Carrot Cake with Coconut Flour

Ten years ago, I attempted to make a gluten free muffin for a friend with celiac disease. I was pretty decent at baking normal muffins, so I decided that I could make a gluten free muffin. The recipe used gluten free flour and xanthan gum, which I searched high and low for at Whole Foods. Grain-free flours like coconut flour and almond flour didn't exist, other than ordering it online at a specialty shop. The result was a dry, kind of edible muffin. Thankfully, my friend ate the muffins graciously.

Fast forward ten years, I decided to give coconut flour a try. I'm not gluten intolerant, but I just thought on a whole we all just eat too much gluten, mainly in cakes and breads. I found this recipe for carrot cake that not only used coconut flour, but replaced white sugar with ingredients like maple syrup and honey. The frosting was made from cream cheese, honey and vanilla extract. The cake was amazing. It was a little crumbly, but definitely moist.

Carrot Cake
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Combine the following dry ingredients:
1 cup coconut flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

Mix the following ingredients in a separate bowl. Add the carrots and nuts last.
1/2 cup butter, melted
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup maple syrup (honey or agave nectar can also be used instead)
4 eggs, room temperature
1 cup coconut milk

3/4 cup finely shredded carrot

Cream Cheese Frosting
2 packages of 8oz. cream cheese (softened to room temperature)
1/4 cup of honey
2 tsp vanilla extract

Mix the coconut flour mixture (dry ingredients) and wet ingredients together. Grease your pan or line them with parchment paper. I used two 9-inch round pans.

Bake for 30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted in the middle of the cake.

Mix all the cream cheese frosting together in a mixer. Spread cream cheese frosting on bottom layer, place top layer on top and frost the top with cream cheese frosting (no need to frost the sides) then garnish with grated carrots.