Carrot Cupcakes with Oat Flour

Made entirely with oat flour for a gluten free twist on carrot cupcakes, these are tender with a perfect spice flavor. Using less sugar than traditional carrot cake recipes, they are just sweet enough and always a crowd pleaser- especially when topped with some cream cheese frosting!

Jump to:

• Baking with Oat Flour
• The Ingredients
• The Method
• Leftovers and Storage
• Make it Your Own
• Tips for the Best Oat Flour Carrot Cupcakes
• And if you liked this recipe...
• Recipe Card
• Comments

It's been my goal for some time to develop oat flour versions of all sorts of baked goods.

After perfecting cookies, I moved on to muffins, then brownies and banana bread.

And now I'm on to cakes. Well cupcakes to start.

Carrot cake is without a doubt, the favorite cake in my family and the one that most people ask me to make for their birthday cake (with cream cheese frosting of course!). So I've had a few chances to nail down this recipe.

However, just like banana muffins don't directly translate into oat flour banana bread, I've found that these cupcakes don't directly translate into a larger cake- it turns out too crumbly.

I'm working on the larger cake version so stay tuned for that. But in the meantime, I couldn't wait to share these cupcakes with you!

Baking with Oat Flour

Since oat flour doesn't have the gluten that wheat does to help with structure, oat flour baking tends to need extra binders to help hold it together and achieve the right texture.

While I am consistently experimenting with it and working on improving my recipes, it is important to note that it is normal for oat flour baked goods to be a bit more fragile and a bit more dense.

In order to minimize this, I highly recommend using store-bought oat flour, weighing the ingredients, taking care not to under-bake and sticking with the recipe as written for most consistent results.

The Ingredients

• Oat Flour- Ensure you use certified gluten free oats/oat flour if you need the recipe to be gluten-free.
  • I recommend sifting the oat flour first if it is lumpy so that you don't have to overmix the cupcakes.
  • For best results, I also recommend that you use store-bought oat flour.
  • To Measure Oat Flour: If you have a kitchen scale, that is best for most accurate measurements of oat flour. But if you are measuring by hand, I have found that I can consistently achieve 120 g per cup of oat flour by scooping the oat flour into a measuring cup, lightly packing it down and then levelling off the top. See this oat flour snickerdoodles post for more details. *Select "metric" on the recipe card below the ingredients list to see the measurements displayed in grams.
• Brown Sugar- For a less-refined sweetener, you can use coconut sugar instead.
• Applesauce- Pumpkin puree, drained crushed pineapple or Greek yogurt will also work.
• Avocado Oil- Melted coconut oil, olive oil or vegetable oil can be used.
• Large Eggs
• Grated Carrots- For best results, use fresh carrots and shred them yourself. It is not necessary to peel before grating but you can if you prefer.
• Cinnamon- Adds key spice flavor to the carrot cupcakes.
• Ginger- This can be omitted if needed, but I recommend using it.
• Allspice- This can also be omitted if needed, but I recommend keeping it if you have it on hand.
• Nutmeg- This too can be omitted if needed, but I highly recommend using it as well.
• Baking Soda + Baking Powder- Because oat flour isn't structurally the same as regular flour, it needs both to achieve the same soft texture.
• Fine Sea Salt
• Vanilla Extract
• Cream Cheese Frosting- Optional but not really...

The Method

1. Mix wet ingredients. In a medium bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients and brown sugar until combined.

2. Mix dry ingredients. In a large bowl, whisk together the oat flour, spices, salt, baking soda and powder until mixed.

3. Combine. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and whisk until just combined.

4. Fold in carrots. Use a rubber spatula to mix in the shredded carrots.

5. Bake. Line a muffin tin with 12 paper liners or silicone liners and divide the batter into each- you should be filling them about ⅔ full.

Bake in a 375 F preheated oven for 22-25 minutes until the center of the cupcake lightly springs back to the touch and a toothpick poked in the center contains just a few moist crumbs.

6. Cool. Allow the cupcakes to cool for 10 minutes in the pan and then move to a wire rack for an hour to finish cooling.

7. Frost. Cream cheese frosting and spiced carrot cupcakes are the best pairing so I highly recommend spreading a batch of this easy cream cheese icing or maple cream cheese frosting on top!

8. Serve.

Leftovers and Storage

Make Ahead: Carrot cupcakes (and cake) taste even better the next day. You can make the cupcakes 1 day ahead and store in an airtight container at room temperature. Or decorate with cream cheese frosting and store in the refrigerator for up to 1 day ahead of serving.

To Store: Unfrosted cupcakes can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days. Frosted cake should be stored in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.

To Freeze: Frosted or unfrosted oat flour cupcakes can be frozen for up to 3 months.

Make it Your Own

• Pineapple Carrot Cupcakes- If you're a fan of pineapple carrot cake, use partly drained, crushed pineapple in place of the applesauce.
• Incorporate Add Ins- If you love a chunky carrot cupcake, you can add up to ⅓ cup each (or up to 1 cup total):
  • Shredded Coconut Flakes
  • Chopped Nuts (toasted pecans are especially good)
  • Raisins
• Use a Different Frosting- I'm partial to cream cheese frosting with carrot cupcakes but you could choose to leave it unfrosted or use one of the following instead:
  • Whipped Cream
  • Coconut Cream Frosting (if you need dairy free)
  • White Chocolate Frosting
  • Buttercream

Tips for the Best Oat Flour Carrot Cupcakes

• Use Store-bought Oat Flour- Although you can make your own oat flour by grinding oats, unless you have a very high powered blender, I find it difficult to achieve the fine consistency that we need. You can give it a try if you need, but for best and most consistent results, I recommend sticking with store-bought.
• Shred Your Own Carrots- Pre-shredded carrots tend to be quite dry and don't provide the moisture that we need for these cupcakes.
• Don't Overmix- Over-mixing any muffin or cupcake batter can result in tough, unevenly baked goods so mix until the flour mixture is just incorporated. Sifting the oat flour can help it to mix in better.
• Don't Under-bake- Oat flour baked goods tend to turn out gummy if under-baked. The cupcakes should spring back to the touch and a toothpick inserted into the center should come out clean.

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And if you liked this recipe...

...you might also like:

• Classic Carrot Cake (with Less Sugar)
• Applesauce Oat Flour Muffins
• Chocolate Chip Oat Flour Muffins

Recipe Card

Want to learn more about oat flour? Check out these resources!

• The Ultimate Guide to Oat Flour
• Oat Flour vs. Wheat Flour
• The Best Oat Flour Recipes
• Oat Flour Cookie Tips
• Oat Flour Muffin Tips