Gluten-Free Carrot Cake Jars with Frosting

These Gluten-Free Carrot Cake Jars with Cream Cheese Frosting are the perfect single-serving treats for spring. Sweet and spiced, they’re utterly irresistible! 

Why You’ll Love This Easy Carrot Cake Jars Recipe

Who doesn’t love carrot cake? It might be the best cake out there! The only thing better is carrot cake in a mug. It has all the taste and texture of the original recipe, but you don’t have to share! 

Not only is this single-serving carrot cake recipe even better than your favorite bakery, but it’s also: 

• Made with minimal prep time, a quick cook time, and a total time of under an hour. 
• Great for making in bulk and feeding a crowd. 
• Fancy enough for holiday celebrations yet easy enough for weekday treats. 
• Easy to customize with various mix-ins and toppings. 

Plus, it contains carrots. So, that means it’s healthy, right? 

Ingredients You Need

This recipe uses minimal ingredients, and the cake itself is pretty dang nutritious! 

Carrot Cake

• Coconut Sugar – Feel free to use any other sugar or sugar substitute you prefer. 
• Coconut Oil – Light olive oil or avocado oil will also work. 
• Carrot – Use whole carrots, and shred them into pieces. Baby carrots won’t have the same flavor! 
• Eggs – These add structure, helping the cake hold together. 
• Flavor Enhancers – Vanilla extract, ground cinnamon, and ground ginger create the sweet, spiced flavor we look for in carrot cake. 
• Gluten-Free Flour – This forms the base of the cake batter. If you don’t need this recipe to be gluten-free, regular all-purpose flour will also work. 
• Baking Powder and Baking Soda – These act as leaveners, helping the cake rise and become soft. We prefer to use baking powder that doesn’t contain aluminum.

Optional Mix-Ins: If you want this carrot cake recipe to be exactly like a full-size version, feel free to fold chopped nuts, raisins, and coconut flakes into the batter, too. 

How to Make Single-Serving Carrot Cake

Before you begin, be sure to preheat your oven, and grease your mason jars with cooking spray. 

Note: We like to use six to eight-ounce mason jars for adult portions and four-ounce mason jars for mini portions or kids’ sizes! 

1. Combine the dry ingredients. Whisk the coconut sugar, melted coconut oil, shredded carrots, eggs, vanilla, cinnamon, and ginger in a large bowl. 
2. Add the dry ingredients. Add the flour, baking powder, and baking soda. Stir to combine. 
3. Fill the mason jars. Pour the cake batter into the greased jars, filling them ⅔ of the way full. Be careful not to overfill, or the batter will overflow! 
4. Bake. Arrange the jars on a baking sheet. Then, transfer them to the oven until the cake is golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. 
5. Frost. Allow the carrot cake jars to cool completely. Then, frost them with cream cheese frosting or your frosting of choice. Enjoy! 

How to Make Cream Cheese Frosting

Admittedly, this frosting is not very healthy. However, it is super tasty! Everything in moderation, right? 

Ingredients 

• Cream Cheese – Use full-fat, brick-style cream cheese. 
• Butter – We recommend using unsalted butter. 
• Powdered Sugar (Confectioner’s Sugar) – This melts into the batter, making it perfectly sweet. 
• Vanilla Extract – Adds a subtle vanilla taste. 

Instructions

1. Add the butter and cream cheese to a large bowl. Use a hand mixer or stand mixer to beat until light and fluffy. 
2. Add the powdered sugar and vanilla, and beat again. 

Note: If the frosting is too loose and doesn’t form light peaks, add in an extra ½ cup powdered sugar. Mix until the frosting is stiff enough to form light peaks. 

Topping Variations

Not a fan of cream cheese frosting? Feel free to leave it off! Or, swap it out with any other topping or frosting you like best. Some of our favorite variations include: 

• Cinnamon
• Powdered Sugar
• Whipped Cream
• Buttercream Frosting
• Meringue Frosting

How to Store

If possible, store leftover carrot cake jars without the frosting. Or, cover the entire jar with plastic wrap followed by aluminum foil. The carrot cake jars will stay fresh in the fridge for up to five days, but they never last that long! 

Print Recipe

4 from 1 vote

Gluten-Free Carrot Cake Jars with Frosting

These Gluten-Free Carrot Cake Jars with Cream Cheese Frosting are the perfect single-serving treats for spring. Sweet and spiced, they’re utterly irresistible! 

Prep Time15 minutes mins

Cook Time25 minutes mins

Total Time40 minutes mins

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: All American

Keyword: carrot cake, carrot cake jars, carrots, dessert, Easter, gluten free, healthy, spring

Servings: 6 servings

Calories: 498kcal

Author: Sammi Ricke

Cost: $5.00

Equipment

• mason jars
• bowl
• whisk
• rubber spatula
• baking sheet

Ingredients

• 1 1/4 cups coconut sugar or sugar substitute
• 1/2 cup melted coconut oil or avocado oil
• 2 cups grated carrot, lightly packed
• 4 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 1/2 cups gluten-free 1:1 baking flour or regular all purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder (w/out aluminum)
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 350F.
• Spray generously the inside of 12- 4 oz mason jars or 6- 8 oz mason jars with nonstick cooking spray. Place the greased mason jars on a rimmed baking sheet.
• In a large bowl, whisk together the coconut sugar, melted coconut oil, shredded carrots, eggs, vanilla, cinnamon, and ginger.
  1 1/4 cups coconut sugar or sugar substitute, 1/2 cup melted coconut oil or avocado oil, 2 cups grated carrot, lightly packed, 4 eggs, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• Next add in the flour, baking powder and baking soda and stir until combined.
  1 1/2 cups gluten-free 1:1 baking flour or regular all purpose flour, 2 teaspoons baking powder (w/out aluminum), 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• Pour batter into each mason jar until it is 2/3 full. The batter should not come up to the neck of the jar. Don’t overfill the jars, otherwise, the batter will overflow.
• Bake the 4 oz jars for 25 minutes and 30 min for the 8 oz jars or until golden brown and toothpick inserted into center comes out clean.
• Remove jars from oven and let cool. Once cooled, frost cakes with cream cheese frosting (recipe below) or frosting of choice.

Notes

The 4 oz is great for kids and/or portion control and the 8 oz jars are more like a portion of a typical slice of cake.

 

Cream Cheese Frosting:

8 oz cream cheese, room temp

½ cup butter, room temp

2- 2 ½ cups powdered sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

In a large bowl with a hand mixer or Kitchen Aid mixer, combine butter and cream cheese until well blended. Add 2 cups powdered sugar and vanilla and beat until fluffy. If the frosting is too loose and does not form light peaks, add in 1/2 cup powdered sugar and mix until the frosting is stiff enough to pipe on the cakes or spread with a knife. 

 

Calorie count only includes cake, not frosting. 

Nutrition

Calories: 498kcal