, 7.95g net carbs, and 17.6g protein.
A bowl of warm egg drop soup is perfect for those bed weather days. This recipe serves 2 and is highly versatile, so feel free to add your favorite low carb ingredients to the soup. A serving of the original recipe contains 324 calories, 31g fat, 2.1g net carbs, and 10.2g protein.
Final Words
This beginner-friendly keto carrot cake recipe is great for sharing with family and friends during Halloween, but it’s also an amazing cake for literally any occasion! Do save/bookmark this post, so you can easily come back to it when you’re ready to indulge in some delicious, low carb carrot cake. If you’ve made this, let us know in the comments below how it turned out for you!
Ingredients
Directions
Preheat the oven to 180°C (356°F) and line a round cake pan with parchment paper. Whisk together the almond flour, powdered erythritol, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt in a bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk the milk, melted ghee, eggs, and vanilla extract.
Combine the wet and dry ingredients carefully. Then keep whisking until you get a smooth batter.
Add shredded carrots and walnuts, whisking to combine evenly. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 45-50 minutes.
How to check if the cake is ready?
Insert a toothpick in the middle. If it comes out clean, it’s ready for the next step! Otherwise, give it a few more minutes in the oven, depending on how close it is to being cooked. It’s important not to overcook the carrot cake as it will become hard and dry.
While the cake is baking in the oven, make the frosting:
Use a stand or hand mixer to combine the cream cheese and whipping cream. Then slowly add the erythritol and keep mixing until smooth and fluffy.
Wait for the cake to cool down. Then slice it horizontally to form two layers. Take down the top half and add a generous amount of frosting in between. Stack the two halves again.
Using a spatula, frost the outside of the cake using the remaining frosting. Then garnish with walnuts. If inviting friends over, feel free to decorate with some clean, scary-looking toys to add some fun and mystery to your Halloween keto carrot cake!
